Rural Business Growth Initiative
Helping Fenland's rural businesses level up their marketing.
Why I ran the Rural Business Growth Initiative
The Rural Business Growth Initiative was a Fenland District Council funded project, delivered through a business grant, designed to help local businesses across Fenland and neighbouring rural counties in Cambridgeshire level up their marketing.
I was proud to receive a grant specifically awarded to support local businesses struggling with inadequate or outdated marketing. Far too often, rural and small businesses hand marketing tasks to existing employees who are untrained and already stretched thin. It might seem cost effective at first, but it usually leads to box ticking activity rather than anything that actually drives growth.
This funding allowed me to deliver hands on support across the Fenland area, making sure local businesses were not left behind when it came to modern marketing, at a time when digital advertising, SEO and social media were becoming essential rather than optional for rural business growth.
Fully funded support for qualifying Fenland businesses
Businesses that qualified for the Growth Initiative received a fully funded consultation to discuss the business, its current needs and its targets, from which a bespoke marketing framework was created, specifically tailored to that business.
Alongside the consultation, a fully funded month of marketing services was provided to support the business and the implementation of its personalised marketing material. This included:
Website development and SEO
Email automation campaigns
Lead generation
Social media management, customer retention and engagement
What the initiative achieved across Fenland
Over 15 local businesses across Fenland and the surrounding rural counties received tailored marketing support through the initiative, from consultation through to a fully funded month of implementation. Three of those businesses remain on my books today as full paying clients, with ongoing work that has grown well beyond the scope of the original scheme, a strong sign that the support genuinely translated into long term business relationships rather than a one off intervention.
What the initiative meant for me and for Fenland's business community
Establishing First Turn Media locally
Delivering the Rural Business Growth Initiative played a big part in establishing First Turn Media within Fenland's business community, building trust with local businesses, business support organisations and the council through genuine, delivered results rather than promises.
Consulting on wider projects
The relationships and credibility built through the initiative opened the door to consulting on wider projects across the local area, extending my involvement beyond individual client work and into supporting rural business growth more broadly.
Fenland District Council agriculture and rural business meeting
As a direct result of the initiative, I was invited to speak at a Fenland District Council agriculture and rural business meeting, sharing insight on marketing challenges and opportunities facing rural and agricultural businesses across the district.
A model for future support
The outcomes of the initiative, both in terms of businesses helped and long term client relationships formed, now stand as a strong example of how targeted, fully funded marketing support can make a genuine difference to rural and Fenland based businesses.
The initiative has now ended
The Rural Business Growth Initiative funding period has now closed, and the scheme is no longer accepting new applicants. The results and relationships it created continue on though, through the businesses I still work with today and the wider profile it helped build for First Turn Media across Fenland and rural Cambridgeshire.
Still want the same kind of support?
Although the funded scheme has finished, I still work with Fenland and rural Cambridgeshire businesses on exactly the same kind of marketing, tailored to your business, not a generic package.