DAVID RICHARDSON: More needs to be done to aid rural Highland firms that have diversity, ambition and potential

The lives of the folk living and working in Inverness are poles apart from their country cousins in places like Dornoch, Dunnet and Dunvegan, and the situation is no different when it comes to the opportunities and challenges faced by firms.

But while these differences might be extreme in the Highlands, the disparity between rural and urban is found right across the UK.

Recognising that small rural firms face a unique set of challenges and inequalities that will continue to stunt their growth unless governments intervene, the Federation of Small Businesses’ new UK-wide report, The Growth Belt: Supporting Rural Small Businesses, presents new ideas on how they can be transformed into an ‘economic growth-belt’.

For while rural businesses are struggling against a backdrop of mounting energy costs, staff shortages, poor transport links and unreliable broadband, their great diversity, ambition and potential shines out too. So, what should be done?

Amongst other things, the government should update the universal service obligation minimum requirements for broadband speeds, and the basic VAT taxable turnover threshold should be raised from £85,000 to £100,000 to encourage rather than discourage small-business growth. Energy suppliers should allow vulnerable businesses obliged to negotiate new contracts at the wholesale price peak in 2022 to renegotiate or ‘blend and extend’ them. Reliable, fully-maintained EV charging infrastructure must be in place by 2030, and the UK government should commit to a long-term fuel duty freeze and make the temporary 5p-per-litre cut into a permanent policy.

Easing the staffing crisis, we’d like to see the extension of the Youth Mobility Scheme to EU countries with no quotas, and wouldn’t it be great if the Highlands and Islands was chosen to pilot the remote visa scheme recommended by the Migratory Advisory Committee?

Finally, to help avoid repeats of the current controversies surrounding new/proposed Scottish Government regulations, rural proofing must be introduced.

David Richardson is regional development manager at FSB.