Global leader in bike products scoops WOBA top award

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Nicky Godding

Business of the year winners Oxford Products with Bill Smith from sponsors STL Communications at the dinner celebrating the 2019 WOBA awards at Heythrop Park Picture: Ric Mellis 29/3/2019

Global leader in bike products scoops top county award

Oxford Products has been named the 2019 STL Communications West Oxfordshire Business of the Year.

The announcement was made at a ceremony to reveal the winners of this year’s West Oxfordshire Business Awards at Heythrop Park Resort, which also saw Oxford Products winning the MGroup Employer of the Year Award and the Sandler Training Large Business Award.

WOBA judges said Oxford Products, a global leader in motorcycle and bicycle products and which employs over 200 staff at its head office in Witney, deserved recognition for its strong leadership and impressive business growth. The company sells a huge range of products that are designed in-house by a team of skilled technicians based at the company’s 100,000 sq ft purpose-built headquarters.

Andrew Hammond, managing director of Oxford Products, said: “It is a huge honour for the efforts of our team to be recognised so emphatically by the local business community. They put everything into making our company a commercial success, whilst building an environment in which people as individuals can succeed. Our three awards represent another milestone in the rise and rise of Oxford Products Ltd!"

Other WOBA 2019 winners include:

Loft (NFU Retail Award), a lifestyle boutique based in Woodstock that sells a selection of clothing, homeware, gifts and accessories, many of which are handmade in the UK supporting small businesses.
Oxtex (Owen Mumford Innovation Award) who develops and commercialises a range of devices for soft tissue expansion from its base in Witney. The self-inflating tissue expander is used in reconstructive surgery and is based on technology developed at Oxford University.
CQR Consulting (Veritrec Small Business Award and founder Greg Inge won Wise Investment Business Person of the Year) is an independent provider of cyber security services, defending organisations against cyber attacks and risks by safeguarding their networks, data and devices.The company is based in Bladon and has been established since 2004.

WOBA winner, Greg Inge from CQR Consulting, said: “Winning two WOBA awards is recognition for hard work of the whole team puts in throughout the year. It’s great to be able to say we are an award winning company.”

Now in its ninth year, WOBA connects and celebrates a strong business community in West Oxfordshire. The annual awards provide an opportunity for the very best of West Oxfordshire businesses to be acknowledged for their outstanding achievements.

Jo Sensecall, spokesperson for the WOBA organising team, said: “Congratulations to all WOBA 2019 winners who represent this year’s top West Oxfordshire businesses. They all deserve the recognition to highlight their hard work and dedication. We are lucky to have so many amazing businesses here in West Oxfordshire.”

Over £3000 was raised for Volunteer Link-Up, a charity that links people who have time to spare with opportunities to help local residents and charitable organisations, from attendees on the night. Next year’s charity will be Guideposts, winner of The Charity of the Year Award 2019.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.