£30,000 funding on offer to local businesses

Is your business making a positive difference to rural areas by doing something innovative?

Quilter Cheviot Investment Management is pleased to announce the launch of its Rural Innovation Programme; the programme will award £30,000 to a business or entrepreneur utilising innovation to ensure rural communities continue to prosper for generations to come.

Businesses in the UK, Ireland and Jersey that can demonstrate they are using innovative techniques to help sustain rural communities can apply from today until 14 June here.

Quilter Cheviot’s aim is for the funding to have a long-term positive impact on the countryside. Successful applicants will be able to show how they can use the funding to help make a significant contribution, helping those that live and work in rural communities.

Applicants to the Quilter Cheviot Rural Innovation Programme will be judged by a selected panel that includes BBC Countryfile Live and The One Show presenter, Joe Crowley; business expert and best-selling author, Emma Jones MBE; and Vice-Chancellor of Harper Adams University, Dr David Llewellyn.

Andy McGlone, Chief Executive of Quilter Cheviot will also sit on the panel. He said: “We are passionate about celebrating the countryside and local communities, whilst sharing an appreciation for the small businesses that contribute to Britain and Ireland’s rural economy. Innovation is also at the heart of much of what we do so we feel this is a great opportunity to help further connect and foster a partnership between us and these communities.”

Quilter Cheviot supports a number of country shows including the Suffolk Show, the Royal Bath & West Show, the New Forest & Hampshire Show, and BBC Countryfile Live from 2016-2018.

For 2019, Quilter plc, Quilter Cheviot’s parent company, has been named as the title sponsor of both BBC Countryfile Live events at Blenheim Palace (1-4 August) and Castle Howard (15-18 August).

Paul Feeney, CEO of Quilter, said: “Building on Quilter Cheviot’s success as the inaugural headline sponsor of Countryfile Live, we are delighted to now be taking on this prestigious position at the event.”

“Here in Great Britain, we are fortunate enough to have some of the world’s most beautiful countryside right on our doorstep and Countryfile Live provides the perfect opportunity to help us all understand what we can do to protect it in these fast-moving times.”

2019 will be the fourth year of Quilter Cheviot’s involvement with BBC Countryfile Live, and will be present this year at both events.

Investors should remember that the value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up. Investors may not recover what they invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Any mention of a specific security should not be interpreted as a solicitation to buy or sell a specific security.

For more information please contact:

Sophie Gorman (Quilter Cheviot) sophie.gorman@quiltercheviot.com 0207 150 4246

Neha Popat (Quilter Cheviot) neha.popat@quiltercheviot.com 0207 150 4366