Unlocking income-generating potential

Diversification is a well-trodden route for farm businesses but rural businesses and countryside venues are also getting innovative at generating additional revenue from their sites.

Financial challenges are encouraging agricultural show operators and other rural venues to unlock the hidden value in their sites, generating year-round commercial income that will help secure their futures. 

A shining example of this is the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association (RNAA), the body which runs and operates the Royal Norfolk Showground.

A showground with buildings, space, services and other provisions is ideally placed for diversification. They also have well established brands on which to build new ventures.

The process has very much been at the heart of the revised commercial strategy taken by the RNAA and Brown&Co has worked with the Association to help it adapt from what had been the traditional format of show-based engagement with the public.

Income-generating activities are no longer restricted to the annual show in June with multiple new opportunities in place for the venue’s commercial use throughout the year.

At the centre of this recent diversification is the planned £2.3m Norfolk Food Hall, an impressive 800m² building which will be home to a range of high-quality food producers and manufacturers from Norfolk and further afield, including a 100+ seater bistro cafe too.

Our commercial team has worked with the RNAA to secure a range of lettings for the showground’s permanent buildings too, buildings that would otherwise sit empty for most of the year.

We have secured flexible commercial tenants interested in ad hoc usage, for example those who only require six months of storage such as businesses that are relocating or need seasonal storage for outdoor equipment rather than a year-round need.

The RNAA project demonstrates how rural venues can capitalise on new growth opportunities to drive their businesses forward while at the same time broadening their engagement with the public.

A business or charity that has an asset on the scale of a showground has many options for alternative uses.

The days when a good or a bad year for a show society was benchmarked by the success or otherwise of the annual show are balanced with this diverse approach to the utilisation of their sites and assets.

For more information, contact our Architecture & Planning team here.