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I spent my teenage years as a largely unemployed musician. After that, I worked in hospitality management for a few years, followed by a 9-to-5 job in sales. By my mid-thirties, I wanted to do something more ethical, so I bought a part of the Riverford cooperative business and ran their operations in Oxfordshire for about 15 years, which was a great experience. Eventually, I decided to sell my business back to the farm, and, just over 3 years ago, I found myself looking for a new venture.
Having been heavily involved in food distribution, I wanted to explore a better way of doing it. I was aware of cycle deliveries and felt there was huge potential for a zero-carbon future in transport and distribution. Coincidentally, one of my oldest friends, Will (also a musician), was looking for a new venture. He’s a cycling enthusiast, so we decided to combine our skills—his passion for cycling and my experience. One afternoon, we sat down to brainstorm names for our new venture, and things took off from there.
We started with just myself and one other rider. In April 2021, after some trial runs, we began operating as a service. We’re a limited company offering a high-quality service that reduces emissions, air pollution, and congestion—something we believe is the future of transport. We aim to improve life for people, the city, and the environment. We now have over 10 full-time equivalent employees, employing around 21 people in total, with three vans and eight cargo bikes.
Today, we work with around 80 local businesses, delivering a range of items—from Waste 2 Taste catering to early-morning bakery goods for companies like Missing Bean, Hamblin, and Proof, as well as coffee roasters, printed artwork, and medical samples.
We quickly realised that bikes are great for city-centre deliveries, but for areas outside the city, we needed a different solution. That’s when we introduced three electric vans. Despite increased capacity, we continue to focus largely on supporting small, local businesses.
In our first three to six months, we worked out of my garage and later moved to a storage shed in Osney Mead. After extensive but unfruitful discussions with Makespace, the City Council, and the University, we returned to the commercial market and secured a warehouse near BMW with a mezzanine office space . We still use the Osney shed as well.
Collaboration is key to our growth.
We’re currently in discussions with Kieron from Fusion Arts about a city-centre location and working on projects like Good Food Oxford’s Farm to Fork.
The Farm to Fork project has been fantastic. The project started as a WhatsApp group sharing surplus produce from local farms with university kitchens. Farmers list what they have available, and university chefs have embraced the sometimes wonky or dirty but always properly grown. This initiative has grown to include 18 colleges.
Independent Oxford has been another invaluable partner, providing a supportive network of small business owners. They’ve connected us to new opportunities, from delivering artwork to London to supporting a coffee roaster running a prescription service. The network is a great space for honest conversations about shared challenges like insurance, cash flow, and business rates.
Cash flow is our biggest challenge. As we approach the publication of our second full year of accounts, we’ve achieved a turnover of £300K but are not yet breaking even. Our directors take low wages, and we don’t make a profit. We’ve received some small funding through Farm to Fork from South and Vale District Council for fridges and a bike purchase grant from the Energy Saving Trust.
We’re interested in being part of a European research project across five cities. We’re also collaborating with the City Council’s Clean Air department to help traders with logistics.
The landscape of funding and advice can feel like a maze. We’ve tried engaging with support organisations but these didn’t provide the support we needed. Peer networks like Independent Oxford play a crucial role in building trust and shared knowledge – learning from people in the same position as us who have recent experiences.
The relationship between traders, the colleges and councils needs improvement: the university plays a significant role here with 38 colleges as significant property investors. Oxford High Street Traders Association has more university bursars than traders attending their meetings.
Navigating Support Systems
It would be incredibly helpful to have a clear guide—a "handbook" detailing who to approach for what. More support for peer networks, such as Independent Oxford, would benefit many small businesses.
Utilising Empty Spaces
There are many empty spaces in the city that could be repurposed. Meanwhile-use initiatives need more focus. The University, in particular, has a stronghold on property in Oxford, which could be better utilised for collaborative projects and retain more community wealth within the city benefiting those who live and work here.
Improving Relationships
We need to work together to create a unified approach to transport policies that work for everyone - traders, the university, the local authority, individuals - and this needs to include expanding the use of cargo bikes.
This case study is part of the 'Community wealth building: big conversations' project. These case studies are in the voice of the people who gave them. They seek to honestly present their successes, as well as the challenges of trying to build a more just, sustainable economy and community. We encourage conversation - so if you want to get in touch and talk more to any of the groups, please do.
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