A VOLUNTEER group has called for ideas on how to strengthen Chipping Norton’s economy.

The Cotswold Enterprise Community Interest Company has been set up to look at ways of using business to support the community.

Chipping Norton suffered heavy job losses after two large manufacturers, Parker Knoll and Solar Designs, closed. When the Parker Knoll furniture factory shut in 2003, 140 people lost their jobs.

The enterprise company, which has eight volunteers on its board, believes there are more than 100 unemployed people in Chipping Norton, which has a population of about 8,000.

Spokesman Tom Hills said: “We’re really focusing on assessing what the town itself needs and then we can approach town partnerships and councils.

“We’re also looking at what we can do as a company to support the town.”

He added: “Quite a few years ago, Chipping Norton was a manufacturing town.

“When the biggest employer, Parker Knoll, closed there were a lot of redundancies. That hit the town really hard and we had 100 plus people that had families and no jobs.

“With no other big employers, there have been no jobs opening up in the area.

“We want to do anything that can help these people, even if it’s as simple as providing a computer to send emails.”

Almost 100 surveys have been completed by residents, in a joint project with the website ChippyBusiness.com. The site has discussion forums, interviews with local business people and the new online surveys.

Paul Meathrel, founder of ChippyBusiness.com, said: “Chippy is a great place to live and work.

“However, as the population of the town increases, we need to stimulate economic development and generate the right type of jobs.”