Our Lady’s Abingdon, in Radley Road, was forced to close permanently for financial reasons, according to its governors, who sent letters to parents in August alerting them to the news.

The Statement of Affairs submitted to Companies House revealed Our Lady’s Abingdon Trustees Ltd racked up debts of £1,555,596 owed to 121 company creditors.

READ MORE: Closed UK private school sells off equipment

Security measures were put in place to protect the buildings and the owners, the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy. were understood to be discussing the sale of the buildings and the site.

Now it is being marketed for sale by commercial real estate company Newmark, with the sale price “subject to offer”.

Our Lady’s Abingdon (Image: Contributed)

Newmark says there is an “opportunity to acquire the freehold interest of a former school in a sought-after location with potential for redevelopment, subject to planning permission.”

Highlights, according to the sale prospectus, include the opportunity to acquire a former school and associated land (Use Class F1) with potential for redevelopment; extensive and attractive grounds and playing fields; combined total Gross Internal Area (GIA) of approximately 105,710 sq ft (9,817 sqm); ite area of c. 9.10 acres including a separate playing field and drop-off/parking of 5.6 acres; freehold offered with vacant possession.

The Newmark online sales page adds that the site is located in an affluent, sought after location with strong demand for independent schools.

It says: “Potential for alternative uses including redevelopment for residential, care, retirement or retail subject to the necessary consents.”

Our Lady’s Abingdon (Image: Contributed)

At the end of last year, a team of liquidators hired auctioneers Wyles Hardy to sell school equipment including the school’s fleet of minibuses.

A statement from Wyles Hardy said earlier: “Following sustained financial pressures and the recent introduction of VAT on school fees pupil numbers declined significantly, leading to the school’s closure in August 2025.

“Acting on behalf of the appointed insolvency practitioners we delivered specialist valuation, marketing and asset disposal services as part of the process.

“Our instruction covered a broad and diverse asset base across multiple departments, including design and technology, domestic science and music, as well as plant and machinery, grounds care equipment and the school’s fleet of minibuses.”

A spokesperson for the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy said in March: “Over the last six months, following the handover of the site from the liquidator, we have been working diligently to both clear and secure the Our Lady’s Abingdon site, as well as reflect on how best the site can be used moving forward.

“Meetings are ongoing about the site’s future, taking into account our obligations as a charity, and we are hopeful to be in a position to share more information in the early part of the summer.”  

Following the closure announcement, schools across the county rallied to find places for more than 300 pupils.

Some pupils switched to schools in Abingdon while others are now attending schools in other parts of Oxfordshire.

In November, Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran wrote to education secretary Bridget Phillipson, urging the Department for Education to do more to protect families affected by sudden school closures.

Ms Moran said at the time: “Going forwards, there must be earlier dialogue between the local authorities and schools to ensure that pupils and parents’ interests are the number one priority.

The Institute of Our Lady of Mercy has been asked for further comment.

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Ecommpay has been named a finalist in the 2026 eCommerce Awards for Best eCommerce Payment Solution. The shortlist recognises its Currency Choice and Try Again payment features.

The two features were selected in a category highlighting payment tools used in online retail. Launched in 2007, the awards programme focuses on initiatives and products in eCommerce.

Currency Choice allows merchants using Ecommpay’s platform to show customers a choice of currencies on the payment page. Shoppers can then complete purchases in their preferred currency rather than a merchant’s default base currency.

Try Again is designed for transactions where an initial payment attempt fails. It allows customers to retry the payment or choose another payment method within the same transaction instead of restarting the checkout process.

The shortlisting reflects a continued focus among payment providers on reducing friction at checkout, particularly for merchants selling across borders. Failed transactions and currency mismatch remain common causes of basket abandonment in online retail, especially when consumers are presented with unfamiliar payment options or unexpected conversion choices.

Ecommpay says its platform offers more than 100 alternative payment methods through a single integration. It positions that model as a way for merchants to support international expansion without adding multiple payment partners.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, the payments company provides acquiring, payment processing and orchestration services. It also offers open banking, recurring billing and direct debits through the same platform.

Checkout focus

For merchants operating in several markets, the payment page has become an increasingly important point of conversion. Providers have added tools to address local preferences, repeat failed authorisations and create a clearer path through checkout in an effort to reduce lost sales.

Currency display is one of those areas. Consumers are often more likely to complete a purchase when they can see the amount they will be charged in a familiar denomination, while merchants seek to avoid confusion when settlement currency and display currency differ.

Retry tools have also grown in importance as online businesses try to recover sales that might otherwise be lost after a declined attempt. In practice, that can mean allowing a shopper to switch from one payment method to another without leaving the transaction flow.

Max Ryzhov, Chief Product Officer at Ecommpay, commented on the recognition and the role of the shortlisted tools. “These seemingly simple changes to the payment journey have helped reduce declines and prevented customers from abandoning checkout. We are delighted these innovations have been recognised in the eCommerce Awards programme. The shortlisting is testament to the expertise and dedication of our entire team, and confirms the importance of these developments in the journey to make payments inclusive and frictionless for every customer,” Ryzhov said.

Platform reach

Ecommpay describes itself as a global payments platform that aims to support merchants needing both local and cross-border payment acceptance. Its offering combines local and global acquiring with a range of payment methods accessed through a single application programming interface.

That approach reflects a broader trend in the payments sector, where merchants have sought to consolidate services previously handled by separate providers. Bringing payment processing, orchestration and additional payment options into one setup can reduce operational complexity for retailers, particularly those entering new markets.

Ecommpay also holds regulatory authorisation in the UK for payment services and is a principal member of both Mastercard and Visa. Its platform is certified to PCI DSS Level 1, a standard commonly used in the payments industry for card data security.

The Best eCommerce Payment Solution category places Ecommpay among providers competing on the customer checkout experience rather than back-end processing alone. In online retail, where small changes to payment flow can affect conversion rates, features that address failed payments and local currency choice have become central to how providers differentiate their services.

Ryzhov said the shortlisted developments had “helped reduce declines and prevented customers from abandoning checkout.”

The Oxfordshire based charity has warned the news is a “dark day for democracy”.

Nabil Ahmed, senior director of economic justice at Oxfam America, said: “Elon Musk’s rise to trillionaire status marks a new pinnacle of oligarchy and a dark day for democracy.

“But this moment of dramatically concentrated wealth was not inevitable. Musk will be a government-backed trillionaire whose fortune was fueled by an era of regressive public policy choices — decisions rigged by a tiny few to fuel their fortunes, and overwhelmingly supported by political leaders.”

Oxfam’s analysis revealed that if Musk spent $1 million per day, it would take him 2,740 years to spend $1 trillion.

With $1 trillion, Musk could give $100 to everyone on Earth, and he would still be one of the ten richest billionaires in the world, with more than $184 billion left over.

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An Oxfam shop (Image: Flikr under license CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The study also revealed a 10 per cent tax on Musk’s fortune could end global extreme poverty for a year, lifting over 800 million people above the extreme poverty line.

Oxfam estimates billionaires are over 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people.

Musk currently is head of DOGE and bought X, formerly known as Twitter, a move that the charity says paves the way for disinformation campaigns and dismantles the companies human rights departments.