News

The outstanding achievements of our rural community business members and the individuals that make them shine were recognised last night (Thursday 3 July). Nine community businesses or individuals were winners at the 2025 Rural Community Business Awards, sponsored by Lands Improvement and held at the Royal Society of Chemistry [...]

The visit to The Green Gram in Hampshire demonstrates how this collaboration is supporting sustainable and inclusive community businesses. Plunkett’s partnership with Southern Co-op continues to go from strength to strength. In 2024 alone, we responded to more than twice as many new community business enquiries within Southern Co-op’s trading [...]

A growing number of community-owned pubs are breathing new life into Scotland’s remote, rural villages, as seen in two new videos co-produced by Plunkett UK and Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), which showcase community life on the Isle of Bute and in West Fife. Head to The Anchor Tavern in [...]

Rural community shops play a critical role in safeguarding equitable access to essential retail and having broader societal impact – but more than ever, they must adapt to survive. This is the key message in Plunkett UK's new Future of Rural Retail Report, produced in partnership with a taskforce comprising [...]

Formerly Plunkett's Project Support Officer, George writes about how he will work closely with colleagues, community-owned businesses, and external partners to promote and embed Plunkett’s core values and strategic objectives. After two years of working as Plunkett UK’s Project Support Officer, I have the honour of becoming our first Impact [...]

‘This is a critical moment for the future viability of rural community businesses’ - James Alcock, Chief Executive of Plunkett UK, the rural community business charity. Responding to the Chancellor’s Spending Review announcement, James Alcock said: “Plunkett is working with over 800 rural communities who hope to take ownership and [...]

Together with Webmart we are dedicated to provide vital support to community businesses. Webmart, a sustainable marketing agency and certified B Corp, is making a significant donation to fund the support we provide groups in Oxfordshire and Yorkshire, where their two office headquarters are located. This contribution will greatly help [...]

Did you know… community businesses have, on average, a five-year survival rate of 99%? This is radically higher than the 39% survival rate of private small and medium enterprises over the same period. As the only organisation dedicated to supporting rural community-owned businesses across the UK, Plunkett's Impact Report 2025 [...]

David Lydiat has been appointed as Head of External Affairs at Plunkett UK, the national charity that supports rural community businesses. David begins in post on 5th June in this new role which brings together membership, communications and policy activities to grow the awareness of the rural community business sector [...]

Meet the Judges for the Rural Community Business Awards 2025 As we gear up to announcing our 2025 Rural Community Business Awards finalists, meet our panel of judges who carefully considered this year's nominations. On 15 May, the judges met to review the shortlisted nominations and [...]