Mitchell Group spreads festive cheer at packed Chester Cathedral event

Mitchell Group channelled the festive spirit to pack the halls of Chester Cathedral for its annual Christmas carol singing spectacular this week.

Over 1,150 people attended the Sing Your Heart Out contemporary carol event hosted by the Cheshire-based car retail group – including its entire 100-strong workforce – to raise £4,700 to feed Chester’s homeless.

Former Gogglebox star the reverend Kate Bottley helped Mitchell chief executive Mark Mitchell host the event which delivered vital funds to the city’s ‘A Meal For Everyone’ charity.

“I think it is special for people to gather at any time of year, but especially at Christmas and this is a wonderful fixture for my calendar,” Mitchell told AM.

"The reverend Kate Bottley was really warmly recieved this year as she spoke about what Christmas means to her. She's an extremely warm and funny character.

“Previously (former BBC Sport and BBC Breakfast host) Dan Walker has spoken about what Christmas means to him and observed that it’s a time of year where we should all take stock and review our priorities. It’s good advice for us in our personal lives as well as the car retail sector, I think. We’re all hopeful of a prosperous 2023.”

Over 1,500 mince pies were consumed as the sherry flowed at Chester Cathedral on Wednesday night, but the funds raised were destined to put food in the mouths of less fortunate citizens in the city.

Mitchell said: “Chester is a lovely place to visit, with historical buildings and fantastic shopping, but at night it becomes clear that there are issues with drugs an alcohol just like any other city.

“The reverend Jonathan Phillips has started A Meal For Everyone wit the aim of putting a hot meal inside the city’s homeless every day of the week and that is who were raising funds for. It’s an extremely worthy cause.”

In 2019 Mitchell – a former AM Awards Business Leader of the Year – featured in an AM dealer profile feature.

In it he touched on how his Christian faith affects his approach to business.

As well as tithing more than 10% of its annual profits into charitable projects, the business also runs a workplace scheme which sees staff support African children through payroll and, every two to three years, groups of six or seven staff complete a trip to Uganda to see where their money is spent and who it has benefitted.