WITH high business rates and rents, the retail environment for Oxford’s independent businesses is often painted as bleak.

But James Fry, Oxford City Council’s small business champion, says many of the city’s shopping areas are vibrant and just need a bit more help.

He explains some of his ideas for lending a helping hand to the city’s independent retailers.

One of the things I have been very pleased with is what has happened in North Parade in my ward, where we have a farmers’ market which has been very successful and it is now going to go from being once a month to twice a month.

Another thing I would like to explore – and I can’t promise this will get anywhere – is the idea of a local bank.

In Cambridge there is something called the Cambridge and Counties Bank which is a joint initiative between one of the colleges and the council’s pension fund.

It is to have a local bank to lend money to local small and medium businesses and from what I know about it, it has done much better than the sponsors imagined.

I have been in touch with one or two people who are investment bursars in Oxford colleges and it does strike me that in a city like Oxford with a lot of people connected to the two universities it would be rather nice if we could get a truly local bank off the ground, but it will take a bit of time.

Oxford Mail:

  • The farmers’ market in North Parade, Oxford

One of the things I believe would be good to have in some of the smaller off-centre trading areas is a simplification of the procedure for licensing so that during the summer the restaurants and cafes can have a table or two outdoors as long as it doesn’t block the road.

There are things like that which don’t sound grand but can help the profits of these businesses.

Something businesses will tell you is that business rates are an issue, but that is not controlled by the city council. However, there are cases where a simplification and a lowering of the costs of something can help.

Another problem you have is when there are little shops which are serving a community but are having to resist supermarkets and online shopping and sometimes it can be hard to keep a shop going.

Oxford Mail:

  • Shops in North Parade, Oxford

We have lost a lot of post offices and other facilities recently.

People’s shopping habits have changed and shops away from the main shopping areas have to reinvent themselves.

Shops will have to be either more conventient or more specialised.

Old-fashioned grocers going up against supermarkets will always have a problem but if we can change the character of a street and encourage people to use local businesses then I believe that will help.

If you think of somewhere like Cowley Road, it has got a wonderful variety of shops while somewhere like Summertown tends to be more upmarket.

I know that when I have raised these issues with the council I have got a very sympathetic response.

Oxford Mail:

  • Some of the independent businesses that give the street its special character

A lot of these things, when you examine them, are absolutely win-win because if you have high licensing fees, for example, then people won’t apply and they won’t pay but if you make them lower then the council can end up better off.

Often it is little things which can make an area become more lively and that means you will have happy people and thriving businesses.