The contributions were insightful, imaginative, heartening and innovative.  We posted them on the site for people to read through.  There are over 230 in total, BUT we want more!

Please circulate the website address to colleagues and friends so that they can provide their ‘vision’ for rural Britain.

http://2020vision.ruralnet.org.uk/

Simon commented:
“We want to do this collectively because many heads are better than one or two - and there is a great deal of significance to something that has been created by hundreds of people. Visions can inspire and motivate - and they can inform policy and influence strategy. This is an opportunity for people to contribute to a collective vision for rural Britain - something quite unique and special.”

Broughton Hall http://www.broughtonhall.co.uk is at the heart of a country estate that for generations had been in the business of agriculture. But modern farming methods meant that traditional farm buildings became redundant and rundown. Twenty years ago, the estate started converting these buildings to offer office accommodation. Now, this family run business park has over 600 people employed on-site in a stunning complex of converted outbuildings. It also has an award winning modern cafe.

Over the past 10 years, Roger Tempest built up an advisory arm, Rural Solutions, which was sold to the Accent Group in 2006. Join Roger Tempest for a fascinating insight into how they built up the business park into the thriving community of businesses that operate from here today and draw on his experience of advising others through Rural Solutions.

A copy of the Study Tour notes is available to download here - New Uses for Old Buildings at Broughton Hall

Simon Berry, CEO of ruralnet|uk caught up with him after the session to talk in a bit more detail about what all the great work that Yorkshire Forward is doing and what makes Yorkshire so special!

Sarah Longlands, Director of Policy, Centre for Local Economic Strategy

Market Towns and Low Carbon Development

Tom Bridges, Associate Director, Arup Ltd

Empowerment through Community-led Planning

John Findlay, Chief Executive national Association of Local Councils

Watch his speech here:

And we caught up with him after the session to ask him some questions, take a look here (unfortunately this clip stops abruptly):

Case study: Skipton Building Society

The following is a summary from the study tour on day one of the convention ‘How large businesses can work in small towns - the case of the Skipton Building Society’

Introduction

Skipton Building Society employs over 2,000 people in a town and hinterland with a total population of under 15,000. The Society is committed to its local community but recognises that if it chose to move to larger urban areas, it would increase its employment pool and site options.
This study tour examined the challenges posed for Skipton Building Society in working with such a small pool of potential employees and looked at how Skipton Building Society have adapted their people policies and taken other initiatives to manage this challenge.
The session was hosted by Gill Davidson, Secretary and General Manager, responsible for People Support and Development and Chris Worts, Head of People Support and Development.

Content

The Skipton is today the 6th largest Building Society (Mutual) and employs over 2,000 people locally. The majority travel in from under 10 miles, although the catchment area is such that 25% of employees travel in from a distance of 10-20 miles and more than 20% travel in from over 20 miles. Although the population of Skipton is just under 15,000, the population that falls within the catchment area is nearer 100,000. Skipton is on a direct rail line to Leeds and Bradford.
The Society strategy is to be an employer of choice and as such has been an early adopter of Investor in People, and similar initiatives. They have an ethos built into the core employee/employer values of trust, fairness, enthusiasm and ownership.
Employee turnover at its Skipton Head Office is 14% and attracting and keeping staff is a key priority. The minimum education standards required for employment is 5 GCSE’s.
Skipton Building Society considers the major advantage of its Head Office location in Skipton being the high quality of life associated with living in Skipton, the excellent local schools, strong town centre and the good transport infrastructure, with the railway links. They consider that they have a strong workforce despite the restrictions that they operate under.
To promote their positive image locally, (corporate responsibility) Gill explained that they support 20 student scholarships a year. Skipton has two excellent schools (secondary) and 77% of students go on to higher education locally. This compares to the national rate of approximately 50%. Skipton has recently launched an apprenticeship scheme to support school leavers who have not yet attained the minimum entry qualifications.
Given the need to encourage and compete for good staff, the Society has been promoting flexible arrangements and for example now the number of employees working 9-5 is in decline and other arrangements are increasing. Some students are returning to Skipton and the Building Society, having begun careers elsewhere. These employees are regarded as ‘winbacks’ and the Society is looking at how to encourage these.

Group Discussion

The study tour group discussed how issues such as a strong retail sector are interdependent with the presence of business, good schools and good insfrastructure.

The presentation by Rhona is available below.  You can also hear her talk about market towns of the future when we caught her with her after the session here.

The historic Skipton Castle was the setting for this study tour, aimed at highlighting the issues surrounding all of us as we strive to make out towns more environmentally friendly.  The session was hosted by Craven District Council and Skipton Town Council and covered topics such as saving water, diverting waste away from landfill sites and public transport in rural areas - all of which have an impact on the carbon footprint of a town.

Download the summary from the study tour below:

Report - Market Towns Going Green

The power point presentation from Craig Wilson at Craven District Council is available below:

The power point presentation from Dave Parker from Skipton Town Council:

The Mart Theatre, Skipton

Skipton can boast it has the only professional theatre venue based in an auction mart!

Delegates heard about the obvious differences, (smells), between agriculture and the arts and how they have been overcome.  They were told about how the project delivers and contributes to the qualitry of life for Skipton and the areas residents.

Download the Skipton Cattle Mart case study:

Art in the Cattle Mart - case study

Download the handout from the convention:

Handout leaflet

Download the theatre leaflet:

The Mart theatre brochure

Yorkshire and Humber

Kivo-ebiz - for trading on ebay for the community (overall winner of the National Market Towns Award 2008)

North East

North East Hexham Community Partnership - for the Cinema Forum

East of England

Walton Forum - for the Triple Whammy building

East Midlands

Sleaford Town Council - for the Sleaford Business Improvement District

West Midlands

John Kyle High School Adult and Community Learning Centre - for Adult & Community IT

South East

Waterside Business Partnership and RevitalHythe - for Snow in Hythe at Christmas