It’s growing well
TEES area rural businesses have dismissed a report that suggested they were failing to reach their full potential.
The report came as Business Link North East launched a new team of rural advisers to boost the countryside’s commercial sector.
Stuart Burgess, chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities, said the rural economy could be doubled to about £700bn if the Government addressed problems in infrastructure, training, staffing and access to funding.
But local firms said they had no problem in recruiting skilled labour and were well served by the area’s infrastructure and transport network.
Graeme Thompson of the Lakeside Farm Shop and Country Cafe near Scorton, Richmond, said he was finding skilled workers. The business employs seven full-time staff as well as casuals.
He said: “The area has a high number of students, who are always approaching me asking for weekend work.”
Mr Thompson said he had “no problem” in accessing government funding to help diversify his business from a standard farming operation into a retail outlet selling cheeses, jams and wines.
He said: “The farm just didn’t support an income. The returns and rewards became too low and we had to move into other areas to sustain the business.”
Acorn Dairy in Archdeacon Newton near Darlington, has also diversified into organic milk distribution and said business had been helped, not hindered, by the local transport network.
Sales manager Caroline Tweddle, dismissed claims that rural firms would be better off in town and city centres.
She said: “We are not far from Darlington and on our doorstep we have the A1 and the eastern mainline, which gives us good access to Newcastle and Leeds.”
She did, however, urge the Government to co-ordinate a drive to help regional food groups build distribution networks.
She said: “If the Government wants the rural economy to thrive, it should lead on setting this up.”
Mr Burgess is calling on the Government to take four key steps to safeguard rural economies. He believes some villages could become commuter ghettos, empty of local wealth if action was not taken.
He said there needed to be an economic minister to oversee support of rural economies; a “rural summit” to pursue local business; a “rural finance forum” to tap into private and public money; and a “rural innovation initiative” to encourage entrepreneurs and ensure better access to resources such as broadband.
Earlier this week the Evening Gazette highlighted the digital divide between urban and rural areas, which some claim is making it harder to do business in the countryside.
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