2.4.3 Economic Goals and Objectives
Ec1 Improvement in the economic contribution of South West produce through the encouragement of activity which adds value and delivers a greater proportion of the product end price to primary producers
Ec1.1 Develop and support new and existing collaborative marketing ventures for South West products, goods and services
Ec1.2 Support the development and start up of rural businesses in the South West and thereby enhance employment opportunities
Ec1.3 Increase proportion of regional products which are sourced and processed locally
- These Objectives recognise the considerable potential to improve the scope of activity in the area of local/regional product marketing, processing and distribution of agricultural and forestry products, goods and services, and particularly the scope for improved collaborative approaches to this. There are examples of best practice already established (e.g. regional milk processors such as Torridge Vale and Peninsula Milk under the Objective 5b programme, plus Taste of the West). The opportunity to encourage more sustainable methods of production and distribution is also recognised.
Ec2 Opportunities are developed for new rural enterprises, including tourism, both on and off farm
Ec2.1 Widen scope and improve quality of rural tourism provision to meet changing market needs
- Rural tourism contributes significantly to the regional economy (see En2.1) and is a growing sector of the market. However, farm tourism provision is predominantly small-scale and fragmented and there is still a need to improve overall quality standards, perhaps through co-operative marketing or other collaborative support networks.
Ec2.2 Promote good practice in development of new rural enterprises and improve information dissemination to providers and customers
- This objective reflects the need to build upon existing good practice (e.g. Farm Tourism 2000 programme in the Objective 5b programme) and ensure better links and information flow between the providers and customers.
Ec2.3 Enable establishment and development of new rural businesses, particularly in the SME sector, and encourage efficient use of existing assets (e.g. modern farm buildings)
- This recognises that the Region's economy is characterised by homegrown businesses developing at a small scale and expanding from this base. Often farm and other rural businesses can exploit opportunities to diversify from the core business, rather than start from scratch, and there is a need to use existing available assets as a substitute for venture capital
Ec3 Business competitiveness and employment prospects improved through skills development and by placing of innovation, creativity and technology at the heart of the rural economy.
Ec3.1 Improve standards and accessibility of business, technical and marketing skills training
Ec3.2 Investigate needs and promote take-up of rural training opportunities
Ec3.3 Encourage entrepreneurial activity through business skills provision/training
- These objectives all reflect the need for training and skills development in various sectors to create a flexible rural workforce able to respond to new opportunities and to develop new ventures.
Ec4 The marketing and distribution of rural products is supported and developed through collaborative activity and enhanced accessibility to markets
Ec4.1 Support the development of sustainable local marketing initiatives
Ec4.2 Promote extension of ICT to rural business
Ec4.3 Develop local networking and distribution systems to improve accessibility
- The Objectives 4.1 and 4.3 also recognise the considerable potential to improve the scope of activity in the area of local/regional product marketing, branding and distribution, particularly as there are examples of best practice already established (e.g. Cornish King). The opportunity to encourage more sustainable methods of production and distribution is also recognised. Some elements of ICT infrastructure are well-developed but there tends to be a low level of service provision in remote rural areas. For example, the dispersed nature of many rural firms makes connection costs to new cabling prohibitively expensive and there remain problems with mobile phone network coverage in some remote areas. The Objective 4.2 recognises the importance of enabling access to ICT for rural businesses.
Page last modified:
17 August, 2005
Page published: 1 October, 2000