Abstract

The decline in traditional rural services namely the pub, Post Office and shop and the rise of ‘new’ niche entrepreneurial ventures has led to some villages taking on a different socio-economic identity. This shift has led to some, including the proprietors of traditional services, to argue that villages are becoming disjointed and polarised in terms of a ‘them’ (incomers) and ‘us’ (long term residents) culture and that this is detrimental to their survival. One solution is for traditional service providers to draw upon their entrepreneurial skills to respond to the new opportunities associated with a rural economy that is increasingly driven by consumption demand (Slee, 2005), thus helping to ensure their viability and sustainability.
A combination of primary and secondary research, however, suggests that in the main, traditional rural service providers have chosen not to do this for a combination of reasons. This paper will elaborate on these issues in the context of a wider rural literature that describes a rural renaissance (Fieldsend & Kerekes, 2011) based on a growing and increasingly affluent population (Woods, 2005) and associated business growth (Bosworth, 2010).