Professor Gary Bosworth

My research focuses on rural and regional entrepreneurship and innovation.  I strive to understand how processes and patterns of entrepreneurship are shaped by social, cultural and environmental characteristics in more rural and peripheral regions. I firmly believe that the functions of rural businesses extend beyond the purely economic and that we must recognise their key roles as actors of both change and continuity across rural communities.  

I am currently a member of DEFRA's rural academic panel and co-chair of the ISBE Rural Entrepreneurship Network as well as a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association. I am also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Depopulation and Rural Development Studies and an Associate Fellow of the HEA. 

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Entrepreneurship for the Rural?: A Reflection on Rural Entrepreneurship in a Time of Multi-Crisis, Korsgaard, S., Gaddefors, J., Bosworth, G. 1 Jul 2025, In: Academy of Management Proceedings
• Leadership styles in rural social innovation: implications for followership and local impact, Karahasan, M., Bosworth, G., Gülümser, A. 25 Nov 2025, In: Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research
• Navigating hostility, pursuing hospitality: Conceptualizing community engagement among migrant women entrepreneurs in peripheral areas, Zeinali, M., Rydzik, A., Bosworth, G. 31 Mar 2025, In: Hospitality and Society
• Rural Entrepreneurship: Harvesting Ideas and Sowing New Seeds, Bosworth, G., Chapman, P., Newbery, R., Steiner, A., Webber, D. 19 Feb 2025, Rural Entrepreneurship: Harvesting Ideas and Sowing New Seeds, Leeds, Emerald
• Social Innovation in Rural Development Policy: Strengthening Participation, Representation and Accountability, Bosworth, G., McAreavey, R., Kennedy, M. Oct 2025, In: European Countryside
• What Can Participant Observations Tell Us About Rural Entrepreneurship?, Giazitzoglu, A., Bosworth, G. 19 Feb 2025, Rural Entrepreneurship: Harvesting Ideas and Sowing New Seeds, Emerald
• Examining the need for organisational learning and entrepreneurialism to meet the changing roles and expectations of rural and agricultural shows in the UK, Bosworth, G., Price, L., Ardley, B., Westwood, C. 1 Feb 2024, In: Journal of Rural Studies
• Translating climate risk assessments into more effective adaptation decision-making: The importance of social and political aspects of place-based climate risk, Kythreotis, A., Hannaford, M., Howarth, C., Bosworth, G. 1 Apr 2024, In: Environmental Science and Policy
• Brewing at the time of Covid: the impact of the pandemic crisis on UK craft breweries and its implications for the sector and local economies, Cabras, I., Shakina, E., Waehning, N., Sohns, F., Bosworth, G. 3 Oct 2023, In: Regional Studies
• Developing a framework for radical and incremental social innovation in rural areas, Vercher, N., Bosworth, G., Esparcia, J. 1 Apr 2023, In: Journal of Rural Studies

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• EPHEMERAL Entrepreneurship and Place: How Entrepreneurs Manage Evolving Relationships Across the Life-cycle, Bosworth, G. (Principal Investigator), European Commission, 01/10/25 - 30/09/29, £327,780.00

• Simon Hall How can performance measurement frameworks be adapted to function effectively in UK food service MSMEs with limited resources? Start Date: 01/03/2025 End Date: 17/10/2025
• Simon Hall How can performance measurement frameworks be adapted to function effectively in UK food service MSMEs with limited resources? Start Date: 01/03/2025

I am director of the EPIC research centre and module lead for the Masters programme "Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship".  

• PhD February 24 2009
• MRes
• MA (Hons)

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• iNCITE Research Centre
• ISBE Rural Entrepreneurship Network