Owners of a rural tourism business in Northumberland have spoken of how updating their broadband has helped them after a survey revealed that a third of businesses in rural areas across the country are hampered by poor quality internet connection.
Many rural businesses in the North East, South West and West Midlands suffer from 'poor' or 'very poor' quality broadband according to a recent study done by the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE), which is based at Newcastle University, compared to a fifth in urban areas.
One such company was Laverock Law Cottages in Berwick, which took Gold in the ethical, responsible and sustainable tourism category at the North East Tourism Awards in March. The lack of good quality broadband, is said to be affecting the ability to be resilient and bounce back from adversity caused by the coronavirus pandemic in businesses like theirs.
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However, co-owners Dave and Harvest Harris-Jones enlisted a company specialising in rural broadband, Alncom, to install full-fibre broadband to their home and holiday cottages in a change which they say has been 'transformational'. Dave said: "Connection had always been a problem for us, it was a case of one user at a time, a constant juggle and compromise between family and guests and incredibly frustrating.
"The world changed so much during Covid with online bookings for attractions becoming the norm and guests expecting to be able to stay connected to loved ones, not to mention carry out the odd virtual work meeting. We were on the verge on losing business unless we addressed it."
Harvest added: "Having complete connection and not having to worry about it has made a massive difference. To turn what was a threat into an opportunity has opened so many doors for us and made us so much more resilient.
"While we are strong advocates of people taking a break from technology to reconnect with nature for their wellbeing, we fully recognise the need in today’s world for digital connection."
Rural businesses were also twice as likely as urban firms to rate their transport infrastructure as 'poor' or 'very poor', with almost six out of 10 having the same perceptions of public transport, compared to 21% of urban firms. With much lower ratings from rural businesses than urban for the availability of affordable housing and provision of basic services, NICRE hopes to highlight the importance of addressing the full breadth of rural infrastructure deficits in the Levelling Up agenda.
Their findings aim to provide an assessment of the ways in which rural enterprises experience local infrastructure factors and their connections to business networks and community links. It follows the publication of ‘Levelling up the rural economy: an inquiry into rural productivity’ by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse in April, to which NICRE submitted evidence, which said that the urgency of improving infrastructure – particularly the delivery of full-fibre broadband - cannot be overstated.
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NICRE Co-director Professor Stephen Roper said: "Our significant results indicating a positive relationship between broadband quality and firm resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic are particularly important to the Levelling Up agenda, when viewed alongside the issues with access to, and quality of, broadband in rural areas. Together they present a strong case for policy intervention to overcome the barriers preventing comprehensive high-quality broadband in rural areas, given its presence is likely to enhance resilience and, in turn, productivity growth of rural firms.
"While our findings demonstrate clear differences in experiences between rural and urban firms, this is not the full picture. Considering variations within rural areas is as important as rural and urban comparisons in understanding the experiences of rural enterprises to develop policies that will truly Level Up Britain."
Mark Tufnell, President of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said: "The findings of the report reaffirm our view that effective, reliable, and affordable broadband is fundamental to the success of rural business. Whilst it is recognised that significant progress has been made regarding the wider deployment of digital connectivity over the last decade, there remains a substantial rural-urban digital divide and it is essential that this is resolved as soon as possible.
"The rural economy generates some £260bn gross value added (GVA) per year but rural areas are still 18% less productive than the national average. But if we can remove the barriers to rural economic growth, that include digital connectivity, lack of rural affordable housing and a planning system that is not fit for purpose, then we can begin to properly level up between rural and urban areas."
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that in three years, national gigabit broadband coverage has rocketed from six per cent to 67%. The Government is investing £5bn in the national infrastructure programme Project Gigabit, which aims to ensure hard-to-reach areas are first in line for a 'lightning-fast' broadband connection.
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