Women creating wealth through rural enterprise

Rural enterprise needs to be encouraged to preserve the countryside – not just economically but socially and culturally. The logic for policy measures to be introduced that encourage enterprise growth to constitute some reversal of economic decline in rural areas is clear. Business enterprises have been targeted as one vehicle to bring about rural regeneration. Research in Shropshire, UK, has, however, found that most “non‐farm but on‐farm” enterprises are started and run by women, but that little formal support exists to encourage and sustain their growth. This paper looks at some of the characteristics of rural female entrepreneurs and highlights one project (Women in Rural Enterprise – WiRE). WiRE has been formed specifically for rural female entrepreneurs in Shropshire/West Midlands and briefly considers why this specifically targeted kind of policy focus is vital not only to economic development but to social and cultural sustainability in rural areas.