The Group is an independent non-political voluntary group which has two main aims:

• To find out what local consumers want - everyone using shops and services in Oxfordshire

• To use our collective weight to represent these concerns to those who provide the services

Our full list of aims is  here.

Why are we important?

You might think that we live in a very protected consumer environment in Britain. We have many laws on consumer matters and (many think) far too many laws concerning health and safety. You can find out what to buy by looking at Which? - but the subscription is £75 per annum as opposed to ours at £10. We deal with our local area and give information at a practical level.

To find out more about our interests click here.

About the group

Oxford is the oldest local Consumer Group in the country and has been most active for almost 50 years. Click here to learn more about our past activities.

Our President is Lady Yardley and our Vice President is John Lucas – both of whom have contributed greatly to Oxford life - academically and politically. We have an executive committee and also a projects committee - which decides what topics to study; they also organise surveys and other fact-finding missions.

Why should you join us?

You will learn about things which will affect your life in Oxford. You will also find plenty of useful information in our quarterly magazine. We hold a register of services in Oxford - which will enable you to find reliable tradesmen. Finally, you might be interested in participating in our work and our surveys and influence what we do.

If you would like to join the Oxford Consumers Group, please click here

If you join us, you will have access to our "services register", which consists of local traders whereas that of Trading Standards covers a much larger geographical area. We can be more responsive to current problems in the local district.