News
A County Durham farm is set to become an even more welcome sight for people walking and cycling the 'Coast to Coast' route – with help from a grant from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).
Hownsgill Farm, near Consett, is creating a new tearoom with the aid of the RDPE micro-enterprise programme in the North East, complementing a bunkhouse which has already been developed in the farm’s former milking parlour.
Brothers John and Stephen Shaw converted the building last year when they switched from dairy farming to beef cattle, and are hoping that their latest venture will pull in even more passing visitors to add to their income.
John said: “We’re on the Coast to Coast route and this has helped attract plenty of guests to the bunkhouse, which is doing really well.
"There’s already a lot of interest in the tearoom as we’re putting the finishing touches in, and we hope it’ll be open in November.
“We’re also looking at how we can diversify our operations even further in future – potentially offering static caravan accommodation.”
Business Link referred John and Stephen to the North East England Investment Centre, where they were among the first recipients of RDPE micro-enterprise funding. The brothers used the cash to buy the catering equipment they needed to set up their new venture.
Funded by the European Union and Defra and managed by One North East, the RDPE micro-enterprise programme is providing more than £1m this year to help small rural businesses start-up, grow and diversify. It can help with elements including start-up revenue and capital investment costs, technical and marketing support, product development, branding and design.
The funding is available through the North East England Investment Centre (NEEIC), which works to help emerging and existing companies to develop and grow by investing public funds in those entering into business development projects, using external suppliers.
The NEEIC is accessed through Business Link’s expert brokers and all applications are assessed on the contribution they make to improving the economic prosperity of the region. Businesses with an existing relationship with Business Link should ask their account manager for more information about the investments available, or for more information call 0845 600 9 006.
One North East board member Ian Brown said: “Small businesses are at the heart of the rural economy, and in these particularly challenging times this funding will help in developing alternative sources of income, creating jobs and making operations more sustainable.
"It will also help promote entrepreneurship, which is absolutely key to increasing the range of businesses across different sectors in rural areas.”
Business Link’s rural account manager Steve Urwin said: “I spent time with Hownsgill Farm, working through John and Stephen’s business plan, analysing the business’ needs and exploring various sources of financial support when I identified that funding may be available via the NEEIC.”
The Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, with the aim of delivering targeted support to rural businesses and communities. It is managed in the region by One North East, Natural England and the Forestry Commission.
The RDPE investment being managed by One North East combines larger projects to help many businesses in different sectors of the rural economy - including bioenergy and land-based skills, and projects adding value to agricultural and forestry products - with smaller investments to help individual businesses to start-up, grow or diversify, and support to develop more sustainable rural communities. Rural community partnerships are shaping how at least 25% of the funding is invested themselves, using the LEADER approach.
For more information on RDPE in North East England, visit:
www.rdpenortheast.co.uk
For more information on RDPE, visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rurdev/index_en.htm
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