Rural Solutions - Rural Diversification Experts

With headlines still dominated by Brexit and opinions about the future of farming as divided as ever, it would be no wonder if rural landowners have been left feeling unnerved.
However, amidst this uncertainty there are signs that land and estate owners are being galvanised to take action and, despite an uncertain outlook, there is optimism about the outlook for rural businesses.
A recent survey undertaken by Rural Solutions found that whilst there is concern about the long-term prospects of their businesses, 25% of landowners feel more optimistic about their business prospects now than at the start of 2019, with 67% intending to invest in their rural businesses in the next 12 months. 
Many businesses are looking to move away from reliance on traditional incomes such as farming and tenancies and instead invest in new enterprises in the countryside. Rural Solutions’ view is that now is the time to take action.
But where to start? If you feel you are venturing into the unknown or perhaps your existing diversification is not yielding the returns you hoped for, seeking advice and support can help to maximise the potential of your investment.
Rural Solutions have extensive experience of supporting landowners to deliver successful diversification in the countryside; working with land and business owners to determine where the greatest area of demand may be, the best way to capture market share, the optimum business model and the right planning and other consents needed to establish a successful rural business.

Market Appraisals
Perhaps the most important factor in a successful business venture is understanding your customers – who will buy your product or access your service?  
In the case of rural businesses, this can largely be driven by the proximity of your site to a customer base – the local community and the transient or visitor market. How far your ‘reach’ can be into the surrounding areas will largely depend on the appeal of your offer and so understanding the profile of residents and visitors within a couple of hours drive time is an important first step when thinking about what kind of enterprise would work best for you, or how to evolve your offer. 
A market appraisal can help you by determining critical factors about your potential customer base – their age profile, their propensity to spend, travel and working patterns – as well as helping you to understand your competition, national comparators and trends for successful diversification ventures. 
The outcome of a Rural Solutions market appraisal provides a solid evidence base that will help you to determine where the greatest area of opportunity lies for you.  It can also help you to test ideas you may have, to make sure that they stack up against the realities of your potential customer base.  A robust assessment of the potential market can help you to secure funding and assist in building a case for planning consent.

Current trends
Informed by market assessment and extensive experience of the rural sector, Rural Solutions can identify the right opportunities for landowners. Here are some of the most notable trends in diversification that we are seeing, aligned to customer demand.

Play
Traditional rural visitor attractions remain popular, but a play-based offer, and increasingly one that tells an authentic story or offers an experience connected to location and heritage are meeting demand from the family market. In addition, ‘extreme play’ – such as high ropes and zip wires – are responding to demand for adult experiences in attractive rural locations.

Health and wellbeing
We’ve long known that the natural environment is good for us and the established spa market is now turning towards ‘wellness tourism’. Rural landowners are superbly placed to benefit from this growing market by making the most of attractive locations and a growing interest in nature as an integral part of health and wellbeing.

Places to stay
Demand for high-quality holiday accommodation in rural locations continues to rise. From cottages, large houses for group accommodation, camping or caravanning to treehouses, designer pods and safari lodges, this can be a relatively low-impact diversification model that, when managed well, can generate high yields.

Co-working
Urban co-working facilities have evolved and there’s demand for the same in rural locations. Home workers and micro-businesses are attracted by the convenience and facilities of flexible, shared office spaces with added lifestyle benefits of a rural location.  

Take action
For landowners looking to be bold, Rural Solutions are the experts in providing bespoke, business-led advice on national trends and market conditions in your area, and how to put together a viable business plan; along with support to navigate challenging planning requirements and achieve success through high-quality building and landscape design capabilities.
Rural Solutions will be exhibiting at the Farm Business Innovation Show at Birmingham NEC on 6th and 7th November at stand number FR751. If you are interested in finding out more about how Rural Solutions can help your rural business, they will be delighted to hear from you or meet you at the show, where they will be demonstrating some of their clients’ diversification products and services.
Telephone 01756 797501 or visit www.ruralsolutions.co.uk