Summer is a truly special time in our beautiful city. The sun brings our historic streets to life, our river sparkles with activity, and there’s a real buzz in the air. It’s a fantastic time to explore all that Chester has to offer and to support the brilliant local businesses that make our city such a vibrant, welcoming place.
So much is happening across Chester right now, and I want to thank Chester Business Improvement District (BID) for the incredible work they do to bring our city centre to life. Their ‘Summer in the City’ campaign is packed with activities – from free events to creative workshops – and they’re even giving away free tickets to attractions and experiences. Their website has a brilliant guide and is well worth a look: www.chesterbid.co.uk/discover/summer-in-the-city . It was a pleasure to meet the BID earlier in the summer to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing our city’s local businesses and how we can support them.
Cheshire West and Chester Council have also created a helpful guide of summer holiday activities for children and young people. Find out more here: www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/summer-activities . These events are a fantastic way for families to enjoy the holidays.
Chester’s high street continues to grow, with new businesses opening their doors – brilliantly documented by trusted local source Tony Chester. A warm welcome to all the new businesses choosing to make Chester their home.
It’s been a busy time on Foregate Street. I recently visited both Marks & Spencer and Primark to meet some of the amazing staff who help keep our city centre thriving. A big thank you for the teams for taking me behind the scenes and taking the time to speak to me. It was also a pleasure to join the Lord Mayor for the official opening of the new branch of Metro Bank . A warm welcome to the City – a great addition to our high street when many banks in other parts of the country are closing their doors. It’s a great illustration of the confident future Chester has.
To add if appropriate: Over the past two weeks, it’s been a pleasure to join Cheshire Police, the Council’s community safety officers and our town centre manager in the city centre as they work on the Safer Streets Summer Initiative, a government-led initiative aiming to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in town centres across the country this summer. This great initiative means our city’s key officers working together to make our city an even safer place to work, live and study and aims to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour from occurring in the first place.
And this week, it was great to join the Chief Constable, Mark Roberts, and his team on an early morning walkabout in the city to talk through the challenges and the opportunities the city presents.
Our small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the heart of our communities. So this summer, enjoy all that Chester has to offer – and remember to shop local.