REC Research

This project seeks to empower rural small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Highlands and South of Scotland by tailoring business support interventions to their unique needs. Recognizing the persistent challenges that hinder small business innovation in rural areas—such as financial limitations and a shortage of skilled labour — this research aims to explore how place-based innovation strategies facilitated by external advisors can unlock their potential.

By examining the intricate interplay between SMEs and their social, economic, political, physical, and spatial environments, this study will illuminate pathways to foster place-based rural innovation. Through engaging directly with SMEs and innovation stakeholders in focus groups and interviews, the research will uncover the root causes of innovation barriers and identify actionable solutions.

A co-developed Theory of Change (ToC) will emerge from these qualitative insights, forming the foundation for a wider survey aimed at validating the findings across a broader sample of SMEs. The results will feed into a practical ‘advisor toolkit’ designed to support first-time rural innovators, equipping advisers new to working with micro- and small businesses in rural areas with strategies and resources to overcome challenges and thrive in their local contexts.

(PI: Dr Inge Hill)

Team members: Dr Serdal Ozusaglam, and Dr Hamisu Salihu (University of Warwick); Dr Giacomo Carli and Tess Hartland, (The Open University).

The aim of this research project is to support the development of rural micro- and small (non-land based) businesses to develop thriving regional economies – in England and Wales, to start with.

Supporting the development of rural micro- and small (non-land based) businesses with sustainability advice and growing rural creative businesses to develop thriving regional economies is at the core of this challenge project. Part of this research is to reveal how rural enterprises can be role models for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals / Circular Economy and how sustainability business support could enable them further. This project is funded by an OU societal challenged build-it grant.

Select this link for more information Tackling inequalities in rural areas and changing the discourse of ‘deficit rural’.

(PI Inge Hill, with Liz Moody)

This study investigates the networks and relationships that develop to sustain and support volunteers running food banks in two rural market towns. Food banks have been studied at length, however, the volunteer perspective and relationships that are developed by smaller, independent food banks, operating in rural communities is less well understood. This study aims to deliver insights into how local people and businesses interact and support more vulnerable people within them, in times of crisis. Through in-depth interviews with volunteers, local business people and referral agencies, the project maps relationships to understand their interactions and to what extent the rural context shapes the service and the needs of service users. It seeks to uncover any specific challenges or advantages that volunteers and local agencies identify and will consider possible implications for the future of the food banks, the volunteers and their users.

(PI Liz Moody)

This research investigates advice provision in rural and urban areas in Wales, England and Scotland and focuses on the advisors’ viewpoints. Business advisors, either working in publicly funded programmes or in their own businesses getting paid by clients, are an important vehicle in business support provision. Labels as ‘management consultant’, ‘business advisor’ and ‘business coach or mentor’ are used in partially overlapping ways to describe agents delivering external inputs for business processes. In rural areas, due to lower density of firms and population, and business and other infrastructure, the advice provision is more challenging. Semi-structured interviews with advisers and desk research of the extensive grey literature inform a variety of outputs.

(PI Inge Hill)

The OU is a partner in the ICAERUS four-year project. which aims to increase the business use of drones in agriculture, forestry and rural areas across Europe. It stands for ‘Innovation and Capacity building in Agricultural Environmental and Rural UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) Services’.

This Horizon Europe-funded project aims to benefit agricultural communities and a range of stakeholders from the private sector to public bodies developing policies and offering funding for innovation. It has four areas of activities – research; develop and demonstrate; educate and train; and scale-up.

The ‘ICAERUS Academy’ has developed one course so far - The course aims to cultivate a foundational skill set related to developing business ideas for drone technologies.

The OU team welcome project partners from across Europe for the annual meeting of the ICAERUS project board on campus in Milton Keynes in June 2024.

(PI Giacomo Carli, with Kristen Reid, Despoina Filiou and Jie Deng)

This project delves into the unique landscape of rural family businesses in La Rioja, Spain, an area celebrated for its rich agricultural and viticultural heritage. It aims to explore the integration of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within these businesses. The primary objectives are to pinpoint the specific challenges and opportunities these rural enterprises face in implementing sustainability frameworks, and to provide tailored, actionable recommendations that support enhanced sustainable practices. Special attention is given to the dynamics of intergenerational family businesses, focusing on strategies that leverage their unique position to foster long-term sustainability in line with Agenda 2030.

(PI Sara Calvo-Martinez)

Rooted in process-relational ontology, this research investigated how business support is provided to creative firms in rural areas, with focus on craft and visual artists. It asked how context matters for place-based business support of rural craft entrepreneuring. Drawing on two comparative case studies in rural locations in England and Scotland, this project focused on micro-exchange processes in business advice situations. The research applied ethnographic research methods, combining observations with interviews of groups and individuals, researching business support providers, programme managers, policy makers, experts and artists (46 interviews; 9 days of observations; website analysis of two networks); the data analysis used reflexive thematic analysis. The project identified key features of effective place-based strategic business support to develop resilient rural craft micro-businesses, both online and face-to-face. Through this knowledge transfer, the project will deliver long-term impact by offering a tool for business advice.

Select this link for more information ISBE RAKE 2023 Place-based Support for Rural Craft Entrepreneuring – How Does Context Matter?

(PI Inge Hill)

Wi-Fi and mobile data connectivity do not have universal coverage, especially in rural areas in the UK; where there is Wi-Fi coverage the speeds tend to be slower as properties are further away from the external street cabinet routers. Wi-Fi speeds can be ineffective as little as 1.2km Wi-Fi from the cabinet. The move to only online learning in March 2020 was the catalyst to investigate if Wi-Fi connectivity impacts student experience, especially as students were unable to access Wi-Fi from work, cafes or libraries during the pandemic. The project surveyed over 400 OU level two and level three students (QAA level 5 and level 6 respectively). The research identified local connectivity (Wi-Fi and mobile data) does have a disadvantage to student learning experience. The outcomes of this research has informed the OU’s Access and Participation Plan digital inclusion objectives and the OU’s inclusive tuition strategies guidance.

Select this link for more information Does Wi-Fi/data connectivity disadvantage OU students?

(PI Sonja Rewhorn and Vicky Johnson)