News

13 Mar 2018

UK economy to benefit from greater rural digital adoption

Research by Rural England and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), commissioned by Amazon, shows that greater use of digital tools and services could deliver 4 to 8.8 percent, the equivalent of £12 to £26.4 billion, of additional Gross Value Added (GVA) per year for the rural economy. 

“Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen opportunities for rural entrepreneurs transformed through e-commerce, better delivery services and growing access to fast broadband. But as this report shows, there’s a long way to go before anyone can say the rural-urban divide has closed,” said Doug Gurr, UK Country Manager, Amazon.

“Embracing digital technology not only benefits the economy, it also allows rural communities to combine great quality of life with access to global opportunities,” he adds.

The report found that the South West, Eastern and South East regions, which have the largest share of rural businesses in the country, are set to benefit the most from greater digital adoption.

If digital constraints are removed and the digital potential is realised in rural areas, an estimated £15bn or more could also be generated in additional business turnover.

Microbusinesses (0-9 employees) in rural areas would see the greatest benefit, generating an additional £9.4 billion in annual business turnover; followed by £4.6 billion for small businesses (10-49 employees), £700 million for medium-sized businesses (50-249 employees) and £200 million for large businesses (over 250 employees).

Chair of Directors at independent think tank Rural England Brian Wilson explains, “Rural businesses are, to a considerable degree, already strong digital adopters, and most recognise the importance of going further in the future. However, their ability to go digital has been held back by constraints which have included connectivity but also extend to a lack of skills, training and resources.

“To help address these constraints and boost rural economic productivity, we believe there are some straight forward ‘quick wins’, which if delivered locally, nationally and UK-wide, could have a significant and positive impact on the quality of life for rural communities and the UK economy as a whole.”

Recommendation for the public and private sector to help increase GVA from digital adoption:

• Streamlining digital support services – Setting up a single portal for information and local directories giving guidance and support that fulfils the digital needs of rural businesses
• Digital Enterprise Hubs – Establishing hubs in rural towns which businesses can use or visit for better connectivity, start-up workspace, hot-desk space and training
• Training and skills development – Local collaboration between employers and education providers, improving retraining opportunities and ensuring short training courses and online tools are more readily available to small business owners for life-long learning
• Accelerated business adoption of digital connectivity – Encourage businesses using superfast broadband to champion its benefits to their peers locally, offering practical real-life examples of success, and prioritise investment in connectivity and digital tools.
• Stronger rural targeting by existing policies and strategies – Making support for digital growth a key objective in future rural business support programmes and encourage larger technology-driven firms to implement policies focused on greater digital adoption in rural areas that shares best practice and provides practical hands-on support for smaller companies

The full report is available to read here.

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