Together with Prof. David Charles (Northumbria University), I am starting work on a new project to reconceptualise the support needs of rural businesses engaging in innovation. Currently, there appear to be two very distinct areas of support open to rural business; for those that are integral to rural communities, socially focused organisations such as Big Lottery the Plunkett Foundation are key actors. For firms with wider markets who may have few connections to their local rural community, innovation support focuses on investment for technology, training and infrastructure (e.g. ERDF and Innovate UK).
Having previously argued (Bosworth and Turner, 2018) that rural businesses who are not embedded in local markets recognise different advantages and challenges associated with their location, it could be argued that this schism is appropriate. However, the aim of our project is to better understand common opportunities and challenges for all types of rural innovation and to identify policy approaches that can reconnect these different agendas. Rural areas depend on all types of firms for employment and prosperity, not just those traditional enterprises embedded in the fabric of rural communities. Similarly, those traditional rural businesses that are in decline can benefit from innovations that connect them into more dynamic rural networks that are enriched by in-migrant enterprises and a diverse range of new business sectors that are flourishing across parts of rural Britain. As we have the opportunity to rethink the allocation of funds that have previously been dictated by EU rules, this is a call to action for rural areas to become centres of innovation – whether technologically-driven, eco-innovation or social innovation.