Stephen Spencer

Where Stephen works

Oxford is known as the City of Dreaming Spires, but a couple of years ago it was also known as the City of Dreaming Cranes, as a 1990s planning decision by John Prescott NOT to allow the tired Westgate Shopping Centre to be redeveloped, was finally superseded and the new Westgate, anchored by John Lewis and full (well, 75% full) of shiny new shops, cafes and bars, with extensive rooftop dining options, a gym, escape room experience and a huge Curzon Cinema, opened just in time to battle the decline of the High Street and of course, the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic.

Without doubt, the Westgate is as much of a metaphor for the uncertain future of town centre retail, hospitality and leisure as the Radcliffe Camera (pictured) is a metaphor for the past, present and, who knows, the future of academia, insight and innovation.

The Oxford of Chief Inspector Morse could be said to have disappeared when the insalubrious Westgate Carpark, where Morse solved the Secret of Bay 5B, was demolished as part of the new retail development. And yet, while Morse spent much of his time investigating illegal activities among the denizens of the “Town”, he was kept equally busy uncovering nefarious activities in the pristine quads and ancient stairwells of the University (“Gown”).

This mixture of old and new, of academic contemplation and industrial output (William Morris – the other one – founded his eponymous car factory here, and the hugely successful reincarnation of the iconic Mini is still made here), of culture and commerce, is both the backdrop to the daily life and work of the local population, and the fascinating, if somewhat enigmatic, proposition that greets the eight million or so tourists who visit annually (or did pre-2020).

As a Customer Experience specialist, the reality of Oxford fascinates me as much as the mythological Oxford fascinates and attracts so many to visit and explore it. Like any destination, and any customer-facing business, Oxford has an identity which it has to live up to if it is to delight its visitors and sustain approximately £700m of annual visitor economy spend–and yet, like any brand, Oxford is not one solid entity, it is not even two (“Town” and “Gown”); the Oxford that really exists, does so in the infinite number of tiny touchpoints and countless, more significant, moments of truth, that are experienced by every one of those eight million visitors, not to mention the experiences and contributions of the 152,000

residents and the 33,000 students (attending both the University of Oxford and its newer counterpart, Oxford Brookes).

I’m excited to be based here, and to have the opportunity to contribute to the reimagining of Oxford for the post-Covid world. So many of its old flaws – believe me, that “Town/Gown” dynamic does not a seamless visitor experience make – might just be capable of being addressed, just as every organisation is now having to think about what it should stop doing, or do better, as part of a strategy for a viable future. Then of course there are many more issues that need to be incorporated: the future of work, the future of the High Street, a sustainable future, a kinder future, to name but a few.

All in all, Oxford is an excellent metaphor for a world full of contradictions that needs to be reinvented, globally, nationally, locally, at community level and individually. It should help that some of the world’s leading thinkers are here; just as important, and it’s what I spend my working life seeking, is the successful and sustainable implementation of new ideas and innovative strategies. And that will take, everybody working together. And that will take, effective, flexible and results-oriented facilitation.

I’m ready!