The charity said it had no plans to close warehouses or shops but insiders fear that Batley, which houses Oxfam’s main textile recycling centre, will shut as part of a cost-cutting drive because the West Yorkshire site’s lease is up for renewal. All three warehouses together employ about 90 people.
A source said Oxfam was considering closing up to 100 of its 500-plus UK outlets as sales at some were no longer viable but this has been refuted by Oxfam GB’s interim chief supporter officer Lorna Fallon.
“Donations have dropped off,” the insider told The Guardian, adding that the charity’s shops were also facing competition from online sellers of secondhand goods such as Vinted.
READ MORE: UK charity shop chain announces closures
“Oxfam is always more expensive, and that’s starting to have an effect,” the source said.
Oxfam – which opened the UK’s first charity shop in Broad Street, Oxford in 1947 – is not the only charity facing financial challenges.
British Heart Foundation has announced the closure of 150 stores while Cancer Research UK is to shut 190 stores.
Oxfam Activities is the charity’s arm that aims to raise money through its trade in new items for sale in shops, its textile recycling plant in Batley and the provision of stewards for festivals. However, it made losses of more than £2m in the year to March 2025 and in the year prior to that.
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Sales fell by seven per cent in the year to March 2025, driven by a fall in income from recycling. This division of the business does not include direct income from the stores.
Sources fear for the future of the Batley site, which houses Oxfam’s main textile recycling centre, because its lease is up for renewal.
The first ever Oxfam shop in Broad Street Oxford (Image: Contributed)
Ms Fallon said: “In the last financial year, Oxfam GB’s shops, warehouses and online retail teams generated a £6.3m (net) contribution to our humanitarian work, as well as raising dedicated funds through emergency appeals to support crises in Venezuela, the Middle East and Ukraine.
“As is standard practice, we keep all parts of our retail operations under review via regular meetings.
“While we cannot give guarantees in this difficult economic climate, we are confident in and positive about our current retail performance and do not have plans to close our shops or warehouses at this time.”
The Oxfam superstore in Oxford (Image: Oxfam)
Ms Fallon said Oxfam had launched a new online rental service recently and had brought fulfilment of online orders back in-house, as well as opening a second superstore, in Manchester.
There is also a superstore at John Smith Drive at Oxford Business Park South in Cowley.
Despite the ongoing financial pressures, staff and volunteers at Oxfam shops across the country continue to work hard to turn donations into cash for the needy in countries around the globe.
Michila Wearn, manager of Oxfam in Abingdon, with Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne (Image: Oxfam)
The charity is currently calling for donations in support of its annual Second Hand September campaign, which encourages people to donate and shop for pre-loved clothing.
In July. the musician who played the mandolin on Rod Stewart’s number one hit Maggie May bought a rare £2,800 instrument from the Oxfam shop in Stert Street, Abingdon.
Ray Jackson, a singer in the 1970s with Geordie band Lindisfarne, then celebrated the purchase with an impromptu performance for staff and customers.
Mr Jackson’s partner first spotted the mandolin in Oxfam’s cabinet and photographed it for him. He came in the following Saturday, tried it, and bought it on the spot.
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