Rural firms offered help to grow businesses

RURAL enterprises in the West Midlands have been urged to apply for funding to grow their businesses.

One advocate of the Rural Enterprise Grant scheme is Stratford-upon-Avon entrepreneur Olivia Hatch. She successfully applied for an REG and has seen turnover of her business nearly double.

Ms Hatch, who runs the 20-acre Talton Lodge in Newbold-on-Stour, used £7,000 to improve the woodland, orchards and parklands surrounding the lodge.

Her aim was to create an experience-based tourism operation combined with a sustainable venue for conferences, meetings and entertainment.
 
As part of a £20,000 investment, she has developed a new car park, increased the range of leisure activities and turned a refurbished barn into a state-of-the-art meeting/conference room with upstairs accommodation.

The improvements are the latest part of her plans to transform the family home into one of the West Midlands’ most attractive corporate venues. The project has already resulted in new clients and four part-time jobs.

“Our vision is to provide a completely sustainable experience, with the refurbished barn part of a small complex of farm buildings, tipis, bell tents and yurts – all created to have minimal impact on the land,” she said.

Ms Hatch, who used to work as a chef in London with Gary Rhodes and Fergus Henderson, added: “The REG has really made a difference to completing the latest part of our growth and has given us the additional capital to complete the car park and install the level of audio visual facilities we must have, in order to compete with our rivals and attract clients from SMEs through to big multi-nationals.

“Pleasingly, the administrative process was very easy to complete and the grants team were brilliant in making sure they assisted us on every stage of the application.”

Funded through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) which is managed by Advantage West Midlands and administered by Herefordshire Council, REGs are available for farmers and micro businesses developing and diversifying into food and drink, environmental technologies and tourism improvements.

Funding of up to 40% (or £62,500) can be secured towards projects that range from new processing machinery and supply chain equipment to energy installations and improvements to tourism experiences.

Four companies in Coventry and Warwickshire have so far benefitted from the scheme, with nearly £60,000 awarded towards the development of these rural businesses which will create 18 new jobs, enhance the tourism offer in the county and allow the expansion of local food & drink production facilities.

Dorothy Coleman, REG manager, said: “REG is all about giving rural businesses access to additional funding to help them evolve with the current economy and embark on projects that will identify new revenue streams and safeguard jobs.

“Talton Lodge is a perfect example of the difference it can make and I’m delighted we’ve been able to support such an exciting and unique venture through both our programme.”