Owner of Oxford's The Jam Factory hunting for new venue

Earlier this week, it was announced the restaurant, bar and gallery in Hollybush Row would shut its doors for the final time on September 17, after nearly two decades of service.  

Co-owners, and siblings, Andrew Norton and Claire Gaskell opened The Jam Factory in 2006 in the building which was once Frank Cooper’s Marmalade factory.  

The decision to close the business came after an agreement could not be reached with the business’s landlord, Nuffield College.

The Jam Factory

Mr Norton was keen to stress the business “still maintains a strong relationship with Nuffield” and the college has been a “brilliant” landlord.

Mr Norton, who describes both himself and The Jam Factory as “much a part of the town as the gown”, says the journey of running it has been “amazing” and left him “proud”.

“We opened The Jam Factory on domestic equipment, camping gas and we did not have two sticks to rub together.

“We are immensely proud of going from what was effectively a start up in a run down building to this,” he explained.

The site has been open for 16 years

For Mr Norton, his staff have been an important part of the story of The Jam Factory and he is filled with “all the memories of all the people we have worked with over the years”.

Anecdotally, he recalled how someone once told him “not to employ talented waiting staff, just work with people who are naturally hospitable – and you can teach them how to carry plates”.

“The staff,” he noted, “are the business”.

Andrew Norton hopes to reopen the business elsewhere

It is for this reason Mr Norton is keen to continue to legacy of The Jam Factory in a new venue, one which is much larger and can – as he joked – house the business’s many large plants.

He said: “Give me the biggest warehouse in Oxford. I will fill it with all the artists, makers, thinkers and The Jam Factory three times over.”

Thus, he is keen for any property owners to get in touch if they have “a massive warehouse on the ring road and they want me to give it a heartbeat”.

The venue is located in the Frank Cooper Marmalade factory

Food and beverage director Callum Rumble, who is one of The Jam Factory’s longest serving employees, said: “It is very strange to see it gone. I have learned a lot here over the years.

“There has been such a positive response since the news came out.”

Earlier this week, a spokesperson for Nuffield College said: “The College’s agents, Savills, have been in discussion with the Jam Factory Café on the terms of a new lease since September 2020.

“Since then, we have worked hard to achieve an outcome that would enable the café to remain in the premises and have always responded promptly and constructively in our interactions with the tenant.

“We recognise the important role the café plays in the west end of Oxford and the local community’s affection for it, and did not wish to see it close.

“We believe that we have done as much as we reasonably can to reach an agreement, and we are disappointed that it has not been possible to arrive at a solution and that the café has now decided not to enter into a new lease.”

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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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