Your guide for your
GROUP
Didcot, Wallingford & Thame Thursday, April 26 - Wednesday, May 2, 2018
oxfordshireguardian.co.uk
Fundraiserās party date at the Palace
Weekly leisure guide for in and around Oxford
Out& About around Oxfordsh
ire
Daraās back doing what he does best
A thoroughly great show Meet modern Millie at The New Theatre
Diamond helps to treat plastic recycling issue
Page 9
leisure time in &
Page 10
Free
Runners elated, but many vow ānever againā Pages 12&13
āWe have a great track record in South Oxfordshire of welcoming new business and doing all we can to make the district an attractive place to do businessā
Business booms thanks to enterprise and innovation By George Welch SOUTH Oxfordshire has been described as a āglobal hotspotā for enterprise and innovation after new figures revealed the district to have more businesses than any other in the county. The new leader of South Oxfordshire District Council praised the regionās fi rms as the number of companies across the county reached 40,000, with many of them based in the south of the county. Pointing to the āworld classā Science Vale and the ongoing Didcot Garden
Town project, Jane Murphy said South Oxfordshire, which has more than 9,000 businesses, is āan attractive placeā to do business. She said: āWe have a great track record in South Oxfordshire of welcoming new business and doing all we can to make the district an attractive place to do business. āThe district has good transport links with Oxford and London and is part of Science Vale UK, a global hotspot for enterprise and innovation that attracts world-class research, development and manufacturing businesses.ā
Cllr Murphy, officially unveiled as John Cottonās replacement last Thursday, is excited by the garden town project which will create an estimated 20,000 jobs over the next 20 years. The project will be seen as the āgatewayā to the Science Vale, she added. OxLEP chief executive Nigel Tipple said projects such as the Didcot Garden Town are helping South Oxfordshire grow. He added: āThe creation of garden towns with its associated infrastructure, is a positive sign of Oxfordshire striking the right
balance between place-making and productivity.ā According to secretarial software fi rm Inform Direct, there were 40,124 businesses registered in the county at the end of March. Most of those businesses are based in South Oxfordshire (9,119 businesses), which is followed by Cherwell (8,780) and Oxford (8,092). There were 4,612 new companies registered in the county during 2017, a slight improvement on the 4,517 in 2016. This increase bucked the national trend which saw an overall reduction
in new company formations. John Korchak, director of operations at Inform Direct, said: āOxfordshire had an impressive year in 2017 which has continued into 2018, passing the 40,000 milestone for the fi rst time in its history. āThis shows that it offers a positive environment for business ā both in terms of new start-ups and existing companies. āOxfordshire has become an important hub for science and technology with companies attracted by the existing portfolio of businesses already located thereā
More printed copies than any other weekly newspaper in Oxfordshire (16,103 audited JICREG pending)
Friday May 4th Advance tickets: Tickets Standing Ā£8
The Ultimate Entertainment Venue
The Ed Sheeran Experience
or Seated Ā£10 Available from SHUSH www.shush.fm/events & the SHUSH app The Regent Mall, Newbury Street, Wantage, Oxfordshire OX12 8BU.
Tel. 01235 771122.