Oxford hails “stability” as first half 2024 breaks records

If you’ve been in search of news that indicates the precipitous highs and lows of the last few years is over – and let’s face it, we all have – Oxford has some encouraging findings it is sharing with the trade, including a best-ever first half 2024 for the business.

Posting record numbers for the first six months and with more investments in the works, Oxford boss Henry Rivers Fletcher emphasised consistency in business.

He said: “The story of 2024 is one of stability. Gone are the violent ups and downs of recent years. Our sales this year have been much more consistent, our stock management much more accurate, our business practises more disciplined – all enabling us to run the business much more efficiently.”

Alongside that first half 2024 performance, Oxford’s programme of upgrades and investments this year includes:

• an expanded canteen at HQ.
• a new dedicated helmet showroom, plus refurbished showrooms for Oxford’s ever-expanding range of motorcycle accessories and clothing.
• an upgraded and refurbished Creative Content Centre, generating all the marketing assets which support the growth of the business.
• new talent in almost every area of the business, to support an ambitious 5-year growth plan.
• improved staff benefits, including subsidised private healthcare, more flexible holidays and increased professional development.

The firm said: “This is just the start. With greater stability established, the company has the platform to deliver an ambitious plan for growth between now and 2030 – watch this space.”

Oxford recently held staff summer parties in June and then July as Chairman, Oxford’s founder Alec Hammond returned from his latest travels. Hammond started the company in 1973, selling fibreglass top boxes from the back of a transit van. The company has ridden many storms over the years and now sells many thousands of products lines with a turnover of nearly £50m. Addressing the Oxford team, Hammond said: “Like most businesses in the UK, if not the world, we have experienced some challenging, unpredictable, stormy times since March 2020. But for those of us old enough to remember, there have always been challenges for the business. Recessions, political upheavals, energy crises, financial crashes.

“We’ve seen them all, but always had the right people with the right ideas, the tenacity, the creativity and the sheer willpower to turn adversity into opportunity and opportunity into success. And that is what makes us what we are, our people. So, expect to see continued investment this year and the coming years in you, our people.”