Rural England CIC is an independent and not-for-profit research body, which was incorporated on 2nd May 2014 under Company Number: 9023202.
Its mission is to build the strength and resilience of rural England by helping to inform and engender better rural policy making. We do this by:
- encouraging informed debate,
- providing independent research and evidence,
- supporting informed information exchange, and
- building a network that draws together all those who seek to sustain and improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of rural England.
The prime focus of the company is on research to further the understanding of issues affecting people, businesses and communities in rural areas of England that will provide objective evidence to inform and influence policy and policymakers.
Our key target audiences include government departments and agencies, MPs and Peers, the Rural Coalition, Rural Interest Groups, Opinion formers and policy makers and the extensive networks of our stakeholders.
Our ambition is that rural evidence should improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of rural areas in England.
The context for this is an understanding that rural considerations are likely to be poorly addressed or overlooked altogether by national and local policy makers unless there is relevant evidence made available and accessible to them. In a predominantly urban country, such as England, policies have often been designed in ways which do not reflect rural circumstances and needs.
The Company has one “Core Supporter” in Calor Ltd. Without their on – going support – which meets the running costs of the business and contributes to research activities – the Company would be unable to operate. The Core Supporter hold no sway over the work the Company undertakes and there are no conditions attached to its support.
There are three key groups around which Rural England CIC has been formed:
Directors: the company (CIC) has a team of Directors who are responsible for its forward or business planning, its financial management and its operation. They are the decision-making group for the company. Directors are assisted by the Company Secretary who manages its budget and oversees the production of its accounts. The Company procures certain “back-office” services from the Rural Services Partnership Ltd including an average one day per week Administrator who works with the Directors to organise meetings, events and the like and website support Directors carry out their role on a voluntary (unpaid) basis.
Stakeholder Group: representatives from around thirty organisations with an interest in rural affairs form this grouping. They provide advice to the Directors about the CIC’s work programme. They often contribute to its research projects, for example by inputting their own evidence, by commenting on draft reports and by helping disseminate those reports. Where appropriate sub-groups of Stakeholders are formed as Task and Finish Groups to assist the preparation of research reports. At their meetings members of this group keep each other informed of rural research they are carrying out. A Defra representative attends the group’s meetings.
Supporters: these are financial supporters who provide Rural England CIC with most of its income (though a small amount derives from profit from research commissions). Their support pays for our operating costs and core research costs. All supporters are private sector businesses which agree to contribute on a corporate social responsibility basis, recognising they haverural customers or rural interests. The largest group are utility companies (gas, electricity and water).
As noted in the role description, Rural England CIC has built relationships with some other academic and consultancy researchers with a rural interest, who can be (sub) commissioned as associates to carry out research on our behalf. The associates give Rural England CIC both additional capacity, to manage peaks and troughs, and additional research skills e.g. an economist.
The company has identified three key sources of income to finance its operations:
- Sponsorship – from “Core Supporters”who share the objectives of the CIC (typically a minimum of £5000).
- Contributions from Supporters – small financial contributions from a wider range of commercial and other organisations (typically circa £542).
- Research Opportunities/Commissions – In addition to the Utility Companies Research Panel and Research funded by Calor Ltd, individual projects will be sought as specific opportunities arise. Members of the Stakeholder Group will be encouraged to consider the potential utilisation of the networks of member organisations when drawing up research proposals of relevance to the company. For example, the 25,000 strong network of individuals across rural England accessible through the Rural Services Network, could add significant value to evidence gathering and results dissemination.
Directors maintain a Business Plan and Risk Register – both covering a three-year period.
For details of our Research Reports to date see the Research Reports by Rural England section of this website
Rural England CIC has hosted an annual Rural Vulnerability Day, which has been used for a report launch and to enable stakeholders or others to give related presentations. These events have always attracted a number of MPs, Lords or their researchers. One will be held in 2024.
Rural England CIC hosts periodic (usually annual) meetings between its Directors and Higher Education Institutions from across the whole of the UK to facilitate information exchange and foster collaboration. Members from these meetings then meet with the Rural England CIC Stakeholder Group to keep them informed of recent research etc.