New Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom will deliver a keynote speech at the inaugural CLA Rural Business Conference on 6 December in Westminster.

The conference will also feature unique insight from business leaders and rural investors into the future of the rural economy.

The first major event following the vote for Brexit to bring together UK rural businesses and policy makers, it will explore the theme of ‘Rural Business 2030: Unlocking Investment, Unlocking Potential’. In 2015 the Government set out its ambitions to increase UK productivity by 2030, and the CLA conference will take on this challenge by exploring practical ways to unlock the potential of the rural economy.

CLA Director General Helen Woolley said: “The CLA Rural Business Conference creates a new forum for farmers and other rural businesses to explore the opportunities and challenges that the future holds. This will be one of the first opportunities following the vote for Brexit for rural businesses to showcase the excellence and innovation within the sector to government ministers.

“Rural businesses have the appetite, expertise and potential to boost productivity and grow the rural economy. The conference will explore how we can unlock the investment needed for businesses in the countryside to achieve their full potential, and how Government policy can support growth in the rural sector. We are delighted to welcome the Environment Secretary as well as rural business leaders and investors to help set out the path ahead for businesses in the countryside.”

Speakers will include:

- Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom

- Conservative Peer, Journalist and Northumbrian farmer Matt Ridley

- CLA President and Monmouthshire diversified rural business owner Ross Murray

- Rural entrepreneur and East Anglian farmer William Kendall, the mastermind behind the success of Green & Blacks and New Covent Garden Soup

- EE Director of Public Policy Kip Meek