Rural Enterprise Tynedale serves England's largest local government district, an area of over 2000 square kilometres, and home to 60,000 people.  Agriculture, forestry and tourism industries are significant and the high quality of the environment makes the area a very attractive place in which to live and work.  In 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease showed just how fragile Tynedale's economy was.  Local businesses lost millions in sales.

We set out to bring about changes in the level of awareness of enterprise, and enterprising behaviour and activity by working with and through enterprising institutions, enterprising communities, and enterprising individuals.  We are helping to develop an enterprising Tynedale that's: vibrant, diverse, healthy, attractive, and positive about enterprise.

Set up in 2003, by the end of our first full year we had:

promoted a week long enterprise festival visiting 5 different towns, running over 20 different events and involving over 2,000 residents;
launched a year long programme of teacher led enterprise activity in Tynedale's four High Schools;
run workshops to encourage:  community and voluntary organisations to become more enterprising; and, individuals to start new businesses;
developed a network of remote ViewStations to improve access to business advice for rural businesses.

Our work is being evaluated by the University of Durham Business School to make sure that Tynedale remains a vibrant dynamic place to live, work and play.  That depends on all of us:  our ideas; our creativity; and our enterprise.