A RURAL business which suffered because of last year's foot-and-mouth crisis has started this year with renewed hope.

Kidderminster-based Detton Beef and Lamb is benefiting from a £3,800 Rural Recovery Fund grant.

Administered by Advantage West Midlands and Business Link, the grants were allocated to businesses that suffered a 50 per cent drop or more in business during March and April as a result of the disease.

A pre-requisite was that all grants were to be re-invested into the business, with accurate, detailed records of all purchases, by December 31.

Detton Beef and Lamb, run by Arthur and Clare Ratcliff, was severely hit when Bewdley and Bromsgrove farmers' markets abruptly stopped trading as foot-and-mouth swept the country. More than 40 per cent of the company's income was raised from farmers' markets.

"I found myself running all over the country, making deliveries of beef and lamb in boxes because many customers stopped calling," said Mrs Ratcliff.

"The end of May saw the resumption of a few farmers' markets, but already our trade had taken a beating. I heard about the Rural Recovery Fund through Heart of England fine foods, of which we are a member, who prompted us to apply for a grant to help us get back on our feet."

Now the couple are looking to the future, having revisited their business plan after receiving the grant.

They have set up a mail order system, a new website for on-line ordering and have purchased a vacuum packaging and labelling machine, which has already boosted the business.

"By vacuum packing some of our meat, we have increased our flexibility and opened up a whole new market, as we are now able to supply local pubs and restaurants," said Mrs Ratcliff.

Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF) chief executive, Karen Davies, said many members across the Midlands had suffered badly from the knock-on effects of foot-and-mouth, forcing many of them to look closely at their business plans.

"Across the whole of the Midlands, sales have plummeted, enquiries have dropped off and still, nine months on, many rural areas are not fully operational," said Mrs Davies.

"Surviving this crisis is a testimony to the fact that quality, locally produced foods and drink is what consumers want to buy."