Nadhim Zahawi, Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon, has consistently spoken in support of Rural Enterprises and visited four such businesses in Whichford on Friday 25th November.

The first port of call was at Sally and Andy Birtwell’s Holycombe Holistic Retreat Centre and Campsite, where Nadhim admired the Retreat Facilities and took a peek in the yurt and tree house on his way round the moated site, marvelling at the transformation from the car dump, a picture of which he had just been shown.  He then caught up with Maia and Christine and enjoyed a coffee cortado at the Straw Kitchen café, before having a guided tour with Jim and Adam Keeling around The Octagon Gift Shop and Whichford Pottery, which included watching a pot being thrown and meeting some of the staff. Following that, most of the party, including Dominique Keeling, were generously hosted by Mark Williams at The Norman Knight, Whichford’s delightful pub, having a delicious lunch.

Nadhim confirmed his view that such businesses are the “backbone of the rural economy”, and that both National and Local government policy requires the development of Rural Enterprises due to the significant role they play in preserving villages and keeping them vibrant. He emphasised the way they interconnect with each other, bring in customers, provide employment, act as important meeting places, and encourage people to visit the countryside thereby boosting tourism and jobs.

These four businesses employ over 85 local people (full and part time).  Nadhim went on to say that low-impact, financially sustainable small businesses are an indispensable part of keeping our villages alive, helping to match the irreplaceable beauty of their old buildings, greens and churches with thriving and diverse working communities. He also discussed the need for extremely careful planning decisions which, however carefully implemented, inevitably involve a degree of compromise and tolerance from local residents.