A KEY feature of the region for over 200 years, business at the Three Counties Agricultural Society, has never been better.

Shaking off the effects of foot and mouth disease, the society's showground on Blackmore Park Road has adapted and diversified for the 21st Century, while still maintaining its agricultural core.

The society can trace its routes back to 1794, when a book on agriculture in the county of Hereford bemoaned the absence of a society. Three years later, the Herefordshire Agricultural Society came into being, with the aim of promoting agriculture, horticulture and food production in the county.

In 1798, the society held its first show in Hereford. It had 100 members and a bank balance of £43. The Three Counties Agricultural Society came into being in 1921. Today, the society has an annual turnover of around £2 million, with a membership of more than 4,000.

In 2002, the society has a schedule of six major shows, which keeps its 26 permanent staff on their toes all year round.

As well as the major events, a sizeable proportion of the society's income is from the lettings business. In 1979, the showground hosted just three outside events but that has now risen to around 120, bringing in much-needed cash.

Each of the major shows require considerable planning, as press officer Sharon Gilbert explained.

"We are busy for about 280 days of the year," she said. "This is the busiest year in the showground's history and we would look to build on that next year.

"When there's a major show we pull out all the stops to produce the best possible show we can. From a marketing point of view, when its something like the Spring Gardening Show you never really stop promoting it. I would start probably in December the previous year for May."

Shows and tradestand manager Doreen Smillie is responsible for filling the shows with exhibitors, which is no mean task despite her 20 years' experience with the society.

"You start about 11 or 12 months before a show, planning it with different meetings and suggestions on layout," she said. "You try and put right things that may have gone wrong the previous year. It keeps you busy all the time."

As a charity, the society is committed to its role as a promoter of agriculture, despite its diversification over recent years.

The society's director, Gareth Smith, thinks the 70-acre site is one of Malvern's greatest assets, and said he is proud to be part of The Malverns Experience.

"It's a tremendous feeling to be involved, we take our Malverns Experience hat very seriously," he said.

"We do everything we can to promote Malvern, its infrastructure, its tourism, its whole shooting match because we know that it will only be the group as a whole that can deliver objectives from funding to the development of Malvern."

Mr Smith took up the post in January said working at the showground was not a "normal" job.

He said: "There isn't an average day in this position because of the impact that shows have. I can be here from 6.30am to 10pm every night simply trying to deal with show problems."

He added that the extra income the society brings to Malvern doesn't just apply to show days.

"You've got local businesses picking up on the revenues coming into the showground, local pubs, restaurants, bed and breakfasts," he said. "These people are coming to Malvern, they are spending the day in Malvern and they're saying 'we didn't have the chance to wander around, we want to have a look at it'. It's that secondary impact on Malvern that's quite great. They come back, and in great numbers as well."