Whilst businesses are continually encouraged to look for out of town offices and work life balance through remote working and flexi office rent in the countryside, the Government still isn’t moving fast enough to remedy the growing divide between rural and urban broadband access.

Yes, they have pledged £750 million to upgrade everyone in the UK to a minimum of 2Mbps by 2012 (significantly lagging behind the likes of Korea, Japan and the rest of Europe) but this still won’t be enough to bring smaller businesses in line with their competitors in the cities.

The furore surrounding slow and nonexistent Internet began earlier this year when the Prince of Wales highlighted the amount of ‘not-spot areas’ (currently affecting 166.000 people) and ‘broadband deserts’ with speeds of less than 2Mbps (currently affecting 2.75 million people) in rural Britain (reported in the Telegraph 2009).

Whilst the scheme for rural roll-out of broadband asks for further public funding and the wait for cheaper Satellite broadband continues, it is clearly a situation that will not improve any time soon.

However, where slow progress holds some back, there are some pioneering rural entrepreneurs and leaders who are not prepared to wait but rather take the bull by the horns and forge ahead regardless of Government delays.

Liscombe Park Ltd, increasingly regarded as one of the more forward thinking commercial landlords in the UK countryside, has pushed forward with installing its own fast fibre optic cable to meet its tenants business demands.

‘We strongly believe, as many businesses do, that working out of town has unparalleled advantages for commuting, wellbeing, flexibility and aesthetics however technology has not been amongst them until now. We weren’t content to wait for the Government initiative because our clients need fast Internet access right now. We are delighted to be able to support our clients better with the infrastructure to feed high speed broadband throughout every one of our offices at Liscombe Park.’ Explained Liscombe Park’s Chairman, David Tonnison.

According to the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA), 44% of online businesses in the UK are based in rural areas. If the Government is to support this growing talent in rural Britain they must move much quicker and take their lead from dedicated developers like Liscombe Park Ltd.

Liscombe Park is conveniently situated on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire between Milton Keynes, London, Oxford and Luton. For more information on rural office space with high-speed broadband, plentiful parking and excellent accessibility please visit www.liscombepark.co.uk