Harriett Baldwin has welcomed a massive £35 million fund to help rural businesses to grow and take on more staff. The fund, announced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, will allow business to bid for up to £750,000 to help them boost productivity or open up tourist potential. The scheme has already granted £99 million to 546 business across England creating 3771 new jobs. Harriett commented: “Over the years, I have visited many small businesses with ambitious growth plans being held back by the difficulty securing growth funding. “This Government initiative could make a real difference to small rural businesses and I hope that we will see a flood of applications from West Worcestershire. “Whether it is small brewers, rural food producers or hi-tech start-ups, this is really important news for business owners and I hope to be celebrating more growth and new jobs with local employers in the near future.” Farming Minister George Eustice added: “Our dedicated fund for rural businesses has created more than 3,700 jobs and supported a diverse group of businesses, tourism operations and start-ups to unlock their full potential. “This next round of funding will help more businesses to grow and local areas to prosper – and I would urge any rural enterprise to look into what this scheme could do for them. “I would also encourage farmers to consider how they might use this funding to branch out and diversify their businesses, making the most of emerging trends and tastes and looking ahead to new opportunities.” Business owners can find out more about the fund by visiting: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rural-businesses-to-benefit-from-35m-government-fund