One Stop Shop for Rural Business Support at Great Yorkshire Show

17/06/2010

With less than a month to go until this year’s Great Yorkshire Show, Yorkshire Forward can reveal the line up for its stand, which will be a One Stop Shop for the region’s rural businesses.

Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) funded business support programmes will be the focus of the Yorkshire Forward stand at the Great Yorkshire Show which takes place on the 13th – 16th July 2010.

Support and advice will be available everyday of the show at stand 617 from the following RDPE supported programmes;

  • Share to Farm - Provides support and mentoring to farm businesses wishing to collaborate through Joint Ventures.   
  • BPEX - The British Pig Executive works with the regions’ pig farmers to control and reduce disease levels in Yorkshire and Humber’s pig herds. 
  • Growing Routes - Provides pre-start business support and training to individuals wanting to establish new farm based enterprises.
  • Landskills - Delivers subsidised training and learning activities for supply chain activity in the livestock, arable, production horticulture, forestry and food sectors.  
  • Farexchange - A supply chain development programme, which connects the food trade and farmers across the region.  
  • Business Link – Will be advising individuals on starting up businesses and providing information on the RDPE Rural Business Start Up grant scheme which offers grants up to £25k.
  • CO2Sense - Helps businesses across the region cut waste, cut emissions and prosper in the new Low Carbon Economy.

Chocolates, bread, cheese, and wine will be on sale at the stand from regional businesses which have received RDPE funding and will be happy to discuss the process of applying for a grant and the benefits of the support.

Holmfirth Vineyard received RDPE funding to build a new winery, buy equipment and train employees for wine harvesting and making.  Choc Affair, based in Naburn near York, makes Fair Trade Belgium Chocolate and accessed an RDPE grant to purchase new equipment enabling the company to introduce new lines, increase productivity and create products with different kinds of chocolate.

The Gluten Free Kitchen, a specialist bakery based in Hawes North Yorkshire, produces gluten, wheat and dairy-free breads, cakes, puddings and savouries that are additive and preservative free. The company received RDPE funding which allowed the business to relocate to new premises, allowing them to increase their operation, reduce operating costs and increase business sales.

Yorkshire Fine Cheese Ltd, based in Shepley Huddersfield used RDPE funding to convert a former canteen premises at Barncliffe Mill, Shelley into a modern dairy unit and purchase specialised equipment to produce cheese using milk from a single local dairy herd.

Andy Tordoff, Assistant Director of Environment (Rural Renaissance and Tourism) commented; “These are just four of the businesses that have benefited from RDPE funding. There’s so much more to RDPE than giving businesses funding – we provide a number of rural support programmes which can offer support and guidance on a range of rural business needs and requirements. The overall aim of RDPE is to ensure rural areas remain vibrant and diverse and improve the quality of life and environment.”

RDPE is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union and managed by Yorkshire Forward.