BenchmarklyAll benchmarks

Pub or bar companies in the Chester area

342 pub or bar companies have a registered office in the Chester area (CH postcodes), and 104 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £14,962 in cash and owed £40,500 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Public houses and bars” (SIC 56302). Covers companies with a registered office in CH postcodes, including Chester, Birkenhead, Wirral.

The numbers

Pub or bar companies in the Chester area (CH postcodes) compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureChesterUK
Registered companies34233,937
Formed in 2025 or 2026104 (30%)26%
Being struck off or in liquidation50 (15%)19%
Typical cash at year end£14,96265 accounts£20,671
Typical amount owed at year end£40,500141 accounts£54,849
Typical number of employees5145 accounts5

What this means if you’re starting one

More of these companies are closing than in most trades

13% of pub or bar 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 96% 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.

Most of your competition will be other newcomers

30% of the 342 pub or bar companies in the Chester area (CH postcodes) were formed in 2025–26, against 21% of all companies in the Chester area (CH postcodes).

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.

Cash is tight in this trade

At year end the typical pub or bar company in the Chester area (CH postcodes) holds £14,962 in cash and owes £40,500; that cash figure is lower than 59% 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.

Pub or bar in other places

Other businesses in Chester

All business benchmarks in Chester