Collab Lab Online: Practical Collaboration for High Street Businesses

Running a high street business is demanding, and finding time to collaborate with others can feel difficult or unrealistic.
 

Running a high street business is demanding, and finding time to collaborate with others can feel difficult or unrealistic. This online Collab Lab is designed to make collaboration simple, practical, and worthwhile, even if you are starting from scratch.

This session brings together independent high street businesses from across Oxfordshire to explore how collaboration works in practice, why it delivers results, and how you can apply it locally in a way that suits your business.

You do not need to know other businesses attending, and you will not be expected to collaborate with people outside your area.

What this session will cover:

• Why collaboration helps high street businesses increase visibility and footfall.
• Simple, low-effort collaboration models that work on real high streets.
• Examples of joint promotions, trails, and campaigns that businesses can adapt locally.
• How to approach neighbouring businesses with confidence and clarity.

What you will leave with:

• One clear collaboration idea to test on your own high street.
• A simple structure for planning a joint promotion or campaign.
• Practical wording you can use to approach local business partners.
• Tools and templates to help you take action quickly.

Who this is for:

• Independent retailers, cafés, hospitality, and service businesses.
• Businesses located on high streets or in town centres.
• Anyone interested in boosting visibility, footfall, and local connections.
• No prior experience of collaboration is needed.

About Collab Labs:

Collab Labs are part of the Helping High Streets programme and are designed to support businesses to work together in practical, achievable ways that strengthen local high streets.

This webinar is being delivered by:

Ant Parsons, ALP Synergy Ltd, who is driven by a clear mission to support 10,000 small businesses to start, grow, and thrive as part of a sustainable and fair economy by 2030. With deep expertise in the UK SME landscape, he provides strategic insight and hands-on delivery to small businesses. Ant brings a uniquely grounded perspective, shaped by his own experience of founding, scaling, and ultimately closing several ventures across the retail, not-for-profit, and charity sectors. This real-world journey informs his practical, empathetic, and straight-talking approach to business support.