THE broad base of Chester’s economy has protected the city from the ravages of recession in a way not enjoyed in most areas.

From retailing in the medieval centre of the city to petro-chemicals, avionics and agriculture, its diversity is astonishingly wide.

All this comes with very attractive places in which to live.

Prof Phil Harrison, chairman of Business, Enterprise and Lifelong Learning at the University of Chester, said the city is now starting to internationalise.

“Before, it had a regional county city perspective, but this is now changing.

“The modern business mix rubs along with the area’s traditional agricultural industries.

“A big winner is our access to the motorway network and, over the last year, Virgin Trains’ highly-improved London rail service to Euston.

“There is also a rival service from Wrexham through the borders to London Marylebone, run by the Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Co.

“But we haven’t got all the northern cities connected and we need other rail spurs sorted out, for example to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which is tricky.”

The heavy influence of Grosvenor estates in city centre retailing is positive, he thinks.

“They are good long-term landlords, doing a good custodial job,” he said.

When shops on The Rows – Chester historic double-deck streets – struggled, they were revived by the Duke of Westminster’s estate company.

“Under somebody else they would probably have gone under, Grosvenor takes the longer view.

“However, I should say I occupy the Westminster chair of marketing and public affairs!

“Both Liverpool and Chester have avoided knocking down their old city centres to entirely replace them with purpose-built shopping centres.

“Timing is crucial. Bradford knocked down its inner city, but because of the recession is now left with a big brownfield site and a hoarding.

“It’s demoralising. You can’t even get a curry there now.”

Chester has a very large mixed bag of retailing, including Cheshire Oaks retail outlet park.

“The largest new Marks & Spencer out-of-town development is being built near Ellesmere Port,” said Prof Harris.

“This will probably mean rationalising one of its Chester stores, although these are very popular and handy.

“Retailing held up well during the recession, and has retained good occupancy of city centre shops. Like many places, not only Woolworths has gone, but general retailers have been squeezed out.

“The retail cost base is also squeezing many smaller shops.

“There is an issue about getting quality retailers into the city centre, as these are what up-market visitors into the city demand.”

In spite of the credit crunch, Chester’s vast array of financial companies, including Marks & Spencer Money and Bank of America, are sustaining themselves.

“There is even talk of Bank of America expanding here. Lloyds Bank concentrated on regional bases, which has benefited us,” said Prof Harris.

“This sector has been established for nearly 20 years.

“We should be grateful for the council leadership shown back then in attracting innovative businesses.

“It’s not all banking, the business community brought in a lot of customer services and middle management companies.

“The Stanlow Oil Refinery ownership is at last sorted out, with it becoming Indian.

“At the other end of the area, Airbus at Broughton is also holding up well, with a swathe of avionics and marine industries.

“These subsidiary industries and specialist composites now stretch from North Wales to south Manchester.

“Besides the chemical industry, there is small-scale engineering and chandlery.

“The agri-food sector is also proving remarkably strong and we still have a surprising amount of manufacturing going on.”

Tourist attractions such as Chester Racecourse, Chester Zoo and Tatton Park – home of the northern Royal Horticulture Society show – have become increasingly important economic drivers.

“Tatton Park is also staging modern outdoor art shows which just catch the public mood perfectly,” said Prof Harris.

“The Zoo is a big success with about 4m visitors a year.

“Its Vision concept will be a major benefit to our economy.