VILLAGES in Cheshire are benefiting from a flood of new businesses which are turning their back on city centres in favour of setting up in the countryside.
The traditional image of the rural economy is changing, with 22.5% of Cheshire’s businesses now based in villages – creating job opportunities.
Rural development officer for Cheshire County Council, Fil Prevc, said firms in the countryside across Cheshire and Warrington contribute £3.3bn to the economy of the region as more companies realise the potential of being based in rural areas.
He revealed demand for smaller office units in Cheshire has rocketed as larger firms downsize and small businesses start-up.
A typical example is lingerie company Sparkling Strawberry in Tarporley, which boasts a worldwide customer base and has worked with celebrities including Katie Price and Kerry Katona.
Directors Gordon and Sarah Pearson, who set up in 2005, rejected the idea of a city centre shop-front premises and now trade solely on the internet.
Mr Pearson said: “Being based close to home is a huge bonus – we can take our daughter to school on the way to the office, or work from home if we need to.”
Rural chartered surveyor Tony Rimmer, director of land and property specialists Rostons, based at Hatton Heath in Cheshire, said: “Setting up shop rurally has been a growing trend, particularly over the last five years, and despite the credit crunch is still growing in popularity.
“With modern technology, more new ventures are realising that location is no longer important and look at whether they really need to be based in the city centre.”
But Fil Prevc admitted the credit crunch was reducing demand for larger schemes and urged developers to take advantage of the growing need for smaller modern, flexible workspace in rural areas – in particular light industrial space.
“We need the private sector to develop flexible workspace to enable this growth,” said Mr Prevc.
