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Rural Activity
Given Lanarkshire has the second largest population
in Scotland, you may expect the area to be entirely
urban, but this figure hides the fact that a large
percentage of the land is actually rural.
Rural Lanarkshire is well represented in terms of the
Scottish Government key growth sectors such as
food and drink and tourism, and is home to many high
performing companies within these sectors. There is
also an opportunity for competitive development
sites in rural Lanarkshire that can accommodate
different types of business operations.
The agriculture sector plays a significant role in Lanarkshire and makes a strong contribution to
the supply sectors and is key to maintaining the social fabric in rural area. Over the past decade, the
significant decline in the core agricultural livestock enterprises, along with a fall in the agricultural
workforce provide ongoing challenges for the sector. The need to continually adapt to change and
new funding mechanisms are expected to bring both challenges and opportunities to agriculture in
rural Lanarkshire in the coming years.
Lanarkshire was successful in securing awards of £2 million from the previous LEADER programme.
Moving forward under the new LEADER programme from 2015-2020, North and South Lanarkshire
Councils seek to secure more LEADER funding to benefit the rural area and implement proposed
actions as laid out in rural strategies. This activity will be co-ordinated by a Local Action Group and
decisions on funding will be devolved to that group to decide on what will bring most benefit to the
rural area.
Supplier Development Programme
The Supplier Development Programme (SDP) is a business support initiative,
established to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) improve their
performance in winning contracts with public sector organisations. The
programme offers information, support and training events to help businesses
develop their knowledge and skills in order to participate in complex tendering
processes and brings an opportunity to grow and diversify through improving
procurement opportunities.
SDP is a partnership of 30 Local Authorities, and runs across Scotland as a not-for-profit business from
its base in South Lanarkshire Council. The Scottish Government is now a partner in the programme and
seeks to expand the digital outreach of public sector procurement.
With a public sector spend of over £9 billion, improving performance in winning public sector contracts
can clearly have a direct positive benefit, and all businesses across Scotland are encouraged to find out
more about how the programme can help, and access the free support available.
Visit
r more information.
