The Oxford Pound, due to be launched in 2014, will be worth the same as the pound sterling, but it will only be valid tender in shops participating in the scheme. The aim is to boost independent businesses, keeping money circulating within the city.
Adam O’Boyle, who runs the Turl Street Kitchen, is pioneering the scheme. He told Cherwell, “We are currently in the very early stages of development. We have a small committee put together, and have an economist looking into the prospects for a local currency”.
According to O’Boyle, there are currently around a dozen local traders behind the scheme, but he expects that this will increase. He hopes that the new currency will be in use by next spring.
Few of the independent shops that Cherwell contacted were aware that a local currency was due to be implemented next year, but many seemed eager to register their support for such a system.
A spokesperson for Red Opia, a gift shop in the Covered Market, said, “If it’s helping small businesses, then sure, it sounds like a good idea”. She added “I’d need to know more before I said ‘yes’ or ‘no’ myself”.
The Oxford Pound will take inspiration from a similar system in Bristol, which has been in operation since 2012. Their system has been a resounding success, with around 400 independent businesses subscribed to it. Discounts are often available to those who use the Bristol Pound, and the mayor is now paid in the city currency.
Bristol’s system is run jointly by the community interest company Bristol Pound and the cooperative Bristol Credit Union, which charges to convert local money into sterling. O’Boyle’s committee is looking into working with a similar organisation in Oxford. It is expected that competitions for the design of the new banknotes will be announced later this year.
O’Boyle said, “As Oxford residents we would hope to do all we can to support local traders. As for students, who are, in a sense, temporary residents, using the Oxford Pound would be a great way for them to involve themselves in the local community”.
One Hertford geographer told Cherwell “I think that this scheme is an excellent idea. In the world of Amazon and Ebay, local businesses as well as the high street have suffered badly. We often hear of concerns for the Covered Market’s future. Hopefully this will put some life back into Oxford’s local economy”.
O’Boyle hopes that Oxford colleges will one day purchase Cherwell newspapers in Oxford Pounds.
