A scaffolding firm and a tennis coaching enterprise have been named as winners of the Southern Oxfordshire New Business Competition from a field described as the strongest since it started. They were chosen as winners from 24 entries to the competition, which is for businesses in southern Oxfordshire within their first two years of trading. Continue reading →

Oxfordshire business leader Mike Jennings is nervously planning a job swap to mark National Apprenticeship Week. The Chairman of the Jennings family firm, which runs business parks and centres across Southern Oxfordshire, will spend a day working as a receptionist at their Hampden House office centre on Monument Park Chalgrove.

Regular receptionist, Amie Coles, will take on the role of Chairman for the day. Continue reading →

Two Oxfordshire Special Schools and Abingdon and Witney College have announced the establishment of a multi academy trust that will be the first of its kind in the country. The Propeller Academy Trust will build on an established working relationship between the College and Kingfisher School in Abingdon and Fitzwaryn School in Wantage.

Oxfordshire’s Fallowfields Country House Hotel and Restaurant at Kingston Bagpuize has announced a new, award-winning head chef will take the helm there next month.

Matt Weedon first gained a Michelin star at Glenapp Castle in Ayrshire and then at Lords of the Manor near Cheltenham. Altogether he has held the accolade for a total of six years, and is said to be one of the top 100 chefs in the country. Continue reading →

Harwell Oxford’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory will be the latest Oxfordshire business centre to host a campaign to boost the take up of apprenticeships.

The Making Sense of Apprenticeships event is on Wednesday March 13^th, and is billed as an opportunity for local employers to discuss all aspects of employing young people. For full details visit http://www.oxfordshireskillsboard.org/event/making-sense-of-apprenticeships-harwell/

Representatives of more than 40 Oxfordshire employers met potential employees of the future at a two-day Careers Fest event. Among those from 10 key sectors taking part were British Gas Business, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, The Royal Navy and hosts MINI Plant Oxford.

More than 1300 Year 11 and 6^th form students from 10 Oxfordshire schools were invited to talk to employers and to ‘have-a-go’ at a range of job-related skills activities. Continue reading →

“Working from office premises has raised our status within our industry giving our business a significantly greater professional image, and we were able to reclaim vital space in our home.” that’s what it means to be a winner of the Southern Oxfordshire New Business Competition (SONBC), according to previous winner Matt Stone at AD Health & Safety…and fledgling firms in the area are being urged to make their pitch for the big prize in 2013. Continue reading →

Oxford hospitality and catering businesses say a recycling initiative has made a big difference to the amount of food waste they dump in landfill, and helped cut costs. One leading city hotel group says the recycling initiative has cut the amount of food waste it dumps by 35 per cent.

The comments came at a food waste forum with a number of the 90 city hospitality and catering businesses that were involved in the free food waste collection trial. Continue reading →

In a November 2012 guest column for The Oxfordshire Guardian newspaper series, Ian Middleton, Retail Week columnist and Managing Director of Argenteus Jewellery on Oxford’s Cornmarket, on the ‘Fair Rates for Retail’ campaign… Continue reading →

Media students at Abingdon and Witney College have been given an exciting real-work challenge – to make a film of the high profile 2012 Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards evening.

The Awards  were presented at a glittering black–tie dinner in the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre at the Madejski Stadium, Reading in front of an audience of 340 guests, representing some of the region’s most dynamic and successful companies. Continue reading →