BenchmarklyAll benchmarks

Coffee shop and café companies in the Chester area

309 coffee shop and café companies have a registered office in the Chester area (CH postcodes), and 138 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £6,609 in cash and owed £18,598 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Unlicenced restaurants and cafes” (SIC 56102), which also covers café, juice or smoothie bar. Covers companies with a registered office in CH postcodes, including Chester, Birkenhead, Wirral.

The numbers

Coffee shop and café companies in the Chester area (CH postcodes) compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureChesterUK
Registered companies30944,437
Formed in 2025 or 2026138 (45%)36%
Being struck off or in liquidation43 (14%)16%
Typical cash at year end£6,60953 accounts£8,573
Typical amount owed at year end£18,598114 accounts£27,813
Typical number of employees4116 accounts4

What this means if you’re starting one

Most of your competition will be other newcomers

45% of the 309 coffee shop and café companies in the Chester area (CH postcodes) were formed in 2025–26, against 21% of all companies in the Chester area (CH postcodes). Nationally, that share of new companies is higher than 95% of UK industries.

New rivals are arriving faster than in most trades, so your customers already have fresh options. Being new is not a difference on its own.

More of these companies are closing than in most trades

14% of coffee shop and café companies in the Chester area (CH postcodes) are currently being struck off, against 7.1% of all companies there. Nationally that rate is higher than 94% of UK industries.

Closures run high here. It is a churn signal, not a survival rate, but it means the common failure points are worth learning before you start.

Cash is tight in this trade

At year end the typical coffee shop and café company in the Chester area (CH postcodes) holds £6,609 in cash and owes £18,598; that cash figure is lower than 89% of UK industries.

Typical operators end the year holding less cash than they owe, so there is little slack if takings dip or a big bill lands early.

Planning a business like this in Chester?

Answer two questions about your customer and what makes you different, and get a free three-week plan to test the idea before you spend real money. No account or card.

Check my idea

What these figures can’t tell you

Companies are counted where their registered office is, which may be an accountant or a home address rather than a shop. Sole traders and partnerships are not on the register, and electronically filed accounts cover roughly 60–75% of accounts filed each year. The figures describe companies that exist; they cannot prove demand for your idea or predict whether it will work. How the figures are built.

Coffee shop and café in other places

Other businesses in Chester

All business benchmarks in Chester