The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) took part in this year’s Business in Oxford (BIO) event on Wednesday (23 May).
The event was hosted at Oxford’s King’s Centre and attracted over 800 attendees, representing over 500 of Oxfordshire’s businesses.
Wednesday’s event focused on Oxford as a ‘world-class’ asset to the UK economy, with the airing of ‘Oxford & Oxfordshire – World Class & Connected’ – a film showing Oxfordshire’s contribution to the national economy.
OxLEP contributed a number of talks to the event, including: ‘Oxfordshire - a genuine global asset’ (given by Nigel Tipple – Chief Executive at OxLEP) and ‘Transformative technologies: Jobs for Generation Z’ (given by Richard Byard – Director of Business Development at OxLEP).
Rob Panting – Communications Manager also presented ‘Oxfordshire Business Voice – powered by B4’, which gave business leaders an opportunity to have their say on key issues affecting Oxfordshire.
As well as giving talks and presentations, OxLEP exhibited at the event, speaking with business leaders about issues facing business in Oxfordshire.
Business leaders were able to pick-up literature on a wide range of topics, including OxLEP’s strategies to promote growth and innovation in Oxfordshire.
The Chief Executive of OxLEP – Nigel Tipple – spoke on the importance of events like BIO to growth in Oxfordshire.
Mr Tipple said: “Business in Oxford and other showcase events provide businesses with opportunities to network and share ideas.
“They are an integral part of economic growth in Oxfordshire, and present a chance for businesses to set-up relationships that are vital to sustaining Oxfordshire’s world-leading economy.
“It is at events like these that the ‘world-class’ nature of Oxfordshire’s economy really shines. The sheer scale and variety of businesses present at BIO showed how much Oxfordshire has to contribute to the UK’s economy.”
PwC’s ‘Good Growth for Cities’ report, published in autumn last year, announced Oxford as being one of the two fastest-growing cities in the UK, reasserting the idea that Oxfordshire is a crucial contributor to the national economy.
Mr Tipple added “It was great to hear from businesses that have benefitted from OxLEP’s programmes and strategies. We always love to receive feedback about how people benefit from the guidance of support of our expert teams.”
The event closed with a show of appreciation for Bob Price, who recently stepped down as Leader of Oxford City Council after 10 years.
Cllr. Price was an OxLEP non-executive director for seven years, during which time he chaired the Oxfordshire Growth Board.
Download BIO presentation: ‘Oxfordshire - a genuine global asset’ (Nigel Tipple – Chief Executive)
