TRAFFIC congestion has led to a new chapter for a firm of bookbinders in Headington, with staff relocating out of the city.

Employees at Temple Bookbinders of Oxford are frustrated by the commute into the city and owners said the lack of parking at their base in Stephen Road was not ideal for customers.

As a result the family-run firm is relocating to a purpose-built new building within Grade II-listed Paternoster Farm in Cassington Road, Yarnton, where bespoke binding, restoration, and paper conservation services will continue.

Company owners Ian and Pauline Barnes decided to relocate the business to escape traffic congestion, switching to a location where there were plenty of parking spaces.

Mrs Barnes, 53, said: "Our staff are fed up with the congestion they face on a daily basis to get in and out the city.

"One member of staff left because he did not want to have to fight the traffic and could not afford to move to a house in Oxford.

"Parking is a problem in Headington while in Yarnton there will be lots of parking spaces and Oxford Parkway station, which runs to London Marylebone, is also nearby.

"There is still very much a market for what we do, for bookworms and collectors, and we are preserving these skills and have found a location people can travel to easily without getting stuck in traffic."

Mrs Barnes said she expected the firm's new headquarters, where a team of six staff will be based, will be completed by April.

In 2015 the company, founded by Ian Barnes in 1994, became one of the official bookbinders to the Queen after being granted a Royal Warrant.

The Warrant recognised the high quality of the company’s work more than two decades after the company was founded.

A statement in the company's latest newsletter said: "There are many reasons to relocate – for staff and customers traffic and parking being the main one."

It added that the new bindery and bookshop would be located 'four miles north of Oxford with ample parking for customers in the farm's yard'.

The couple, who have three children, have already moved to live at the farm site in Yarnton.

Mrs Barnes added: "Despite Kindles people still love the smell of leather and the smell of a book, and want their special books to be rebound.

"I think this will be a good move for us and will allow the company to expand."

For further information visit templebookbinders.co.uk