Rural Business & Social Enterprise
Entrepreneurship is alive and well in the countryside!
In comparison to urban areas, the rural economy has a higher proportion (per head of population) of business start-ups, self-employed people, family businesses and micro-and small to medium enterprises.Harper Adams has a major role in supporting this entrepreneurial culture.
Over the past 15 years we have progressively built up our consulting, networking and business advisory services in this area.- The Women in Rural Enterprise Business Club (WiRE) has extended right across the UK.
- The highy successful National Care Farming Initiative (NCFI) continues to raise the profile of care farming in the UK.
- Added value specialist food products
- Provision of care services
- Provision of business support services
- Leisure and tourism enterprises
- Food safety and hygiene
Consultancy services for rural entrepreneurs and businesses
Our Business Management & Marketing and Rural Affairs and Environment Departments have over 25 years experience of providing consultancy services to support the individual needs of rural businesses. We are able to:- Provide businesses with specialist management and marketing consultancy services.
- Undertake contract research for businesses and organisations, specialising in beef, pig, sheep, dairy, crop production and agricultural engineering.
- Conduct rural sector research for government agencies.
Example Case Studies
These documents are downloadable from Openfields, the landbased library online. The library is itself an example of our innovative activities to support the rural practictioner, having been developed as part of the National Rural Knowledge Exchange project.