More than £107 million of investment sparks transformation in Oxfordshire communities

By Nicky Godding

24 October 2023

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Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive – OxLEP

The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) has secured and facilitated more than £105 million in investment into the county's businesses and communities.

Since 2014, OxLEP has secured £107.5 million of investment to support multiple projects to benefit local people and businesses through the Government’s Local Growth Fund.

Three rounds of funding from the Local Growth Fund in 2014, 2015 and 2017 have supported 30 projects which are enhancing the skills of local people, enriching places, sparking innovation and enterprise and boosting connectivity within the county.

Although all funding has now been allocated, these projects have and will continue to spark growth within Oxfordshire.

By 2030, the Local Growth Fund projects will collectively create 9,700 new jobs, support 2,800 new learners, develop 1,800 new homes and enable at least £850 million of new funding for the county.

This includes helping to address challenges across key Oxfordshire locations, with £47 million of the funding invested in six ‘place-orientated’ improvement schemes, delivered in collaboration with key partners including Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council and the Environment Agency.

These projects will stimulate growth and regeneration, create new opportunities for employment, attract further investment and improve biodiversity across many locations in the county. By March 2030, they are forecasted to collectively support the creation of more than 9,000 jobs and see 1,800 homes built.

Early-stage funding secured by OxLEP to support Oxford City Council allowed enabling works at Oxpens, a development that will create a new residential, commercial and leisure quarter for the city close to Oxford Station. The Oxpens investment alone will lead to much-needed office and research space and new homes in the heart of Oxford, supporting the city’s ambitions to create a world-leading, innovation-led economy.

Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive of OxLEP, said: “The Local Growth Fund has allowed us to invest in a wide variety of projects across Oxfordshire, supporting many of its businesses and communities to thrive and grow.

“The forecasted impacts by 2030 showcase the sheer impact that this funding is having and will continue to have on our people, places, enterprise and connectivity, long into the future.

“Although all funding has now been allocated, we expect to reap the rewards of this investment for years to come and would like to encourage local businesses to continue to engage with us at this time of growth. OxLEP can help support your business venture – whether a multi-national, SME, start-up, or sole trader.

“We are grateful for the support of our many delivery partners and collaborators, who have worked hard to make these projects a success to date.”

By 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.