Botley Road: Goodwill cash over three-year road closure in Oxford
Businesses affected by the extended closure of a major route in Oxford will receive goodwill payments to "recognise the trouble the delays have caused", the rail minister has said.Some small, local businesses impacted by the delayed works on Botley Road will be eligible to receive one-off payments from an £850,000 government fund.The road has been closed since April 2023 as part of a £261m Network Rail project to upgrade Oxford Station and is expected to reopen in August 2026.Rail Minister Lord Hendy welcomed the additional support and said he was "glad the project is now on track".
When the rail operator first outlined its plans the road was expected to be shut over two six-month periods, with a six-month break in-between in April 2023.But in September 2023 it announced there would be no break because works had run behind schedule. Then in July last year it said it would not reopen in October as planned due to "highly complex" pipework and the discovery of a Victorian-era arch.A new timetable was adopted in January this year, with reopening set for August 2026.
During a visit to the site on Friday, Lord Hendy said: "I'm pleased that Network Rail can now offer payments to those eligible small, local businesses affected, and while it can't undo all the hardship businesses have faced, it recognises the trouble the delays have caused."I will continue to hold Network Rail to account and engage with the local community," he said."I look forward to the scheme being completed, so Oxford can benefit from more frequent and accessible transport links to boost growth in this bustling city."
Businesses can apply for the one-off government payments through Network Rail, although a time scale has not yet been provided for when the funding would be handed out.Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said the payments would go "some way towards repairing the damage caused by the chaos and disruption of this project"."Today I breathe a massive sigh of relief, with support finally available for businesses struggling with the impact of the never-ending road closure," she continued."Our vibrant local businesses now have a better chance to come out of the other side of this difficult period and thrive."
The scheme follows the closure of Courtney Pianos after more than three decades - with the owner pinpointing the long delays to the Botley Road works as the main cause.Owner David Hogben told the BBC the effect the disruption had on the shop was "like falling off the edge of a cliff", adding there had been a 40% drop in sales since the closure.In April, five separate businesses affected by the works stopped paying their business rates and said they would not pay them until they received further financial support.At the time, Network Rail said it was supporting local firms with "independent, tailored advice" to apply for a reduction in their business rates.
During Lord Hendy's visit to Oxford it was also revealed that costs for the scheme had risen to £261m - about £100m more than initially suggested.A new walkway and cycleway is also set to be completed this summer.Marcus Jones, Network Rail's western route director, said: "We know the delays to this project have been frustrating, and we're sorry for the disruption they've caused."The good news is that the project is now firmly back on track, and we're making strong progress."We're committed to keeping the community informed as we deliver a safer, more accessible Oxford station for everyone."
You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
11 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK's Mulberry plans 20 million pound capital raise as losses mount
June 20 - Britain's Mulberry Group (MUL.L), opens new tab said on Friday it intends to raise 20 million pounds ($26.98 million) of capital to help fund its growth strategy, as the embattled luxury firm forecast a loss of 23 million pounds for fiscal 2025. ($1 = 0.7412 pounds)
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hundreds of jobs at risk as River Island plans store closures
Hundreds of jobs are at risk at River Island as part of plans to shut 33 of its UK stores. The retailer has unveiled a radical restructuring plan in a bid to reverse recent heavy losses due to a slump in trading. Bosses blamed the closures on the 'migration of shoppers from the high street to online' and higher costs to run stores. The family-owned retailer confirmed it is proposing to close 33 of its 230 stores by January next year as a result. A further 71 stores are also at risk depending on talks with landlords in order to secure improved rental deals. The retailer, which employs around 5,500 people, was founded in 1948 under the Lewis and Chelsea Girl brand before being renamed in the 1980s. It has reportedly hired advisers from PwC in order to oversee the restructuring process. The proposals are set to go to a vote by the firm's creditors – companies or individuals owed money by the retailer – in August. The deal will result in fresh funding being invested into the business in order to help fuel its turnaround. Ben Lewis, chief executive of River Island, said: 'River Island is a much-loved retailer, with a decades-long history on the British high street. 'However, the well-documented migration of shoppers from the high street to online has left the business with a large portfolio of stores that is no longer aligned to our customers' needs. 'The sharp rise in the cost of doing business over the last few years has only added to the financial burden. 'We have a clear strategy to transform the business to ensure its long-term viability. 'Recent improvements in our fashion offer and in-store shopping experience are already showing very positive results, but it is only with a restructuring plan that we will be able to see this strategy through and secure River Island's future as a profitable retail business. 'We regret any job losses as a result of store closures, and we will try to keep these to a minimum.' The retailer is among high street fashion chains to have been impacted by weaker consumer spending and competition from cheaper online rivals, such as Shein. River Island fell to a £33.2 million loss in 2023 after sales slid by 19%, according to its most recent set of accounts.
Telegraph
14 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Inheritance tax is heinous, but avoiding it could be a bigger disaster
They say nothing in life is certain but death and taxes, but I propose to add a third to the list: investors doing everything imaginable to avoid taxes. The bigger the bite HMRC wants, the heavier the hustle to shield hard-earned assets. Thanks to Labour dragging pensions into the inheritance tax net, it is now a stampede. Yet the avoidance path conceals huge pits I've watched investors fall into throughout my 50 years managing money. Estate planning is wonderful, but too often, sensible planning leads to tax considerations dictating investment decisions. This raises risk, reduces returns and can hit your planned inheritance much harder than any tax rise. Consider popular ways people now seek to shield pensions from inheritance tax: investing in Aim shares is one, with the double benefit of stamp duty exemption and business property relief. Enterprise Investing Schemes (EIS) are another, and business property relief schemes letting you access unlisted companies is a third. All these sprang from past governments' investment incentives, hoping to spur entrepreneurship and startups. A fine aim. But pursuing a strategy aimed at these incentives solely for tax benefits aren't the sunlit uplands some promise. You don't need me to tell you Aim has a long history of scandals and failures alongside those select success stories that graduated to the main market. Or that its stocks are Britain's tiniest, with a median market capitalisation of £15m. Or that FTSE's Aim All Share is down nearly -30pc since 2000, while the FTSE All Share has soared over 275pc. Astronomical missed returns are a dear price to pay for tax relief, particularly one whose relief is rapidly diminishing – Aim stocks' BPR relief drops from 100pc to 50pc next year. EIS and BPR schemes carry another risk: overloading on unlisted companies. These sport the veneer of stability and, in EIS's case, supposedly high growth potential. They are billed as a way for normal folks to invest in venture capital and reap big rewards when a startup hits it big, but the reality is those are needles in a haystack of hard-to-value, illiquid investments. Winners aren't guaranteed – untraded doesn't mean stable. It just means fewer pricing points, hiding the inherent behind-the-scenes volatility. That is illiquidity – a bug, not a feature. You risk being unable to sell when you really need to without suffering a steep discount. Aim companies aren't categorically horrid. Some are fine, even great. EIS and BPR can also be fine tools, in certain situations. But it all depends on your broader goals and time horizon, which gets us to the root of the problem. Your fixation on tax steers you away from why you invested in the first place. Done right, long-term investing is about picking the correct asset allocation – the blend of stocks, bonds and other securities – for reaching your goals over your investment time horizon. Your goals are the primary purpose for your money, usually growth, cash flow or some combination of the two. Your time horizon is how long your money must last, usually your lifetime – clearly longer if inheritance tax is a concern. Throughout history, stocks and bonds have done a marvellous job of delivering the growth and cash flow people need, given a sufficiently long-term horizon and reasonable withdrawals. Stocks deliver abundant long-term growth, despite bear markets and volatility along the way, while bonds cushion expected short-term volatility and support cash flow with interest. British and global listed stocks and bonds are liquid – easy to sell in a pinch to cover expenses both expected and sudden. When tax avoidance takes supremacy, will you let it steer you from whichever liquid asset allocation aligned with your goals and needs? If your pension is loaded with Aim shares, EIS or BPR schemes to reduce inheritance tax, it risks not delivering the returns needed to support your cash flow later on. Aged poverty is a real pain. Or maybe your pension ends up worth vastly less for your heirs, after tax, than if you had opted for a simple blend of stocks and bonds. If you have a sudden expense, your pension may not be liquid enough to cover it. Then what do you do? Borrow? Don't forget, tax policy is a whack-a-mole game. Pensions were exempt from inheritance tax until they weren't. After halving Aim relief in 2024's Budget, Labour capped BPR last year. Some ministers floated scrapping Aim relief altogether. What then? If you focus on tax optimisation, you may find yourself needing to make big changes again. And again. And again. Changes cost money. Taxes are certain in general, but the specifics are shape-shifting. When your goals and time horizon determine your strategy, there are fewer moving parts. You can build a diversified strategy with a long history of delivering what you need, while taking sensible steps to reduce tax exposure where available. Tax avoidance is nice. Liquidity, predictability and reaching your goals? Nicer.
