Partner Press Releases

Gold sustainability accreditation for Oxford Brookes Venues

In recognition of its exceptional sustainability standards, Oxford Brookes Venues has been awarded a gold accreditation by the industry’s ECOsmart scheme. The ECOsmart scheme, run by Greengage Solutions, recognises eco-friendly hotels and conference venues that meet certified high standards of environmental sustainability. The gold accreditation acknowledges that extensive measures have been put in place to…

Oxford City Council provides almost £33m of business support grants

Oxford City Council has provided almost £33m to help Oxford’s businesses through the coronavirus pandemic. The City Council has provided 4,734 grants to businesses in the city since the first lockdown in March 2020. Alongside this, the City Council has also provided £57.5m of rates relief to businesses in the city. The grants and rates…

Oxford City Council investing now to help visitor economy rebound after pandemic

Oxford City Council is making investments now to help the city’s visitor economy rebound after the coronavirus pandemic. The new investments include: £50,000 to Experience Oxfordshire to help support the tourism sector in Oxford over the next two years A partnership to deliver a much-needed new hotel in the former Boswells building £20,000 to…

Blenheim Palace carries out emergency roof repairs as part of Government’s Culture Recovery Fund

A team of conservation contractors is carrying out emergency repair work to fix leaking leadwork on the roof of the Palace with a grant from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Lifeline grants from the Culture Recovery Fund are designed to protect heritage sites and ensure that jobs and access to culture and heritage in local…

Bletchley Park is sharing new puzzles every week!

Whether you love crosswords or word searches, want to try your hand at some code-making, or to simply relax and unwind with a fascinating podcast, Bletchley Park has you covered. In line with the current lockdown restrictions, the once-secret, World War Two intelligence centre, now a popular museum and heritage site, is currently closed…

Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach bus service to kassam stadium vaccination COVID 19 centre

Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach will provide crucial daily links to the new mass COVID-19 vaccination centre at the Kassam Stadium

The revised timetables will provide a direct half-hourly service to the vaccination centre in Grenoble Road, Oxford, via the Oxford Bus Company city3A and Stagecoach 3A services. The services will also be extended at both ends to serve Oxford Rail station as well as the City Centre and extend to Cowley Centre from Oxford Science…

City Council begins project that could see Covered Market transformed for future generations of shoppers

As the jewel in the crown of the city centre, Oxford City Council has begun a project that could see the Covered Market transformed for future generations of shoppers. The City Council will develop a masterplan – a critical document that will set out how the market could be regenerated and improved – during…

New Chief Executive announced for Oxford City Council

New Chief Executive announced for Oxford City Council Caroline Green has been named as the new Chief Executive at Oxford City Council to succeed Gordon Mitchell who is due to step down in the new year following a contract extension. The appointment of Caroline, who is currently Assistant Chief Executive, follows a rigorous recruitment…

Extended Season for Christmas at Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace and Sony Music, the co-producers of Christmas at Blenheim Palace, are delighted to announce that due to popular demand, the Illuminated Trail will be extended to include new dates from 6 -10 January 2021. The Illuminated Trail takes visitors on a spectacular outdoor adventure full of festive cheer. It is the perfect way…

Christmas Lights Bus returns by popular demand

Oxford Bus Company today announced its ‘Christmas Lights Bus’ will return this month to further spread some festive cheer. It follows the success of the Oxford Lights Festival last month, which saw a decorated City Sightseeing Oxford open-top bus lead a tour. Thanks to an overwhelming positive public response to the event Oxford Bus Company…

Oxford City Council, Experience Oxfordshire, Independent Oxford and The Oxford Times refresh campaign to support retailers this Christmas

Oxford City Council, Experience Oxfordshire, Independent Oxford and The Oxford Times have refreshed their campaign to support retailers this Christmas. The four organisations have been working together to promote businesses during the lockdown, and encourage people to support local traders by shopping online. But now, with Oxford moving out of lockdown, the campaign will encourage…

Oxford University’s museums and Bodleian Library to reopen to the public

1 December, Oxford – Oxford University’s museums are reopening to the public this week as Oxfordshire moves into Tier 2 lockdown restrictions. The Ashmolean Museum, Pitt Rivers Museum, History of Science Museum, and the Museum of Natural History, which have been closed since 2 November, are now able to reopen to the public from 2 December. The Ashmolean Museum…

Oxford Bus Company increases Airline services to support students returning home for Christmas

The Oxford Bus Company will reinstate its Airline coach service to Gatwick Airport from Sunday and operate more services to Heathrow Airport. It is increasing the number of journeys between Oxford and Heathrow and Gatwick airports to match services with new levels of demand and continue to support social distancing measures. Services between Oxford and…

New coaches take to the road, a Christmas treat for Oxford Tube passengers

Passengers on the Oxford Tube are set to enjoy the latest in passenger comfort and convenience as the wheels are due to start turning on Stagecoach’s £13 million investment into new coaches on the Oxford Tube. The first two coaches will start carrying customers from Saturday 28th November with the entire fleet being replaced by…

Fairytale Farm has been named as England’s fastest-growing farm attraction

Fairytale Farm has been named as England’s fastest-growing farm attraction, according to the Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions, just published by Visit England (1). The results from this survey are reported annually, providing an overview of the visitor attraction sector. The newly-published figures, which are for the full 2019 season, show that Fairytale…

Santa Set to “Steam Into Christmas” at Railway Centre

Staff and volunteers at Didcot Railway Centre are working hard to prepare for a very special visitor when the Covid-secure site is able to re-open in December. Father Christmas himself will be at the popular tourist attraction on weekends from 5 – 20 December plus Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23. Visitors will be able to…

Virtual Oxbridge Meet Up – Focuses On Positive Future for Conferences and Events

The first-ever virtual meeting of event professionals from Cambridge and the University of Oxford has just taken place – with representatives from 60 venues, including Colleges, Museums, Libraries and hotels checking in to share ideas on the future hosting of conferences and events in their cities. The Zoom summit, jointly organised by Meet Cambridge and…

Bicester Hotel and Spa Welcomes New Chef

Bicester Hotel & Spa are delighted to welcome their new award-winning, Head Chef, Michael Carr. He will be running the kitchen in Bicester Hotel & Spa while introducing us to some of his delicious dishes. Michael has won the Heinz Gold Award, demonstrating his passion for excellence. Michael’s dream for Grays Restaurant is to fill…

More than 20,000 visitors enjoy open-top bus tour of Oxford

More than 20,000 visitors to Oxford have enjoyed a tour of the city via City Sightseeing Oxford’s open-top bus service since it re-opened in July. The attraction has played a key role in helping draw visitors into Oxford as part of a wider campaign to help the city’s tourism, hospitality and retail sectors through COVID-19….

ENJOY A CHRISTMAS FEAST WITH A SRI-LANKAN TWIST AT STREET FOOD RESTAURANT & BAR, THE COCONUT TREE

Pioneering Sri Lankan street food restaurant group The Coconut Tree will be giving the traditional ‘Christmas menu’ a south Asian twist this winter. The independent boutique operators are front-runners in bringing fresh Sri Lankan dishes to the UK, coupled with a laid-back, convivial atmosphere. Whether it’s Sri-Lankan-style Split Sprouts with Cashews, or spicy Devilled Pigs…

Stagecoach Improve Banbury Bus Service to the Horton Hospital

From Monday 12th October, changes to bus services in Banbury will see improved links to new developments and the main employment sites at the Wildmere Industrial Estate, Horton Hospital and Southam Road sites. Supported through s106 funding agreed with Oxfordshire County Council, the changes will also result in better cross town links and changes to…