How social enterprise can transform rural life
This article by the CEO of Plunkett thoughtfully reflects on the positive support they give to a number of aspects of the economic and social life of rural communities. In relation to their work with village shops he states:
“The fantastic thing about community enterprise is that it often thrives where commercial ventures fail. Taking the example of community-owned shops, only 10 of the 278 to ever open have closed, giving them a 97% success rate. Compare that with the 47% five-year survival rate of small businesses and you begin to appreciate their worth. But there’s no secret to it – it’s the community engagement that ensures they are successful. Because they are owned and run by the customers themselves, they listen to what they want, and respond accordingly.
And because the customers are the owners, they really care about what happens to the business and want to support it. And we’re seeing this right across the board, from shops and pubs to transport services, broadband provision, energy services and much, much more.”
Undoubtedly good stuff – however 278 shops is a tiny drop in the ocean. He goes on to talk about Village SOS a Big Lottery project recently bringing rural regeneration to a TV near you – which has generated 750 telephone enquiries from the 11 million or so people who live in rural England.
I like the work of Plunkett, Sheffield Hallam University are currently evaluating the impact of Village SOS in detail. The big question we need to ask is how can this good work be scaled up to have a macro economic impact on some of the real challenges facing rural England? Perhaps the proposals to mutualise 2000 post offices will offer some bigger scale insights