Chester pub closes as boss brands city 'a ghost town'

A Chester pub boss has announced its closure as he branded the city "a ghost town". The Henry Potts, an upmarket and somewhat hidden pub on Watergate Street, has closed. The basement pub, in the former Fat Cat venue just a stone's throw from the Racecourse, opened in June 2022.

Boss Jeremy Brunning announced the closure "with great sadness and not a little irritation", as he blamed the growing work-from-home culture and "ridiculous electricity bills" for the pub's failure. "I think we’d easily have been able to make it if more people were in their offices and keen for lunch and early evening refreshment, but most seem to be working from home," said Mr Brunning in a statement. "The commercial heart of Chester is a bit of a ghost town.

" READ: Nantwich nightclub Nakatcha closes down with "immediate effect" after 18 years in town | The owners have cited the "current economic climate" as the reason for the shock closure READ: 'Sad but not unexpected' - You react to shock closure of Chester restaurant Boheme | Boheme has closed its doors after only five months In the statement, Mr Brunning continued: "It’s a beautiful pub, like a cosy little underground hideaway with excellent staff and the best quality food and drink. "However it’s simply not doing enough trade. If you saw the numbers they’d look like a lot but in today’s economic environment, with ridiculous electricity bills and a host of other inflationary costs, it needs to be busier to be viable.

"So we must close. .