Our Strategies
In Oxfordshire, we benefit from a successful economy with a variety of global assets and it is our aim to create and maintain conditions that make our county the location of choice for world-leading businesses.
Crucial to maximising our global potential is creating investor confidence and creating an infrastructure that is fit-for-purpose; building on Oxfordshire's world-leading centre of knowledge and innovation.
To support this approach, we have regularly teamed-up with Oxfordshire's private sector and public sector to develop a number of high-profile strategies and approaches that match the ambitions of businesses in Oxfordshire.
This also aligns with our overall vision for Oxfordshire, which is for it to be:
'A vibrant, sustainable, inclusive, world-leading economy – driven by innovation, enterprise and research excellence.'
We champion Oxfordshire’s economic potential, acting as a catalyst and convenor to drive growth and believe our county is a great place to do business – with locations like; Oxford, Bicester and Science Vale UK and its Enterprise Zones acting as great hubs for significant commercial opportunities for world-class businesses.
Our strategies to support Oxfordshire's ambitious economy include:
The Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy
Launched in September 2019, the ambition for the Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy is to position the county as one of the top-three global innovation ecosystems, highlighting our world-leading science and technology cluster and to be a pioneer for the UK and our emerging transformative technologies and sectors.
Find out more on the Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy
The Oxfordshire Energy Strategy
Launched in November 2019, the Oxfordshire Energy Strategy sets out an ambitious framework to enable the county to be at the forefront of energy innovation to foster clean growth.
Clean energy offers communities and businesses real opportunity in Oxfordshire and the UK and our Energy Strategy demonstrates to the UK how we can consume energy more efficiently and harness it for future generations.
Find out more on the Oxfordshire Energy Strategy
Championing Oxfordshire's economy:
In addition to this, we have continued to champion the significant capabilities in Oxfordshire supporting a drive towards a cleaner, more sustainable future for everyone globally.
Activity includes:
COP26
Alongside the main, worldwide event hosted in Glasgow, OxLEP – supported by the Greater South East Energy Hub – hosted an official UN COP26 regional roadshow on 9 November 2021 (during the Presidency's 'science and innovation' day) at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford.
Our programme was built around a ‘billion tonne drop’ theme, showcasing how the county’s world-leading innovation ecosystem can generate major global carbon emission savings through the significant capabilities generated within Oxfordshire, including in the fields of fusion energy, solar power, construction, electric vehicles and aviation.
Find out more on our COP26 activity
Ox to Zero
OxLEP joined forces with the leading Oxfordshire voices of the University of Oxford, Harwell Campus and the Culham Science Centre-based UKAEA to host the first-ever OX to ZERO conference in September 2022.
The inaugural one-day conference, hosted at the Blavatnik School of Government in Oxford, brought together dozens of the most-innovative thinkers, investors and entrepreneurs exploring the potential of new ideas and technologies ready to accelerate the net-zero transformation, in-turn, showcasing a host of game-changing capabilities that call Oxfordshire 'home'.
WATCH: OX to ZERO 2022: Oxfordshire's world-leading solutions to reaching net zero
EP:50
Our Energy Pathfinders: 2050 (EP:50) competition followed the publication of the county’s Energy Strategy and reflected the importance being placed on innovation in the context of the drive towards a cleaner, more sustainable future.
EP:50 shone a light on a wide range of vibrant and dynamic projects in the built environment and communities, transport and infrastructure and energy efficiency and demand reduction arenas, showcasing the significant global capabilities within Oxfordshire.
Find out more on our EP:50 programme
We also champion, convene and highlight key sectors in Oxfordshire, in particular, those with significant international reach.
The Oxfordshire Creative Industries Showcase
One sector that we have continued to highlight the global capabilities of is our creative industries sector.
Almost 4,000 creative industries businesses called Oxfordshire ‘home’, pre-pandemic – we want to help the sector to continue to view Oxfordshire as the place to be, both nationally and indeed globally. And prior to COVID-19, the creative industries sector in Oxfordshire contributed £1.4bn annually to the UK economy – this hasn’t been forgotten and we want to ensure that the sector forms a key part of our economic recovery.
WATCH: Oxfordshire Creative Industries Showcase 2022: Career journeys, inspiring the next generation
Find out more on Oxfordshire Creative Industries Showcase events
Additional strategies, previously developed in partnership with OxLEP, also include:
- Strategic Economic Plan (SEP)
- Strategic Environmental and Economic Investment Plan (SEEIP)
- Creative, Culture, Heritage and Tourism Investment Plan (CCHTIP)
- Oxfordshire Skills Strategy
- Innovation Strategy
- Oxfordshire ESIF Strategy
You can download copies of each strategy from Our Publications.
The Oxford to Cambridge Pan Regional Partnership
A group of leaders from Local Enterprise Partnerships, local government, the Arc Universities Group and England’s Economic Heartland are forming a new partnership for the Oxford to Cambridge area.
This partnership will champion the Oxford to Cambridge region as a world-leader of innovation and business, acting to achieve environmentally sustainable and inclusive growth that brings benefits to communities now and in the future.
OxLEP has worked alongside key partners to further showcase the regional economic potential to national and international audiences.
Find out more on the Oxford to Cambridge Pan Regional Partnership