THE team at Chester BID has announced the winners of their festive window competition.

The competition was initiated to bring the Christmas cheer back into the city after a year of lockdowns and uncertainty for retailers and hospitality.

It has seen over 50 of the city retailers battle it out, in the run up to Christmas, in a bid to create the most festive windows.

The Judges Award, overseen by The Rotary Club of Chester and Cheshire photographer, Kat Hannon, awarded a gold, silver and bronze award to both independents and chains.

They marked each window on overall impression, creativity and execution to determine the winners. The Judges Gold winners are Italian restaurant, Stile Napoletano and Cancer Research UK on Foregate Street.

Judge Gordon Vickers from The Rotary Club said: "After a challenging 2020, Chester businesses have outdone themselves.

"Walking through the city, admiring the amazing windows only reinforced to the judges how festive Chester is as a city.

"It was a hard choice to make – but the windows that won really deserve acknowledgements – and will be sure to warm the hearts of shoppers!"

Chester and District Standard: Cancer Research UK's Frodsham Street store won a Gold Award.

Joanne Critchlow, manager of Cancer Research UK, said: "I’m delighted by this win – especially as we used all the stock from the shop to do it!

"2020 has been a tough year for everyone, but even in hard times, we’ve been so heartened to see that the true meaning of Christmas – charity has been at an all time high.

"All the many donations we’ve received running up to Christmas will have a direct impact into the research we can do."

Chester and District Standard: Stile Napoletano won a Gold Award.

Giacomo Guido, owner of Stile Napoletano, said: "We are so happy our window, painted by local artist Nikki Pinder, won the gold prize from the judges in the independent category.

"We chose Chester as the location to start our business as we found it such a friendly city. And we continue to be overwhelmed by the positive support from our customers."

The People’s Vote was nominated over social media by over 2,000 Cestrians.

This was awarded to toy shop Weasel and The Bug, who created a wonderful interpretation of Santa’s Workshop.

Katie Jones, owner of Weasel and The Bug, said: "We’re so happy to receive this award!

"We hope our Santa’s Workshop has excited all the children (and the big kids) who are visiting Chester – and looking forward to Christmas Day when the real fun starts! We would love to thank all of the people who voted for us and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas."

Winners: Judges votes – Small Independents

  • 1. GOLD – Stile Napoletano
  • 2. SILVER – Pictura Studios
  • 3. BRONZE - Share Shop

Medium / Large Chains (5 or more branches)

  • 1. GOLD - Cancer Research UK (Foregate St)
  • 2. SILVER - Ellis Brigham
  • 3. BRONZE - JoJo Maman Bebe

People’s VOTE –

  • 1. Overall Winner – Weasel & The Bug
  • 2. Facebook Winner – Pour Moi
  • 3. Instagram Winner – The Scented Garden Retreat

Chester and District Standard: Weasel and the Bug won the overall People's Vote.