Mentoring workshops help Rural Start-Up Fund businesses take shape 

Established in 2019, the programme provides financial and consultative support to emerging businesses in rural areas. 

Each of the five workshops were led by a member of the Forest Holidays team with expertise in each topic, and focused on developing each business’ skills in areas including branding, finance and digital marketing. 

Huw Trevor of Dolomite Brewery said: “The sessions provided by Forest Holidays have been hugely beneficial to Dolomite Brewery in how we think, how we communicate, and how we act in terms of creating a brand and culture that will represent our values and promote good practice throughout our business. 

“We now have a greater understanding of a broad range of business management topics including how best to manage finances, how best to prepare for recruitment and how best to interact with our customers to provide a high quality product and service for our community.” 

Vicky Smith of West End Barns said: “The mentoring sessions have been great. They have covered all the right topics and the specialists leading the sessions have been really helpful. They have all offered their help outside of the mentoring session too to follow up on questions or issues we want to discuss in more detail, and I’ve got a lot out of it so far.” 

This year’s winners will continue to receive advisory support from Forest Holidays and The Prince’s Countryside Fund as they grow their brands and develop their business. 

Applications for next year’s competition are scheduled to open in the Autumn, and more information about the programme can be found here.