Chester Regatta, the Chester 10K Marathon, and Big Green Weekend have been awarded part of a £50K start-up events fund from The Hospitality Hero & Chester Hospitality Association.

Steven Hesketh, 45, the entrepreneur and hotelier behind the new business, ‘The Hospitality Hero’, leads the initiative, supported by Chester BID and the Chester Hospitality Association with BVA/BDRC hired as consultants.

Last year, Mr Hesketh launched the New Chester Event Fund Subvention offering £50,000 for new event ideas.

The application process ended in January 2024, with several projects now set to receive investment.

Chester Regatta, the oldest of its kind in the world, will receive £5,000 to support its two-day 2024 event.

The MBNA Chester 10K Marathon and the Chester Big Green Weekend also won funding with the aim of attracting more participants and visitors.

Furthermore, part of the money will focus on exploring potential events that Chester could host.

Mr Hesketh, said: "I decided to invest as the city needs more events, conferences and festivals to improve the Visitor Economy Sector across the calendar.

"Chester hosts many events, but for our city to thrive, we need to give more reasons for visitors to Choose Chester for short city breaks.

"Chester has a great programme of events including; The Taste Cheshire Food & Drink Festival, Chester PRIDE, Chester Heritage Festival, Chester Races and more, but for our city to thrive, we need to give more reasons for visitors to Choose Chester for short city breaks, and to ensure our locals can enjoy the city on even more special occasions too.”

Stuart Gillies, chair at Chester Regatta, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded funding as part of this project."

He also said: "We plan to continue to grow Chester Regatta and this year’s two day event will be a great Celebration of Rowing, a key date in the UK Rowing events calendar and a great historical event for Chester."

Mr Hesketh, who is also chair of Chester Hospitality Association and Vice-Chair of Liverpool Hospitality Association, aims to help Chester establish its place on the conference and events map.

After a career spanning 30 years in hospitality, he believes Chester has the potential to be a major player in the industry.

He said: "Chester is one of the UK’s smallest cities in terms of population, yet it is a beautiful, historic, Heritage based city, full of independent operators with a real niche opportunity to nurture and develop creative and idea based independent businesses to service the local, regional, national, and international marketplace and build back the economy from the ground up."

He finished by saying: "Chester boasts some of the most historic and breath-taking backdrops, making it ideal to host an Event, Conference or Festival with a unique, intimate offering using the full breadth and width of one of the most walkable cities in the country."