The Bath & West Society, known for producing the UK’s last Royal four-day agricultural show, announces it is opening a Rural Enterprise Centre.
Work is already well underway at the Centre, with the doors due to open in January 2018.
The Society’s former office building at the Bath and West Showground is currently undergoing a £520k refurbishment, transforming it into a cutting edge Rural Enterprise Centre - set to become the hub of rural enterprise across Somerset and the South West of England, encouraging knowledge sharing, education and business growth amongst the rural community.
Featuring a conference and seminar area for up to 80 people, a modern commercial test kitchen, a number of meeting rooms and commercial office space for agri-tech, food and drink or rurally focused businesses, the Society’s Rural Enterprise Centre will be a valuable facility in supporting the development of agricultural businesses, land–based skills training and micro food and drink companies.
Chief Executive of the Bath & West Society, Rupert Cox, says,
“Since 1777, the Society has been working tirelessly towards the improvement and encouragement of agriculture, manufacture, commerce and the arts.
Over 240 years later, we remain committed to ensuring our rural community continues to thrive in today’s modern society.
Education, knowledge transfer and business growth is at the heart of the Centre and the facility will provide the perfect venue for farmers undertaking knowledge transfer projects, higher education graduates completing research projects, further education students gaining farming knowledge and skills, the rural workforce learning vocational skills to increase their employability and micro food and drink businesses looking to expand and grow.
Our aim is to cultivate rural advancement, and we want to do this by creating a living-breathing community for rural businesses to collaborate and learn, share insight, develop products and help one another to advance enterprise across the region.”
The Bath & West Society is confident the Rural Enterprise Centre will have a multitude of facilities to support rural enterprise in the area, but it’s giving organisations and businesses from across the region the opportunity to have their say.
If you have any thoughts on the Centre and how it might be able to help you reach your business goals or if you have any ideas for events or seminars you would like to see at the Centre, get in touch with Rupert Cox by calling 01749 822200 or emailing Rupert.Cox@bathandwest.co.uk.