28 September, 2001

John Sheard argues that the development of small, hi-tech businesses is the way ahead - if we can find people with the right drive

THE bigwigs of the Country Land and Business Association, still known as the CLA, met in Craven this week to discuss - in the words of the national president Anthony Bosanquet - "the biggest countryside crisis in living memory."

Now no-one in the Dales needs to be reminded of that this weekend but I just hope that the worthies who attended the conference took the time to have a look around them: the future was there for all to see.

The conference, you see, was held at Broughton Hall, near Skipton, which - thanks to the efforts of a remarkable young man and his team - should become a beacon to thinking country folk throughout the nation.

The Tempest family have lived at Broughton since the 12th Century, continually improving the estate for most of that time and building the exquisite 18th Century house that now stands by the A59.

Trouble is, when young Roger Tempest, the scion of this ancient family, was handed the reins a few years ago he quickly discovered that such a house costs a fortune to maintain and, as he admitted to me quite frankly, the family funds were not up to the job.

"I could have sold up and gone to live in luxury in the South of France," he said. "But when you come from a family with a tradition like this, that is a no-go option. So we set about finding another way…"

Now Roger was one of the first computer buffs I had ever met and he had worked in London with Eddie Shah to revolutionise the newspaper industry when he launched the Today newspaper. He was, in short, one of a new breed of hi-tech entrepreneurs.

Faced with losing Broughton Hall, he set about converting the myriad estate outbuildings- stables, barns, workshops, store rooms etc - into offices for small young companies whose bosses had foreseen the fact that, with modern communications, business does not have to be conducted in expensive offices in big cities. It saved cash, cut out the hassle of commuting - and gave people a wonderful environment in which to work.

Broughton Hall has been a mega-success. Some 500 highly skilled, well-paid professionals work in the beautiful grounds and Roger now acts as a consultant for other stately home owners hoping to emulate his work.

Now this, to me, is the future. Farming and tourism will, of course, continue and, hopefully, thrive once more. But what we need in the Dales is jobs for people in the upper skills bracket - businesses like (please allow me this small boast) Daelnet.

We have some of the best schools in Britain. But when our kids go off to university, few of them ever come back - there are too few good jobs here for them. A few more Broughton Halls - or Daelnets - would stop this brain drain.

There are literally dozens of Government-backed schemes afoot at present to help us overcome the FMD disaster. I wish them well. But what they need is a combined approach led by a single man or woman of vision - a person like Roger Tempest.

Is there anyone out there…?

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Comments

I would like to no if farming and tourism can still be combined successfully? if yes why??

Ross Hoy, Aberystwyth

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John Sheard replies:

Yes, Ross, farming and tourism can exist side by side - in fact, they must do so for the future of the British countryside as we know it. However, changes will need to be made.

Since the end of World War II, Government policy was to increase food production at all costs, which led to much enviromental damage. That policy, I hope, died with the un-lamented MAFF this summer. However, farmers, and particularly upland farmers in places like the Yorkshire Dales and large areas of Wales, cannot survive without some form of subsidy. Yet the work they do in conserving the countryside is what brings in the tourists.

We should pay our farmers for their ennviromental work and, in this way, they get a fair share of the profits from tourism. The good news is that this appears to be present Govenment thinking in the new Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.