This study involved several different elements, including a literature review on the issue of rural business support.

• Project Dates: 2006 (2 months)
• Project Leader: Terry Carroll
• Staff: Terry Carroll and Jane Atterton
• Sponsors: One NorthEast

The study sought to:

• Identify the reasons why rural, and particularly land-based and fishing businesses in rural areas do not access/use public sector business support to the same extent as their urban counterparts;
  
  
• Inform the mainstreaming of rural business support, including how to mainstream support for the land-based and fishing industries within the new IDB model of business brokerage from 2007;
  
  
• Recommend potential solutions which would increase accessibility to and uptake of mainstream business support by rural entrepreneurs/businesses.

The study involved several different elements, including a literature review on the issue of rural business support (including a review of academic articles and policies and programmes related to enterprise development and business support in rural areas), interviews with economic development professionals in the North East and beyond, and a survey of non-users of business support in the North East.

This project was led by Dipsticks Research