Pub near Botley Road to launch taxi scheme to bring back customers after lengthy road closure
Free taxi offer aims to boost sales after three-and-a-half years without road access
A West Oxford pub is offering to pay for customers' taxi journeys as it tries to bring people back to the area following more than three years of disruption caused by the Botley Road closure.
Tom Rainey, owner of The Porterhouse and The Punter near Botley Road, says the businesses have seen a significant drop in trade during the construction works.
He estimates the two sites have lost around £750,000 in sales over the past three and a half years, with The Porterhouse seeing customer numbers fall by at least half.
Now, with Botley Road expected to reopen on September 20th, the Porterhouse is planning a month-long taxi offer.
From September 20th until October 20th, customers within Ring Road who are booking to dine at the pub will be able to have one leg of their taxi journey paid for.
The offer is intended to encourage people from across the city – including Summertown, Cowley, Jericho and central Oxford – to return to West Oxford.
Mr Rainey says taxis used to be an important source of customers for the Porterhouse, with around 20 taxis arriving at the pub each week.
He thinks the closure has effectively cut off that trade and meant people elsewhere in Oxford had stopped considering West Oxford as a destination.
"We've got to try and re-educate people in Oxford that West Oxford is actually part of the city," he said.
Mr Rainey says the taxi scheme is being funded by the business itself and is intended to remind customers that the pub is accessible again.
But he believes rebuilding trade will take considerably longer than simply reopening the road.
"It's like starting a new business again," he said, "I think maybe in a year or two, we might start to operate back to nearer full capacity, but it's going to take some time, money and advertising."
Mr Rainey says he hopes other businesses will develop their own ideas to attract customers back to the area.