Drive to push investment to heart of rural England

Following a report last year to the Prime Minister on releasing the potential of Englands rural economies, the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) is staging a series of rural economies summits. Rural and business leaders are meeting on Friday 11 September to discuss the full impact of the recession on rural communities and ways of driving business investment to the heart of rural England.

The summit features presentations from rural business leaders and practitioners, lively debate and case study films showcasing thriving rural enterprises Broughton Hall, Cornwall Care and Ludlow Food Centre.

Later this year, on 24 and 25 November, the CRC will draw together the findings from the series of summits, and examine ways of empowering rural communities to tackle environmental and economic shocks, at a national summit to be held in Somerset.

Core Facts

Rural businesses and employees are a vital part of the nations and regions economies.
Rural communities, as well as urban, are facing tough times in the recession.
Rural businesses and employees can sometimes be overlooked in Government support packages and policies.
We are tackling this head on by bringing together rural and business leaders at one a series of four summits were holding this year − on innovation, inspiration, investment and empowerment.
This latest, third, summit will identify what kind of investment and support businesses need to grow into healthy enterprises with solid foundations offering secure employment.
The overall series of summits will play a key role in developing a blueprint for strengthening rural economies and preparing a path towards recovery from the recession.

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Rural businesses and employees are a vital part of the nations and regions economies yet they can be overlooked in government support packages and policies. We are aiming to tackle this head on by bringing together some of the most influential rural practitioners at one of four summits we are holding this year − on innovation, inspiration, investment and empowerment. We want these practitioners to take a key role today in developing a blueprint for strengthening rural economies and preparing a path towards recovery from the recession by highlighting what kind of support businesses need, to grow into healthy enterprises with solid foundations offering secure employment.

Dr. Stuart Burgess, Chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities and the Governments Rural Advocate

These are tough times. The West Midlands is suffering more than any other region in this recession. In some of our market towns unemployment has risen by 50 per cent. The West Midlands Taskforce, chaired by Regional Minister Ian Austin and co-ordinated by AWM, is focusing business support in market towns to help larger employers in market towns retain jobs and build resilience. In addition, £150,000 of extra support for advisory bodies, such as Citizens Advice, and a £250,000 package to support retailers is being rolled out. These measures are above and beyond Advantage West Midlands current rural programme - but its vital that we continue to listen to the businesses trading in the front line of the recession and todays summit will be an opportunity to do that.

Mark Pearce, Corporate Director for Economic Regeneration, Advantage West Midlands

emda believes that the rural economy is an integral part of our total regional economy and we have been working hard to ensure the grants and funding available reach rurally-based businesses in all sectors. Our contract with East Midlands Business Link has assisted 23,000 rural businesses over the past 12 months and the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) has also provided new opportunities with over 40 projects for land-based businesses approved to date, ranging from diversification, collaboration and innovation to vocational training and skills, resource efficiency and renewable energy.

Andrew Morgan, Skills and Communities Director, East Midlands Development Agency