focus on oxford
Oxford: An aspirational city of ‘dreaming spires’?
As a professional wordsmith I naturally admire Oxford, writes John Burbedge – a city that printed its first book in 1478 two years after Caxton’s printing press; produced the Oxford English Dictionary first edition in 1884; and apparently has the world’s most published writers per square mile
Oxford has many more unique claims to fame and admiration. For example, it is home to the oldest university in the English-speaking world and The Ashmolean, the world’s oldest purpose-built museum, plus the Oxford University Press (OUP) now printing for scholarly readers in over 40 languages and achieving the widest global presence of its type (no pun intended).
Among many films, Oxford was also a location for three Harry Potter blockbusters, but, more importantly, real-life Oxford is today the UK’s top city for good business growth – pipping Reading for the second year running.
According to the 2017 PwC-Demos ‘Good Growth for Cities’ index measuring economic wellbeing, Oxford and Reading maintained the substantial gap between themselves and other large UK cities, “... reflecting their continued improvement in jobs, income, and skills. Both cities also perform strongly on new business and health.”
In 1865 professor of poetry Matthew Arnold was inspired by the university skyline to call Oxford “the city of dreaming spires”, but today is it a city that inspires and supports aspiring business dreams?
Not everybody is an inspired entrepreneurial powerhouse able to aspire and achieve business start-up from a damp garage, cramped bedroom or kitchen table.
Arguably to progress from inspiration to aspiration to achievement, individuals and businesses need assistance – of fundamental infrastructure such as education, transport networks, communication and energy resources, plus workplace and leisure environments in which to relax and be free to be creative, not forgetting professional services business support
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – MAY/JUNE 2018
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in the fields of finance, law, and commercial administrative advice.
As PwC partner Jonathan House commented when revealing the annual index: “Delivering good growth cannot be achieved by any one person working alone but goes hand-in-hand with place-based transformation, where local government, central government and the private sector act together and work collaboratively to deliver outcomes and where place-based leaders facilitate local economic growth, prosperity and well-being.
“If cities are to sustain their strong performance of recent years, this puts a priority on delivering place-based growth that is inclusive and addresses key supply side constraints, particularly infrastructure.”
Oxford, where it stands now ...
The city exists Saturn-like in the centre of its own unique semi-rural universe, with its orbital A34/A40/A4142 road system providing a distinctive planetary ring, surrounded by a galaxy of
economic moons such as Kidlington, Eynsham, Witney, Abingdon, Thame and Bicester plus bright star clusters like Oxford Science Park, Culham, Harwell, and Milton Park.
With an ethnically diverse population of 161,300 within its 45.59 sq km, Oxford is the 52nd largest city in the UK, yet also one of the UK’s fastest growing, and a leading globally-recognised technology cluster.
Oxford has one of the youngest and best-qualified populations in the country with around 70% working in knowledge intensive activities.
Educational excellence underpins the city’s growth. The University of Oxford topped the 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the second year in a row. Annually, the University receives multiple applications for every place at its 38 colleges. During term-time around 42,000 students will be within the city environs.
Another reason for Oxford’s growth is a 19.3% increase in private-sector jobs
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