Make most of Olympics in countryside - rural business chief (From Worcester News)

Make most of Olympics in countryside - rural business chief

10:00am Friday 6th January 2012 in Biz By Mike Pryce

HEREFORDSHIRE’S Harry Cotterell, national president of the Country Land and Business Association, has called for rural businesses to lead the way in Britain’s economic revival during the Olympic Year.

Mr Cotterell, who farms at Garnons, near Hereford, said: “The eyes of the world will be on Britain in the summer of 2012.

“The Olympic Games in London will bring millions of visitors to our shores, while the rest of the world will be tuning in on the media. I hope that views of our iconic countryside will be extensively used to promote national identity, using powerful images which will endure long after the athletes have departed.

“As farmers and rural landowners our message must be ‘Welcome to our countryside, welcome to our workshop’. The fact that the hills, the farms, the woods and forests, the mountains and moorland are all actively managed and are home to many excellent and diverse businesses must not be lost on the millions of visitors we expect to see this year.

“But there’s more to it than that. Those of us who live and work in the countryside are determined to make our businesses thrive.

“Our determination to succeed matches that of any Olympic athlete. The nation desperately needs economic growth and the CLA is confident rural businesses can lead the way.

“The rural economy is full of the small and medium-sized enterprises which will be the engine room of the economic recovery.

“Regardless of our national success in the Olympics, I believe 2012 can be the Year of the Countryside.”