Rural Economies

Economic growth is widely acknowledged as essential for national wealth and prosperity, and is a priority for political parties. Rural economies, employing millions and home to a higher proportion of small businesses, have potential for growth if barriers are removed.

Hot Topics

09 May 2022

Community Catalysts launches a marketing guide for enterprises doing good stuff

Community Catalysts have launched a new marketing guide especially for people who are running small enterprises offering care or support to others – otherwise known as community enterprises. From a community enterprise perspective,...

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03 May 2022

Will ‘levelling up’ deliver for rural areas?

The below article written by RSN Chair Cecilia Motley is featured in this months Local Government First (click here to view this article). Launched with a flurry of grand statements, the...

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03 May 2022

Parliamentary group launches major report into rural economy

The All Party Parliamentary Group on The Rural Powerhouse publishes £43bn blueprint for economic growth in the countryside The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Rural Powerhouse has published a new report...

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03 May 2022

Rural voters could punish Tories over lack of levelling up policies

The Yorkshire Post reports that polling commissioned by the Country Land and Business Association in the UK’s five most rural counties found that 46 per cent of respondents had voted...

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28 Apr 2022

Businesses’ views sought on rural broadband connection

The National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) is collaborating with Building Digital UK (BDUK), part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), to seek businesses’ views...

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28 Apr 2022

RSN Economic Profiling Service – May 2022

The RSN Economic Profiling Service provides an analysis of Alternative Claimant Count with the May 2022 edition now being available. The analysis examines the ratio of claimant on flows to...

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11 Apr 2022

Committee warns of impacts to farming labour shortage

BBC reports that chronic labour shortages in the food and farming sector could lead to price rises and the UK becoming more dependent on food imports A report by the...

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11 Apr 2022

Laborious planning rules are losing support for the Tories in the countryside

The Telegraph reports that a survey commissioned by Country Land and Business Association found that laborious planning rules are losing the Conservative Party support in rural areas Around 12 million...

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04 Apr 2022

Is Government support for rural post offices enough to save them?

The below article (published by Anne Pardoe at Citizens Advice) discusses whether recently announced Government funding for rural post offices is enough to keep them operating The government has announced...

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04 Apr 2022

More people than ever before are interested in setting up a community business

The Plunkett Foundation’s 2021 Impact Report reveals that the number of community businesses has continued to rise, in spite of the disruption of the pandemic The report also shows that...

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