The Rural Services Network and the Institute of Economic Development, a member of the Rural Services Partnership, have joined forces to work together on a piece of work designed to support the rural economy in the coming months

Nadine Trout, who joined the RSN in February this year, has a vast range of experience working with rural economic development and understands the importance of supporting the rural economy at this time:

“Spring should have heralded the beginning of growth for many rural businesses and yet so many have been stunted by COVID-19. Now is the time to identify new opportunities and the support needed to make them happen”.

Along with the IED, the RSN aims to put together a Rural Opportunity Toolkit, exploring the Local Industrial Strategies from a rural perspective and horizon scanning for the future of the rural economy.

Nigel Wilcock of the Institute for Economic Development said:

‘’The Institute genuinely believes that rural economies present great opportunities for the UK and have been somewhat overlooked in recent economic policy. We are delighted to be able to work with the RSN to try and redress some of that balance’’.

Further information will be published in due course.