AS Primark shuts its doors, albeit temporarily, now is a good time to take stock of the shopping experience in Oxford.

The Westgate work is very much short-term pain for long-term gain.

Whether you shop at Primark or not, there is no denying that it is one of the biggest draws in the city centre.

Big chain retailers, such as Primark, are great boosts for places like Oxford. As well as being a big employer, such shops pull people into the city, meaning they’ll be more likely to pop into nearby stores, cafes and restaurants.

Footfall is incredibly important to keep business booming and losing Primark, even for a short while, could have a marked knock-on effect in the city.

Roadworks and building sites don’t always make for the most pleasant shopping experience, but if we are to have a buzzing city centre we need to make sure we support local enterprise, small independents especially so.

But to get there we do have to endure the necessary work, as annoying as it might be.

Let’s make sure that we keep all our local businesses ticking over as we wait for the work to be completed.

Ultimately it is Oxford shoppers who will benefit from all this upheaval, so let’s do our bit and keep spending our money here while all of this is going on.