What We Do
Working for our community, private and public sector clients, we offer a range of rural services. Whilst no two commissions are ever the same, our work focuses on the many aspects of rural business management.
Through our network of Senior Associates, we are able to draw upon professional, experienced and knowledgeable industry experts, and respond to the needs of our clients.
Examples of our work include:
Angus Community-Led Local Development
Client: Angus Council
Working on behalf of the former Angus LEADER Local Action Group, Scott was commissioned to ensure the legacy of the success of the Community-Led Local Development Approach delivered by the Angus LEADER Programme continued. This included establishing a new organisation and determining its purposes.
Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS)
Client: Soil Association Scotland
Scott was engaged by Soil Association Scotland as an independent facilitator for the RISS initiative. This bottom-up approach to rural innovation was designed to best meet the needs of land managers. It did so by bringing together the right people in a group to look at a common idea, challenge, or opportunity; take a step back, and work towards practical and sustainable solutions.
Angus LEADER Legacy
Client: Angus Council
Working in association with The Glamis Consultancy, Five Glens undertook a legacy study into the 2014 to 2020 Angus LEADER Programme.
Carluke Commonty Options Appraisal
Client: Carluke Development Trust
Alongside The Glamis Consultancy, Five Glens undertook an Options Appraisal exercise for Carluke Commonty.
Review and Evaluation of Sustainable Agriculture Projects
Client: Soil Association Scotland
Five Glens was commissioned to undertake a review of 2 sustainable agriculture projects, which were funded by the Scottish Government and EU via the Scottish Rural Development Programme (2007-2013) Skills Development Scheme (SDS), with co-funding from industry bodies.
Development of a Strategic Business Plan
Client – Pittarthie Farm Education Trust
Five Glens was appointed to produce a Strategic Business Plan for The Pittarthie Farm Education Trust, a Fife based Scottish charity whose purpose is the advancement of education with the charitable objectives of “assisting local young people to access appropriate information in order to advance the education of such young people through the provision of opportunities to engage in environmental study, practice and teaching in order to develop their spiritual, mental and physical capacities and will enable them to improve the conditions of life”.
Champions of Agriculture, Education Working Group
Scott was a member of the Working Group tasked with advising the Scottish Government on how to achieve the education element of its Vision for Agriculture and its underpinning nine desired policy outcomes.
Community Led Education and Research Training
Client: Forward Coupar Angus
Responding to the needs of the local employers, Forward Coupar Angus aspired to deliver a variety of training allowing local residents opportunities to enable them to improve their self-confidence and determine personal goals.
Five Glens undertook a series of research activities in order to provide an evidence base to progress a Stage 2 proposal to the ESF Aspiring Communities Fund. This proposal would allow the development and delivery of a community led education and training provision which not only met the current and future requirements of local businesses, but also increased the employability and resilience of local residents.
Feasibility Study for Tourism Opportunities at Spireslack and Mainshill Wood Opencast Mines
Client – Scottish Mines Restoration Trust
Five Glens was part of the team commissioned to undertake a feasibility study into the development of tourism opportunities based on the redundant opencast coal sites at Spireslack (East Ayrshire) and Mainshill Wood (South Lanarkshire).
Tayside Rural Skills Audit
Client – Angus Council, Forestry Commission Scotland and Perth & Kinross Council
Working in association with GR Forestry Consultancy, Five Glens was appointed to carry out an audit which would identify current rural skills training opportunities in Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross, identify future rural skills requirements, consider the possible career path of those receiving rural skills training, highlight potential qualification progression routes, explore challenges and opportunities in relation to rural skills training and identify examples of good practice and excellence.
Development of a Business and Action Plan
Client – Fife Rural Skills Partnership
Fife Rural Skills Partnership was established to promote and support the development of a skilled workforce to care, manage and make sustainable use of Fife’s woodland, farmland and rural landscape. Five Glens was commissioned to produce a Business and Action Plan which sets out the high-level strategic aims and objectives based on the requirements of partners as well outlining specific actions, resources, responsibilities and timescales for delivery.