Entrepeneurs band together to ride out recession

Oct 7 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

Bringing independent rural businesses together in a cluster may not be a new trend but it's one that's helping some small firms gain a foothold during the recession. Karen Dent meets some of the older and newer entrepreneurs using this route to boost business and ride out the tough economic times.

Diversifying into retail and business centres are also useful moves for country estates facing declining returns from their traditional farming income.

Mr Wood said: “You have to have the set of farm buildings that will do it. But it would be a brave man to do it at the moment.

“There are assets they usually had where there were farm buildings that were no longer ideal for agriculture. Some were converted into houses or offices.

“All estates have had to develop away from agriculture because agriculture has had a fairly rough time, including being static for some time. You have to put your eggs into different baskets.”

Like both the Milkhope and The Old Dairy, Lee Moor Business Park is based on land owned by a large country estate – this time the Percy family’s Northumberland Estates.

The centre, at Rennington near Alnwick, has been open since 1992 and is home to a diverse range of enterprises ranging from renewable energy to a gym and a dog training centre.

Ian Brown, who manages the centre and runs his Toasty Heating renewable energy company from it, originally came up with the idea for the business park as a farm diversification on the land his family has rented from the Duke of Northumberland since 1950.

He said: “Interesting, in farm diversification, there were a couple of waves of it. There was a bit of farm diversification funding and people were talking and then the general economy picked up. Most farms have some other income streams going on.

“All the large estates have always had non-agricultural money coming in, in connection with money not from the land and money from other places or non-farming activity linked to the land.”

Whereas The Old Dairy and the Milkhope Centre are focused on retail, Lee Moor’s tenants cover a broader base of business interests. Mr Brown says if there is a theme to the centre, it is sustainable heating.

He said: “The 20 businesses based here are a very eclectic mix but inevitably, they are drawn to renewable energy. We sell heating to the tenants as well – we are growing our own fuel . We are about to harvest the fuel, the willow.

“Because we have been a pioneer in renewable energy – maybe that’s the reason why people came across me. Birds of a feather flock together, for good reason.”

He says the centre remains busy despite problems in the wider economy.

“We’re not sitting here with empty spaces,” said Mr Brown. “IT, chiropractory, bakery – all of those business are carrying on. The New Life Gym has just opened a martial arts school and they have a boxing ring now. That space used to be where a company made mirrors for Nasa. You can’t say we’re not flexible.

“It’s flexible, almost incubated space but certainly supported space. Businesses spark off each other. It’s a very human thing; in a recession, that’s more important.”

CASE STUDY: Northumberland Canine Centre

THE Northumberland Canine Centre has been based at Lee Moor Business Park for six years.

Owner Jacquie Hall, who trains dogs and whose facilities are used by more than 100 dogs and their owners on a weekly basis, said it was the potential and the location that attracted her to the site.

“There was a big barn that I converted into the training centre,” said Ms Hall.

“It’s near enough to Alnwick, which is my main catchment centre but still rural to walk the dogs. The location is wonderful and people love coming here. It’s a lovely atmosphere and lovely surroundings.”

She says there are a number of benefits to working in the midst of other businesses that she would not receive if the Canine Centre was based out on a limb.

“It works well having other people around me. It’s a nice little community of diverse businesses.

“I hope to be at Lee Moor for a long time to come, it suits my purposes down to the ground.”