AN EAST Oxford shop which has called Cowley Road home for almost 27 years has been named as one of the top shops in the country.

Skate and snowboarding store SS20 is one of 20 independent traders shortlisted in the nationwide Best Small Shops contest.

And now founders Mon Barbour and Dave Furneau are hoping to bring the title home when the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group announces its winner at the House of Commons next Wednesday.

Mr Barbour, 46, said: “It’s a great achievement and it feels very good. I would not usually enter but this was a particularly poignant award because it really brings home the idea that small shops are an integral part of the community.”

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The shop, which is believed to be the longest-running independent skating and snowboarding shop in the UK, first opened its doors in 1988 when Mr Barbour was just 19.

The idea came to open the store, named after a Russian nuclear missile decommissioned in 1988, while Mr Barbour was laid up with an injured leg after an accident skating in Brighton months before.

And despite moving buildings four times since opening, the shop has never left the vibrant Cowley Road scene. Mr Barbour, who was involved in organising the first Cowley Road Carnival, said the key to the shop’s success was down to its strong community focus.

The father-of-two, of Jericho, added: “If you hope that people are going to shop and support you, you need to support them too, it’s as simple as that.

“There’s no other way that small shops cans survive in this day and age without having a good rapport with their customers and the residents around them.”

Former world amateur roller-skating champion Mr Barbour also launched charity Oxford Wheels Project in 1997 to push for a permanent wheels-based facility for Oxford youngsters.

Meadow Lane’s Oxford Wheels Park finally opened in May 2013 after more than £320,000 was raised in 12 years.

Mr Barbour said: “When I set up the shop, what I really wanted to was set up a free facility for young people in Oxford so that other people could skate for free and experience some of the good times that I had.

“It’s great being part of a community and being able to make a difference. That’s the reward you get.

“Yes, you have to make a profit but the reward is in keeping people’s livelihood going and being able to support the community.”

Mr Barbour said the sports have transformed since his days of skating as a youngster on his parent’s farm near Banbury.

He said: “Particularly skateboarding, it was always perceived as something that a little ten-year-old kid did. It’s a multi-million pound industry. It’s amazing to see how far the sport has matured.”

Shop assistant James Needam, who has worked at SS20 for eight years, said: “I’m pretty proud to be honest. The shop really promotes a good community spirit and within the skateboarding community everyone knows that this is is place to go.

“It’s just really good to see that people are into what we are doing. That’s the amazing thing.”