High street-based businesses across Oxfordshire are being urged to act quickly, as Enterprise Oxfordshire has confirmed that its Helping High Streets support programme is now entering its final stages.
The focused programme – designed to boost the prospects of businesses operating in high‑footfall, town and city centre locations – is approaching the end of its delivery period, with support running until the end of March.
Enterprise Oxfordshire Business is encouraging any eligible businesses that have not yet engaged with the programme to get in touch as soon as possible, to ensure they do not miss out on the remaining support available.
Helping High Streets has been developed to back a broad range of high street organisations, recognising the vital role they play in local economies and community life.
The programme supports businesses operating from traditional high street locations, including those in the retail, leisure, hospitality and service sectors.
The initiative has taken a place‑based approach, working intensively within identified geographical areas in each district, while also offering wider online support accessible to eligible high street businesses across the county.
With Oxfordshire home to a diverse mix of high streets – from rural market towns to the bustling city centre streets of Oxford – the programme recognises that different locations face different challenges, customer bases and opportunities.
In addition, a key part of Helping High Streets will see a special Oxfordshire High Street Summit take place ahead of the programme’s closure – a significant event, bringing together business owners in one room to share knowledge, learnings from one another and with discussions as to what is needed to build effective, thriving and resilient high street businesses.
Hosted by Enterprise Oxfordshire Business, the summit is set to take place on 16 April between 10am and 2.30pm at Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot.
This latest programme comes at a time when the impact of Growth Hubs in the region – of which Enterprise Oxfordshire Business is one – has been highlighted in a new report.
The Growth Hub Cluster Impact Report, which analysed support delivered by Growth Hubs in Oxfordshire (Enterprise Oxfordshire Business), the South Midlands, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and New Anglia collectively between April 2020 and March 2025, revealed the significant effect being made across the region.
Overall impacts over the five‑year period included:
- Supporting 92,719 businesses
- Delivering 178,563 hours of business support
- Enabling 3,934 new business start‑ups
- Helping to create 6,970 jobs
- Helping to safeguard 6,093 jobs
Meanwhile, for every £1 of core Government funding, the Cluster attracted an additional £24 to support SME growth, while also delivering £35 of economic and social value.
Given this legacy of impact, and with the final stages of the Helping High Streets programme approaching, Enterprise Oxfordshire Business is keen for as many eligible businesses as possible to come forward and sign up.
Sarah Beal – Growth Hub Manager at Enterprise Oxfordshire – said: “Our Helping High Streets programme is now moving into its final stages, and we want to make sure that as many eligible businesses as possible have the opportunity to benefit from the support available.
“High streets remain the heartbeat of our communities, and this programme has been about helping businesses adapt, grow and remain vibrant in a changing economic landscape.
“If you operate from a high street location and haven’t yet engaged with the programme, we would strongly encourage you to contact Enterprise Oxfordshire as soon as possible, before the programme concludes. Our track record of supporting businesses is significant, so please, don’t miss out.”
Helping High Streets aligns with the Government’s wider emphasis on supporting high streets and the ‘everyday economy’, reflecting the importance of maintaining vibrant, resilient town centres that support both economic activity and community wellbeing.
Commenting on the High Streets Summit, Sarah Beal added: “Within Oxfordshire, we can credibly describe this as the first county wide high street summit that puts high street businesses at the centre, with councils and partners in a supporting role.
“Nationally, there have been a small number of high street branded gatherings, but most, have focussed heavily on big structural and infrastructure issues – the Oxfordshire High Street Summit is uniquely business centred and collaboration led in its design and content.”
Enterprise Oxfordshire became the new trading name of OxLEP in April last year, marking the completion of a two‑year transition that saw local economic development functions move under arrangements agreed by Oxfordshire County Council. The council now acts as Enterprise Oxfordshire’s sole shareholder under a Teckal company arrangement.
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