Oxford Mail | Thursday May 12th

Jeremy Mogford contributed to an article in the Oxford Mail, concerned by the number of empty retail sites on Oxford’s High Street and the wider city centre. We welcome the introduction of the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill recently announced in the Queen’s Speech and look forward to engaging with Oxford landlords to see a positive implementation of the bill.

OBAG launch | Thursday 24th March ‘22

Jeremy Mogford kindly hosted a wonderful evening on the terrace at Quod to mark the formal launch of our group. We were pleased to welcome local business owners, city councillors, officers and college representatives, and see great connections being made throughout the evening. A number of our committee said a few words:

Jeremy spoke about his extensive business experience in the city, from Brown’s to The Oxford Collection. Having seen firsthand the impact of various council projects over the years, he urged councillors to engage in more meaningful consultation with local businesses before implementing potentially damaging projects across the city.

Saleh Elmasri, owner of the Opera Cafe in Jericho, gave a wonderful overview of Jericho’s strengths as a neighbourhood destination and made it clear that he, like so many other business owners, was keen to meaningfully contribute to creating a positive future for Oxford: “adapting our communities to a world that demands a different way of doing things, a different approach to the one we are used to. An approach that takes into account our people, our planet and our local economy.“

Bernadette Evans, OBAG secretary and co-owner of Branca in Jericho, relayed her concerns that many independent business owners in the city currently feel like they have no voice, no power in shaping the decision-making of city and county councils, despite such decisions often having a huge impact on local industry. She hoped that by engaging with and representing over 1200 small shopfront businesses in Oxford, this group could change that.

Chewe Munkonge, City Councillor for Quarry & Risinghurst and Champion for an Inclusive Economy spoke about his delight in seeing a group like OBAG come together. He also talked about his concerns that inequalities were being caused and exacerbated by the councils’ traffic schemes and hoped this group could access the individual voices who could testify to such concerns.

Emily Scaysbrook, OBAG chair and co-owner of Hoyle’s of Oxford talked about her experience of the city from the perspective of school and university student as well as independent business employee, business owner, public transport commuter and cyclist. She hoped that such a breadth of experiences would be her strength as the group’s first chair and looked forward to using the group as a platform to promote positive change in business: encouraging more businesses in Oxford to pay the Oxford Living Wage; promoting the Better Business Act and Zero Hour Oxfordshire campaigns; and helping other businesses, in collaboration with B Lab UK and the Saïd, become more sustainable.

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it, it was a pleasure having you join us to celebrate. Please do sign up to our mailing list using the form at the bottom of this page to be kept updated with our latest news.

County Council | Tuesday 8th February ‘22

Bernadette Evans, Graham Jones, Richard Parnham and Emily Scaysbrook all spoke, concerned by the impact increased street parking charges would have on city centre and neighbourhood footfall. To watch the recording, please see here.

county council Cabinet meeting | Tuesday 19th January ‘22

Bernadette Evans spoke in person while Graham Jones submitted a speech: we were incredibly concerned by council proposals to increase parking charges in the city centre to £6 an hour. We believe that this proposal, should it be implemented, will have a hugely detrimental impact on footfall in an already quiet city centre, damaging already devastated retail and hospitality sectors. We are hopeful the proposal will be abandoned.