Rural partnerships

In addition to individual businesses in rural Scotland we have worked in close partnership with land based industry bodies. In preparation for the new Scottish Rural Development Plan (SRDP), Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Estates Business Group, the Scottish Rural Property Business Association and the National Farmers Union of Scotland developed and signed a strategic agreement in November 2006.

This is a strong partnership and will continue to be a focus for delivering the rural economic development growth agenda with the partners, working on an agenda of collaboration including activities to encourage rural enterprise to be more innovative, customer focused, market orientated and less risk averse and assisting farm businesses to make the most from the competitiveness axis of the SRDP.

Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the two national Parks also have an agenda for collaboration in relation to pilot actions that can then be transferred to other rural areas. This has been amended in the light of the new focus for HIE and Scottish Enterprise.