RDI's operations are based around a broad range of services that have evolved since the company was founded. As new staff have joined and new projects been added to our portfolio, so the skill and knowledge base of the organisation has evolved and grown. Regular all-staff meetings, project workshops and training courses ensure that the range of services which we offer is expanding at the same time as the quality of our delivery is improving. This differs from the traditional "boom and bust" nature of rural and environmental projects, where staff are recruited to meet the requirements of a 3-year (or less) grant award, and then find themselves back on the job market at the end of the contract. If indeed they hang around that long!
RDI differs in that it provides a stable platform for project management by delivering a range of projects across the UK and the wider EU which overlap in terms of both duration and theme. This provides a number of benefits over the traditional approach, including reducing the loss of organisational and intellectual capacity that invariably follows the departure of a member of staff, strengthening relationships with clients and funders, and ensuring a constantly rising level of achievement and capacity, rather than a performance curve which looks more like a big dipper than a big deliverer! This model was just a theory before we had a chance to try it with RDI, and we're delighted to say that it seems to be working!
Based on this strong foundation, our services currently include : Project Hosting and Delivery; Research; Evaluation and monitoring; Training Design and Provision; Conference and Event Organisation and Consultancy.
We know where our strengths lie, and our activities are focused on the rural economy, the people, businesses and other stakeholders that are active within it, and the habitats in which they all work. Read more about our services in detail using the links above, or the areas where we work using the navigation menu to the left.
RDI have a wide experience of forming and running new companies on behalf of public and private sector partners, and of advising on the establishment of companies and other delivery 'vehicles'. We have established for-profit and not-for-profit companies, unincorporated associations and several co-operative producer groups. Managing the two woodland initiatives, Northwoods and Yorwoods, has also given us several years experience of managing large, multi-partner projects with a broad range of outputs on a stand-alone basis. For both these projects, RDI provides staff, insurances, legal cover and a 'home'.
If you have a project in mind, or are struggling to find the right format or vehicle to realise your vision, please contact us for a discussion. We have experience of acting as applicant on behalf of public, private and third sector organisations to a wide range of funds, including the ERDP, European Social Fund, Leonardo da Vinci and a range of regional and local funds.
We can help at every stage of project formulation, from providing an impartial and non-governmental framework within which to engage stakeholders, right the way through to applying for funding and employing or re-deploying project staff for on-the-ground delivery. Please call one of our Directors for an informal discussion on the options open to you and how RDI might be able to help.
