If you stroll down Banbury's high street today, you'll notice the impact of decades of failed policy that delivered out-of-town shopping, reliance on national chains, and the rise of online shopping. You can't miss the empty shops, a plethora of barbers and nail bars, closed up windows, and a town centre that has lost much of its charm and joie de vivre.

Instead of waiting for another national chain to come along and exploit our talent and make profits, Banbury needs something more local and strong. We need a genuine artisanal economy, supported by our own skills and creativity.

An artisanal incubator is the way to achieve that. It's a shared, affordable space where makers—of things, food, drink and art—can start and grow their businesses without the heavy costs of a full commercial lease and a building full of equipment they can't afford yet.

The word gets used loosely, but I mean it precisely. Artisanal businesses are those built around skill, craft and the making of things — by hand, with care, with knowledge passed down or hard won. Potters, woodworkers, leatherworkers, weavers, jewellers, glassblowers, blacksmiths, bookbinders, ceramicists, bakers, brewers, candlemakers, tailors. People who make things that are genuinely worth having.

These are not hobbies dressed up as businesses. They are the foundation of what, for most of human history, a town's economy actually looked like. Banbury was built on exactly this kind of productive, skilled, local enterprise. There is no reason it cannot be again.

The barriers facing a nascent artisan business are well understood and largely practical. Studio or workshop space is expensive and hard to find in a town centre. Equipment — a kiln, a lathe, a printing press, a loom — represents a significant upfront investment for someone just starting out. Business rates, insurance, and the administrative burden of trading can feel overwhelming before a single item has been sold.

The result is that talented, skilled people either give up before they begin, retreat to spare bedrooms and garden sheds, or leave for cities where the infrastructure already exists. Banbury loses the very people and the very energy it most needs.

An artisanal incubator changes that equation.

The model is straightforward. A shared, affordable workspace — ideally in or close to the town centre — where makers can rent bench space, studio time or workshop access on flexible terms. Shared equipment that no individual could justify buying alone. A community of fellow makers who share knowledge, support one another and, crucially, attract customers together.

The incubator is not just a building. It is a programme. It offers:

• Affordable entry points — low-cost desk, bench or studio space on monthly terms, without the commitment of a full commercial lease
• Shared tools and equipment — kilns, presses, lathes, sewing machines, casting equipment, available to all members
• Business support — help with pricing, marketing, online selling, accounting and the basics of running a small enterprise
• A retail presence — a shared shopfront or market stall where members can sell their work without each needing their own unit
• Mentorship — connecting new makers with experienced craftspeople who have already built sustainable businesses
• Tourism — the incubator(s), if clustered, could provide a tourist attraction in their own right

Several towns have done this well. Frome in Somerset is perhaps the most celebrated example — a town that deliberately cultivated its independent and artisanal economy and is now a destination in its own right. Stroud, Hebden Bridge, Totnes. These are not wealthy towns that bought their way to distinctiveness. They are towns that backed their own people.

This vision sits at the heart of what I have been developing through the Forest of Banbury. One of the six themes of that project is an artisanal economy — the idea that a community-rooted character of the Forest can be matched by a creative, community-rooted approach to how Banbury earns its living.

Trees and crafts have always gone together. Wood, willow, bark, fibre, dye — the natural world has always been the raw material of the maker. An artisanal economy rooted in Banbury's landscape, its history and its communities is not a nostalgic fantasy. It is a practical, proven model for regeneration that puts local people, local skills and local character at the centre.

I am actively exploring what it would take to establish an artisanal incubator in Banbury. That means talking to property owners about suitable spaces, engaging with Cherwell District Council about planning and business support, and speaking to makers, artists and craftspeople across the division about what they actually need.

I want to hear from you. If you are a maker — or if you know one — please get in touch. If you have a view on where such a space might work, or what it should offer, I want to know. This is not a top-down initiative. It will only work if it is built with the people it is meant to serve.

Banbury has always been a town of makers. It is time to make it one again.

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