Report published demonstrating the impact of the Chester House Estate
25th Nov 2025
North Northamptonshire Council has published a report on the success of the Chester House Estate since it opened to the public in 2021 and the impact on the local area.
The report, now available to read in full below, looks at the benefits to the county. It covers areas including:
· Visitor engagement
· Educational programmes
· Heritage work
· Community activities
· Volunteering
· Contribution to the local tourism economy
Key figures and highlights from the report which demonstrate the Estate’s success and work include:
· More than 15,000 children have visited the Estate since opening as part of the Estate’s educational offering
· Creating Tomorrow College (who have a base on site) graduates have a 100% success rate in future employment
· The museum has welcomed over 75,000 visitors
· The state-of-the-art Northamptonshire ARC has become one of the most successful in the country, attracting international researchers
· Last year 65.5% of the Estate’s total expenditure was with Northamptonshire based businesses
· Over the last three years, the Estate has seen a 288% increase in income.
· A pioneering partnership with the University of Leicester won the award for Innovation in Public-Private partnership at this year’s MJ Awards
Cllr Greg Wilcox, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive Member for Communities, said: “The Chester House Estate is delivering huge value to the community and we’re proud of how far it has come. This report shows a strong track record of this impact on residents, visitors, schools, community groups and the wider tourism economy and helps to set out confident vision for the future.”
Cllr Martin Griffiths, Leader of the Council, said: “The Chester House Estate continues to go from strength to strength as this report shows. This is about so much more than a report though, its about the need to secure the long-term sustainability of a well loved visitors attraction and hub.”
Now the Estate is looking to the future, with a governance review under way. The review will look at how the Chester House Estate should operate in the long-term to ensure that it runs most effectively in the future. Further updates will be published in due course.
