People working in economic
development and regeneration are being invited to help shape a new practical analytics
platform designed to guide rural business policy.
The Rural Enterprise Support
Analytics (RESA) tool focuses on rates of business start-up, growth and
survival to enable local and regional policymakers to better understand and
benchmark their area to inform decision-making.
The online platform – which is
supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – enables
local/combined authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships to assess the
combinations of economic factors which influence these rates, rather than
comparing them in isolation.
The team behind RESA at Northumbria
University and the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise at Newcastle
University is holding an online session on Wednesday 28 February, 10-11.30am,
to gather feedback on the platform to shape its development before it is rolled
out later in the year. Register for the session here.
Gary Bosworth, Professor of
Entrepreneurship at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, said:
“The platform is based on research which identified external enablers of high
performing business populations in rural local authority districts and found,
what we all know, that rural areas are quite different from urban areas and
each other.
“Our aim is for the tool to help draw
out those differences and potential in the rural economy to help tailor support
where it is needed most, and we’d urge anyone who would find this information
useful to join us and give feedback.”
Derek Egan, Economic and Social
Research Analyst at Defra, said: “This new approach to understanding rural
economies can provide locally-specific evidence to inform targeted investments
aimed at supporting rural businesses to prosper and we encourage people working
in economic regeneration to get involved.”
If you have any queries about the
tool or session, please email at gary.bosworth@northumbria.ac.uk
