Sir – You gave great prominence last week to the Business Barometer (BB) survey and the suggestion that “business leaders say city is fast becoming a dead zone”.

However, missing from the article are two crucial pieces of information. First, how many business leaders responded to the survey – ten, one hundred, one thousand? Second, who coined the phrase “dead zone” that 75% of them chose to use – or was it extrapolated from the comments of one Witney-based businessman quoted in the original BB article?

These questions are important because the proposition in The Oxford Times headline is potentially very serious. If the term “dead zone” gains currency it will have a corrosive effect on Oxford’s prospects, despite all the capital investment coming into the city.

Also, I was surprised to find that the respondents consider Oxford to be dominated by retail outlets. Perhaps a distinction needs to be made between footfall and retail? Oxford has lots of tourists – well over 9m a year – but most stay only a couple of hours without shopping. It would be a wonderful boost to Oxford’s economy if they stayed to shop and eat.

And business and retail/hospitality space complement each other well. A thriving retail arena is likely to encourage the development and occupancy of office space.

The Oxford Town Team is a voluntary body with broad representation, mainly from the private sector in the city, which wants to help businesses thrive and help them through the inevitable disruption while all the changes take place.

We would be delighted to speak to business leaders to learn what they think the Oxford Town Team can do to make Oxford better. Anyone wanting to get in touch should email the Oxford city centre manager, Laurie-Jane Taylor, on LTaylor@oxford.gov.uk

Shamus Donald
Chairman, Oxford Town Team