Despite the challenges of the cost of living crisis, Kenilworth has seen a range of new businesses open their doors across the town in 2023.

But the year did also see some closures, including Wilko and HSBC shutting their doors.

As 2023 comes to a close, we have taken a quick look back at some of these businesses.

And if you are really interested - click here to see the changes that happened in 2022.

Open for business

A Kenilworth pub has reopened under new owners, two years after it last welcomed in customers.

A new distillery opened at East Chase Farm this November - six years after the idea was first conceived.

The Cottage Inn is now open again! (image via Wells & Co)

A Punjabi grill and sizzler restaurant in Kenilworth held a successful relaunch event this December to mark a new management team taking over just weeks after the business opened.

Operator Everyone Active is "thrilled" to have the new Castle Farm Leisure Centre now open.

KMAT Leisure is "delighted" to formally open its fitness suite, located at Kenilworth School and Sixth Form.

A new 'lighter format' Post Office has opened in Kenilworth.

A new restaurant offering Thai fusion dishes has officially opened in the centre of Kenilworth.

Shine Medical Cosmetic Clinic has opened on Warwick Road (images by James Smith and supplied)

A new sandwich shop opened in Kenilworth in June.

A Ukrainian refugee has opened a new tattoo studio in the centre of Kenilworth, above a recently refurbished barber shop.

A kitchen and joinery supplier opened its new Kenilworth store in August, as did a new interior design boutique.

An aesthetic medicine clinic, offering an alternative to plastic surgery, has opened in Kenilworth's town centre.

New Looks

Kenilworth's Tesco has had two new looks this year - a makeover in early 2023, followed by a complete refit towards the end of the year following an arson attack.

The Talisman Theatre has "proudly" declared the official opening of its long-awaited redevelopment, marking a "new era" for the Kenilworth-based venue.

A closing Kenilworth jewellers is set to reopen in 2024, as it gets taken over Leamington-based, The Jones Family Jewellers.

Sylvesters the Jewellers in Talisman Square will close at the end of 2023, before reopening at The Jones Family Jewellers in January 2024 (image by Tim Smith)

A Midlands-based estate agent has turned its closed Kenilworth branch into a "hub" and a space for its expanding new homes department.

At the start of 2023 The Gauntlet reopened under new owners, and has since been take over again.

Closed

Sadly 2023 has also seen a number of businesses close their doors.

Tributes poured in for a much-loved Kenilworth shopkeeper who passed away earlier this year just weeks after his shop closed.

Friends Kenilworth has been closed since April when the business was destroyed in a fire.

Kenilworth's Wilko closed its doors for the final time in September, as hundreds of branches across the country were axed.

Kenilworth's Wilko has closed for the final time (image by James Smith)

Kenilworth's branch of HSBC also closed this summer, as the company shut 114 of its sites nationwide.

A Kenilworth carpet shop closed its doors in June, nearly a decade after it first opened - as did Kenilworth Carpet's showroom at the start of 2023.