Big name businesses were lost from Oxfordshire’s high streets during 2025.
Cycle shops, family restaurants, national chains, a builder’s merchant and even a museum closed last year.
Here are seven of the business that shut down over the past 12 months.
Blanchford Building Supplies
Headington-based Blanchford Building Supplies closed down in February after 87 years of trading after underperformance and a cash flow issue had rendered it unable to buy essential stock.
Administrators were called and revealed Blanchford, which also had sites in Bicester, Wallingford, Princes Risborough and Haddenham, had racked up debts of more than £3.3m to suppliers.
Its principal yard which it had the freehold for was in Wallingford, which the administrators accepted an offer of £775,000 for and a sale was completed on July 29.
Beeline Bicycles in Cowley Road, which at one point had an annual turnover of £2m, ceased trading on August 2 after 30 years of business.
As recently as the spring, Beeline Bicycles had “positive” trading results at £116,000 and £129,000 for April and May, respectively.
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But the business said in a report to Companies House that the heatwave in June “did not have a positive effect on sales”, which fell to £89,000.
“This was a sales figure we would expect for the off-season in winter, not the height of summer,” said managing director Luis Tulip.
“Whilst trade improved in July (£103,000) it was not enough to address the failings of the previous month.
“At the end of July the bank opted not renew the £10,000 overdraft due to arrears with HMRC, and with a negative balance sheet the directors took the decision to cease trading on August 2, 2025 and place the company into creditors voluntary liquidation.”
Bike Zone owner Stuart Meanwell said his business had run up debts trying to survive Covid, Government policies and customers shopping online.
Joint liquidators 24 creditors have been listed as being owed £170,368 by the St Michael’s Street-based shop.
The liquidators estimate a total deficiency for the shareholder Mr Meanwell of £224,075 once claims against the company have been met.
Go Fly Oxford
Liquidators have been instructed to wind down Go Fly Oxford which provided lessons for commercial and private pilots licences.
Statement of affairs for the business reveal a £230,621 deficiency for creditors, including employees, HMRC and Oxford Airport.
However, there are only £6,000 worth of assets on the company’s books that will be available for creditors, meaning it’s likely everybody is going to lose out.
HMRC is owed £118,133 in unpaid VAT and PAYE, the liquidators’ report says, and two employees have claims totalling £3,366.
Reporter Andy Ffrench with Glut owner Sami Mahfouz
Glut
Debts for the burger restaurant Glut were revealed at almost £100,000 by liquidators.
Glut Ltd, which trades as Glut, was put into voluntary liquidation in January 2024 having been operating for around five years.
The diner, in George Street, opened in 2019 and enjoyed much success early on, having climbed to the top of customer review website TripAdvisor’s restaurant charts within six weeks of opening.
But a notice on the door suggested the landlords took control of the property at the end of last year.
The notice on behalf of Nuffield College said the lease had been forfeited and the premises “secured”.
Mutch Meats
More than £12m of debts was racked up by the Morgan family who took over the Witney-based family-run abattoir Mutch Meats in 2019.
It fell into administration during the summer, but a sale of Mutchmeats Limited was completed shortly afterwards by SMS Food Group Ltd – another company owned by Mutch Meats director Nigel Morgan, 64, meaning the business can continue.
Before that, Mutch Meats was placed into administration after a creditor owed money filed a winding up petition against the company.
It all went wrong on August 8 this year, a day after a creditor had been paid £50,000 under an agreed payment plan, who then filed a winding up petition against Much Meats Ltd.
“The company did not have sufficient funds to defend the winding up petition and supporting creditors, had no cash to enable continued trading and the secured lenders were not in a position to make any further finance available,” the administrators said.
Wallers Estate Agents
The award-winning Wallers Estate Agents is listed as permanently closed on Google and is in the process of being liquidated, Companies House accounts reveal.
Predominantly based in Rose Hill, Oxford, the company also had a branch in Swindon and was a member of the Property Ombudsman.
Set up by Rowan Waller in 2014, the business pitched itself on its website as “the antidote to what people always see as your typical estate agency”.
Statement of affairs submitted to Companies House on September 8 reveal Wallers Estate Agents Ltd has debts of £59,826 owed to creditors.
