Horticulturalists and other small land-based businesses are set to profit from a new foundation degree in rural business management developed in partnership between Hadlow College and Barclays Bank.
The degree has been designed for members of any rural business with less than 250 people, which will include farmers, growers, distributors and other horticultural representatives.
It will focus on the vocational and practical application of knowledge and skills, in which industry skills organisation Lantra has identified a major deficit.
"Forty-nine per cent of land-based industries are self-employed and 94 per cent are SMEs (small or medium-sized enterprises)," said Rachel Ellis-Jones, vice principal of Hadlow College.
"They have very specific business problems which are compounded by the fact that land-based industries have a lot of legislation which is particular to them."
According to Lantra, land-based industries are often lacking in skills relating to IT or management, rather than technical knowledge.
However, rather than offer a generic business degree, Hadlow sought to develop a course which would tackle specific problems related to running a business in the rural sector, said Ellis-Jones
Flexibility was key in creating the course structure, in order to accommodate the needs of people already established in the sector and those keen to be, she claimed.
And work experience will be central to the degree, with students involved in businesses encouraged to practice their new skills on familiar territory.
Barclays Bank also had a hand in designing the course syllabus.
The bank was keen to join forces with Hadlow having recognised a lack of commercial awareness among industries seeking its support.
Ellis-Jones said the college is in a strong position to be able to offer students the expertise both of its resident lecturers, as well as the commercial and industry-specific acumen of Barclays staff and other guest speakers.
With the course scheduled to start next January, Hadlow has not given itself much time to recruit interested parties.
But marketing officer, Katie Tucker is confident the college will see a positive response from the industry.
Tucker said: "We have already had an enquiry from a horticulturalist who's been struggling to find work because the industry is so quiet. He is considering doing the degree to become a business consultant for the industry, and be able to add that to his list of skills."
And this predicament is likely shared by many others involved in the sector, she claimed: "It is so difficult for a lot of small businesses these days that something like this course could really help them stay afloat and prosper in the current climate."
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