Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

Business

Business advice and support

Find out more about the services that help you do business in the Vale, such as how to find new business premises, how to get advice on developing and growing your business, and useful contact details.

Business continuity advice

If the worst happened, could your business continue operating? Plan ahead to minimise the impact of crises on your business - from flood and fire to illness and IT failure. See this section for sources of information and advice.

Business rates

National non-domestic rates, or business rates, are collected by local councils and pooled by Central Government and redistributed back to the local councils. See here for more details about the rates and how to pay them.

Doing business with the Council

The Council is committed to ensuring that local businesses and organisations are used wherever possible to supply goods and services to the Council. See this section for details of how to bid to supply goods or services to the Council.

Food safety

Find out how the Food and Safety Team works to ensure that high food safety and hygiene standards are maintained in around 1,000 food premises in the Vale. These pages give details of the regulations which food business have to comply with and how you can make a complaint if you think these regulations have been breached.

Health and safety

The Food and Safety Team is also responsible for the enforcement of Health and Safety at Work law in many workplaces in the Vale. See here to find out about the regulations, how the Council enforces them and advice on how to comply with them. 

Licensing

The Council is responsible for issuing and enforcing a wide range of licences, permits and registrations. See here for details about each type of licence the Council issues, along with downloadable application forms. You can also consult our online public register of licences to look up information on licensed premises, persons or vehicles.

Planning

If you are looking to expand or develop your business premises, you may need planning permission or Building Regulations approval. Please see our Planning applications and Building control pages for more information.

Smokefree legislation

Find out how the smoking regulations affect your business and what you need to do to comply with the law.   

Sustainable business

Waste minimisation, recycling and energy efficiency make good business sense. See this section for sources of information and advice. For more details about how to reduce waste and recycling see our Rubbish, recycling and waste pages, and for information about how to become more energy efficient see our Saving energy pages.

The economy of the Vale

Find out about the Vale’s vibrant economy and what the Council is doing to support and promote it. This section includes details about the main towns in the Vale and information as well as the main employers and business parks in the district. Also find out how the Council is working to support the district’s rural economy.

The future of your business

Encouraging young people to learn more about the world of work.