The ‘Made in Oxfordshire’ challenge invited teams to reimagine the future of retail by creating immersive, community-focused destinations.

Pupils are tasked with developing original concepts for community spaces before pitching them to a panel.

This year’s winning team came from John Mason School, who impressed judges with ‘Brainwave’ – a concept for a charity café and arcade aimed at supporting young people and reducing social isolation.

Clare Martin, acting centre director at Westgate Oxford, said: “The Made in Oxfordshire project offers young students the chance to explore their creativity and come up with fresh and exciting ideas within the retail sector.

“The future generation present new perspectives and valuable insights into retail experiences that reflect their needs and resonate with their audience.”

Year 10 students from Greyfriars Catholic School, Oxford Spires Academy and John Mason School took part in workshops at Westgate Oxford.

These sessions covered creative placemaking, community and customer insights and environmental sustainability, helping pupils translate their ideas into practical, community-focused concepts.

The final round took place at Curzon Cinema in Westgate Oxford, where students pitched their ideas in a professional setting complete with mood boards and customer research.

Ms Martin added: “We’re proud to continue our strong relationship with Ahead Partnership, having now empowered over 10,000 young people through our collaborative projects.

“The Oxford competition gives students a space to produce an original concept, develop it into a design and then pitch it to professionals, enhancing their confidence and providing them with skills and knowledge to help boost them in their future endeavours.”

The competition is delivered by Westgate Oxford in partnership with Landsec and Ahead Partnership, and is funded by the £20 million Landsec Futures Fund, which aims to create positive social impact in the communities it serves.

Andy Clarke, head of partnerships at Ahead Partnership, said: “Nothing brings careers and skills education to life quite like stepping in to real workplaces and meeting role models face to face.

“The Made in Oxfordshire Challenge demonstrates the power of immersive, interactive experiences to ignite curiosity, broaden horizons and inspire young people to explore career paths they may never have considered.

“Our long-standing partnership with Westgate Oxford and its parent company, Landsec, has enabled us to connect thousands of young people with role models across retail, the built environment, and beyond.”

John Mason School will now go on to compete in a national final.

BlueProof has been named an East of England finalist in the UK StartUp Awards, with the Cambridge company shortlisted in the Hospitality, Tourism & Events StartUp of the Year category.

More than 900 businesses were shortlisted across ten nations and regions from over 2,000 entries. All finalists were founded within the past three years and, according to the awards programme, have created nearly 5,000 jobs and generate annual sales of more than £150 million.

BlueProof was founded in 2023 by Cambridge alumni Max Turner and Rafi Levy. The business grew out of a 3D app they created for the Jesus College May Ball in 2022, which they later developed into a commercial product for the live events market.

It develops interactive 3D platforms for live events. The software is used by organisers, venues and hospitality operators to present venues online and manage parts of event operations, with a focus on digital audience interaction.

The shortlisting places BlueProof among the East of England finalists in a national awards scheme for recently established companies.

International work

Despite having a team of two, BlueProof has already worked outside the UK. A recent project at the Twominds Festival in New Zealand was an early test of how its platform performs at a live event of scale.

The two-day festival hosted 4,500 attendees, according to BlueProof. During the event, its platform attracted 2,500 unique users and recorded more than 21,000 opens, including 15,000 on the first day.

Those figures provide an early snapshot of the company’s traction as it builds a business around spatial technology for live events. The market is attracting interest from venues and organisers looking for new ways to present information and engage visitors before and during events.

Turner said the shortlisting reflected the company’s origins as a student project in Cambridge.

“We’re incredibly proud to be shortlisted for the UK StartUp Awards. BlueProof started as a student project for a Cambridge May Ball, so to now be recognised at a national level, especially in the Hospitality, Tourism & Events category, is a huge milestone. We believe live experiences are evolving rapidly, and we’re excited to be building the technology that powers that shift,” said Max Turner, co-founder and CEO of BlueProof.

Awards context

The UK StartUp Awards was established to recognise new businesses across the country. Organisers said business creation remained strong in 2025, with around 832,000 new businesses registered in the UK.

Now in its fifth year, the programme describes itself as the UK’s largest independent startup awards scheme. It was founded by Frankie James and Professor Dylan Jones-Evans as part of Ideas Community.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, co-founder of the awards, said the finalists reflected the strength of the UK startup market.

“New businesses are the driving force behind any thriving economy, generating employment, pioneering innovation, and contributing to prosperity right across the UK. This year’s finalists represent the very best of British entrepreneurial talent, spotting opportunities and, through dedication, skill, and resilience, building ventures that are making a real difference in their industries and communities. The standard of entries in 2026 has been exceptional, and every finalist should be enormously proud of what they have achieved. Regional winners will go on to represent their region at the national final at Ideas Fest in September, and that is a stage worthy of everything they have built,” said Jones-Evans.

For BlueProof, the shortlisting brings recognition in a crowded startup field as it seeks more work with festivals, venues and corporate event operators. Its early projects show how a niche idea developed for a Cambridge college event has become a business with overseas customers and measurable user activity at live shows.

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.

Wallers Estate Agents Limited, based in Oxford with an office in Swindon too, fell into liquidation late last year.

But in April, the liquidators appointed Nicholas Cusack and Paul Bailey, of Brighton-based BABR, were removed by court order.

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Now a new liquidator has been appointed – Kirren Keegan of the same company BARB.

Statement of affairs submitted to Companies House on September 8 reveal Wallers Estate Agents Ltd has debts of £59,826 owed to creditors.

Most of this is to the bank: NatWest is owed £31,567 for a Bounce Back loan, £1,000 for a business card along with a further £19,996.

HMRC is also owed £59.94 in PAYE and CF&L, a leasing specialist in Southend, Essex, is owed £7,202.

What’s more, the Property Ombudsman – which Wallers was a member of – confirmed the registration ceased in August 2024.

The Property Ombudsman is an independent and impartial dispute resolution service for consumers and property businesses.

Wallers’ website, which has now been shut down, said staff who worked there tried to keep things “simple and straightforward”.

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”.