Scheme to populate Oxfordshire with pop-up shops begins

The £1.9m initiative, called Meanwhile in Oxfordshire, now has a company experienced at helping business start ups with office space at the helm.

Makespace, which currently provides offices for small businesses at its North Oxford headquarters, has been commissioned to find spaces where more than 100 businesses could be housed on Oxfordshire high streets by working with landlords to bring their empty units into use.

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Andy Edwards, the co-director and programme coordinator of Makespace Oxford, said: “Through Covid we’ve seen our towns and urban centres severely impacted with businesses and communities working incredibly hard to sustain and adapt.

“The Meanwhile in Oxfordshire programme offers a crucial boost at a critical time to help local organisations countywide to access space and be part of a movement to revive our urban centres and offer a positive new vision of the high street post-Covid that helps to build stronger local economies and stronger local communities.”

Oxford business hub Make Space will be leading work to fill empty units across Oxfordshire's high streets, like this shop on Frideswide Square, with pop up shops. Andy Edwards is pictured here. Picture: Ed Nix

Mr Edwards invited landlords interested in the project to come forward with their empty high street properties.

Covid-19 has led to closures on high streets across the county, as shoppers have been restricted or discouraged from visiting Oxfordshire’s shops.

Footfall in Oxford city centre was down 62.3 per cent in July (from 3.1m in 2019 to 1.2m in 2020) and 46.5 per cent in August (from 2.7m to 1.4m), according to figures from Oxford City Council.

It is hoped by filling vacant units in the city centre, and in the high streets of Oxfordshire towns such as Witney, Didcot, Abingdon and Bicester, more people will have a reason to visit them.

When old shops are being fitted out for the project, energy efficiency measures like better insulation will also be installed.

Meanwhile in Oxfordshire also aims to provide these units at an affordable rent, and will prioritise tenant businesses paying the Oxford Living Wage.

The project aims to create or secure at least 300 jobs across the county.

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It also aims to prioritise companies willing to take on work placements, traineeships and apprenticeships, and wants to create at least 35 of these entry level jobs for young people.

One of the first shops which has been fitted out because of the scheme and is now ready for use is the ground floor of the former Oriental Condor restaurant at Frideswide Square.

Meanwhile in Oxfordshire, so called because it promotes temporary ‘meanwhile use’ for empty shops, is funded by £1.9m from the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Oxford City Council agreed to take on the funding at a meeting last month, and at the time said it had a company in mind to run it, but could not reveal who it was.

Now, Makespace has been revealed as that company, but it is also supported by a consortium of Oxfordshire businesses including Wild Property, Transition by Design, Soha Housing, Fusion Arts, Aspire Oxfordshire and Independent Oxford, alongside national experts, Meanwhile Space CIC.

Oxford business hub Make Space will be leading work to fill empty units across Oxfordshire's high streets, like this shop on Frideswide Square, with pop up shops. Empty shops on Park End Street. Picture: Ed Nix

The project to convert empty shops will run until the end of 2021, but it is hoped the tenants will remain in the newly fitted units for longer than that.

Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council, said: “This project will make it easier for entrepreneurs to open businesses, create hundreds of jobs, and give residents more reasons to visit their local town and city centres.

"It is an extremely exciting project that will transform high streets across Oxfordshire for years to come, and I am delighted that we have been able to work with such a wide array of fantastic local organisations to help make it happen.”

Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive of OxLEP, said: “The confirmation of such a significant project – that will have a positive impact and lead to a progressive transformation in how we make the most of our high streets – is excellent news.

“We were delighted to have secured this Getting Building Fund allocation for this project and we are sure it can be a real asset to Oxfordshire, something which is vital as we begin the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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The project was also welcomed by opposition groups on Oxford City Council, who voted to approve the plans.

Green group leader Craig Simmons said: “This money is most welcome but needs to be spent carefully if the benefits are to last. What we do not want to see is all the money going to the larger City Centre landlords, such as the Westgate Partnership, the University or City Council who are more able to bounce back.

“We want to see some of the benefit shared with Oxford’s satellite shopping centres. For example, the Cowley Rd, Cowley Centre, Summertown and the Leys.”

And Liberal Democrat councillor Liz Wade said: “Over the last two years Makespace has been able, through the generosity of Wadham College, to use Aristotle House (Hayfield Road) as a centre for start-ups, small local business ventures.

“It has been a really successful experiment and it's great to hear that Makespace, through Transition by Design and others are now taking on this bigger project. Our residents around Aristotle House will be wishing them every success.”