THREE Witney traders are combining their talents to boost business at a difficult time for independent stores.

Donna Taylor, of Solana Sunbeds, Melissa Day, of Bee's Dress Agency, and Elli Conroy, of Vacufit, have all started up in the same building on Witney High Street in the last two years.

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Sharing the same space means customers often move from one business to another, gaining vital extra footfall.

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The trio were strangers when they first moved in, but Ms Day revealed striking up a relationship has benefited them more than they could ever have imagined.

She said: “You can literally come in for the sunbeds, go on the vacufit and buy some clothes.

“People who go on the sunbeds usually come up and have a look.

“It’s about everybody working together to help each other.”

Ms Day, from Witney, was the most recent of the three to move in when she opened the dress agency last month.

Oxford Mail:

The 53-year-old worked as a finance manager at Oxford Brookes University for 27 years, but she fancied a new path and clothing was a natural fit.

She said: "It was a time in my life where it was nice to have a change.

“I’d always loved clothes but there wasn’t a dress agency in Witney. The nearest is Burford and that’s more vintage."

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Ms Conroy and Ms Taylor run Solana Sunbeds as a joint venture, while Vacufit is run solely by the the former.

Vacufit is an unusual method to lose weight, where people are strapped into exercise machines which can burn up to 500 calories in half an hour.

Oxford Mail:

The company has occupied the building for a couple of years, while Solana opened its doors in June, and Ms Conroy revealed the two businesses go hand-in-hand.

She said: “We’re quite unique – people want sunbeds and they want to get fit.

“People come up to see me after the sunbeds, then they go and see Melissa.”

The thriving dress agency is a particularly interesting case study when set against the latest one of Witney's independent stores to close.

Keates of Witney, in the Market Square, could shut its menswear section as early as the end of this month, after more than a century in the town centre.

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The store has had a loyal customer base throughout 107 years of trading, but its manager, David Ferriman, attributes the store's decline to the rise of online shopping.

Yet after a successful launch event, Ms Day feels there is still a place for independent clothing stores on the high street.

She said: “People still like to try clothes on.

Oxford Mail:

"They know they can put things back and they don't have the hassle of having to order stuff in."

The closure of Keates comes weeks after West Oxfordshire District Council announced its support for a government scheme which will cut retailers’ rates by a third if they have a rateable value of £51,000 or less.

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The move was hailed as 'keeping the high street alive' at a turbulent time, with many businesses facing uncertainty as Britain prepares to leave the European Union on March 29.

Ms Conroy and Ms Day both felt Brexit would not be too damaging, but the latter admitted she will only be able to measure the impact in 12 months time.

She said: “I said I would give it a go and see how I got on and in a year’s time hopefully it will have done well.”