Business Cornwall Dec 19/Jan 20

CORNWALL'S PREMIER BUSINESS RESOURCE FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION

businesscornwall.co.uk

DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | ISSUE 136 | £3.95

FLYING HIGH WE CATCH UP WITH AL TITTERINGTON, MD OF CORNWALL AIRPORT NEWQUAY

BUSINESS TOOLKIT

TIPS FOR KEEPING AHEAD IN BUSINESS

ANNUAL REVIEW

A LOOK BACK AT CORNWALL’S BUSINESS SCENE IN 2019

12

12 9 772514

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DEC 2019 / JAN 2020

INSIDE FEATURES 10 CEO INTERVIEW WE TOUCHDOWN WITH CORNWALL AIRPORT NEWQUAY MD AL TITTERINGTON

16 BUSINESS TOOLKIT ESSENTIAL ADVICE TO HELP GET YOUR BUSINESS AHEAD IN 2020

27 REVIEW OF THE YEAR A LOOK BACK AT 2019

ISSUE 136

REGULARS 4 INCOMING HOW WAS IT FOR YOU?

6 BUSINESS NEWS FINISTERRE CROWDCUBE RAISE

33 ON THE MOVE LATEST APPOINTMENTS

34 CREATIVE & DIGITAL GOLD FOR BAREFOOT

35 FSB FSB NEWS UPDATE

36 FOOD & DRINK SEAFOOD RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

37 CHAMBER NEWS

39 TOURISM CORNWALL TOURISM AWARDS

40 JUST A THOUGHT FIFTEEN MARKETING DIRECTOR KATIE SANDOW

42 TEST DRIVE MORVETH WARD DRIVES A LAND ROVER DISCOVERY COMMERCIAL

44 CONNECTED CAUGHT ON CAMERA

47 EVENTS DIARY WHAT’S ON

48 THE LAST WORD WHYFIELD’S LAURA WHYTE

MADE IN CORNWALL EXPANDED

38 EDUCATION NEWS APPRENTICESHIP AWARD WINNERS

PHOTO: CORNWALL TOURISM AWARDS SEE PAGE 39 FOR FULL STORY BUSINESS CORNWALL | 1

CORNWALL'S PREMIER BUSINESS RESOURCE FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION

businesscornwall.co.uk

DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | ISSUE 136 | £3.95

FLYING HIGH WE CATCH UP WITH AL TITTERINGTON, MD OF CORNWALL AIRPORT NEWQUAY

BUSINESS TOOLKIT

TIPS FOR KEEPING AHEAD IN BUSINESS

2020 vision

ANNUAL REVIEW

A LOOK BACK AT CORNWALL’S BUSINESS SCENE IN 2019

12

12 9 772514

842001

9 772514

842001

WELCOME

BY EDITOR NICK EYRIEY

DEC 2019 / JAN 2020

ISSUE 136

ON THE COVER

AL TITTERINGTON, MD OF CORNWALL AIRPORT NEWQUAY EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Nick Eyriey nick@businesscornwall.co.uk PUBLISHER Toni Eyriey toni@businesscornwall.co.uk BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Morveth Ward morveth@businesscornwall.co.uk ACCOUNT MANAGER Caroline Hill caroline@businesscornwall.co.uk

Welcome to the final issue of 2019.

The past year has very much been dominated by Brexit (or the lack of it) while 2020 will probably be the same, whether that’s talk of another referendum (depending on General Election result) or the transition period (depending on General Election result).

We dream for that time when Brexit is finally sorted once and for all. The Government can get back to governing, opposition can get back to scrutinising and businesses can get back to what they do best.

Hopefully, however, the result of the General Election will provide some clarity and businesses a little more certainty going forward.

The theme of this month’s issue is very much looking back and looking forward.

CONTRIBUTORS PFA Research DESIGN Ade Taylor design@businesscornwall.co.uk PRINT Printed in Cornwall by Deltor BUSINESS CORNWALL is published 10 times a year by: Tonick Business Publishing Pool Innovation Centre Trevenson Road Redruth TR15 3PL Tel: 01209 718688

SUBSCRIPTIONS subscriptions@businesscornwall.co.uk Registered under the Data Protection Act. All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in an electronic retrieval system or transmitted without the written permission of the publisher.

Stringent efforts have been made by Business Cornwall magazine to ensure accuracy.

However, due principally to the fact that data cannot always be verified, it is possible that some errors or omissions may occur. Business Cornwall magazine can not accept responsibility for such errors or omissions. Business Cornwall magazine accepts no responsibility for comments made by interviewees that may offend.

On page 16 we present our annual Toolkit feature, packed full of business tips and advice to help arm you for the months ahead, while on page 27 we take a look back at some of the stories and events that impacted upon the Cornish business scene in 2019.

May I take this opportunity to wish all our readers and advertisers a very happy Christmas and prosperous new year.

Business Cornwall Magazine is proud to be associated with

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THE CONVERSATION

The big question It’s that time of year when we reflect on the past and look forward to the future. How was 2019 for you and what are your hopes and plans for 2020?

Join the conversation @biz_cornwall

/businesscornwall

businesscornwall.co.uk

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TIME TO REFLECT Christmas is the perfect time to put aside the day-to-day challenges of running a business and reflect on the wider picture; your dreams yet to be fulfilled and how to achieve them. Christian Wilson, head of corporate at Stephens Scown LLP considers some of the options you may be dwelling on.

4 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

THE CONVERSATION

TESS GENDALL Gendall Design

2019 has been a strong year for us seeing double digit business growth, the introduction of a new management team and the signing of new local, national and international clients. The marketplace has become noticeably tougher in the last few months with clients discretionary marketing spend the first to take a hit in times of uncertainty.

About two years ago we made a strategic business decision to focus on innovation; developing new products and services that add value to our clients business or solve challenges that they face in their industries. These plans are coming to fruition now.

KIM CONCHIE

Cornwall Chamber of Commerce Looking back at the year in the round, 2019 was good for Cornwall Chamber of Commerce. The uncertainty and ennui which could have set in because of Brexit, lack of political leadership and underinvestment spurred me into getting on with it and making those decisions which I knew were right for our small business.

We downsized office space, made a couple of great appointments at executive and board level, including asking Lord Myners of Truro to be our first patron, and redoubled efforts to look after our clients (all of the Cornish business community and particularly members, in our case).

We made sure our campaigns hit the right notes with topical subjects and

Is this the year of retirement? How will this happen? Can you be bought out by colleagues, find a buyer for the business, engineer a management buyout or a complete sale to your employees?

Is this a year of growth? You’ve had your eye on a competitor - is it a good time to make a move? Will you open a new location and find new customers? Take

speakers. The year to March 31 produced just over the budgeted 5% surplus. The first Cornwall Festival of Business in November was the high point. It felt like a real celebration of the determination, entrepreneurship and collaborative will to succeed we have in Cornwall.

ALAN CONWAY Travel Counsellors

2019 was only my second full year of trading and saw me establish myself as someone offering a truly special service in the world of travel for both corporate and leisure clients in Cornwall. I expect my business to grow rapidly next year both in Cornwall and further afield as people turn away from impersonal Internet business and seek out personal relationships built on trust.

RICHARD WOODS Phoneta

2019 has had many challenges certainly for a growing business. Keeping up with quality staffing to meet the demand for our outbound services has been the largest challenge. It’s very exciting to be faced with this challenge as it shows what we are doing for our clients is working and our brand is getting out there.

The hope for 2020 is to maintain our growth for the year and explore new ways of helping our clients. We have been offering free sales training courses called Simple Steps to Selling to our clients and our various networking groups which we support.

INCOMING

PHILLIP HENWOOD 4 Eyes Ltd

4 Eyes Ltd is an international VAT and tax consultancy and the UK/Irish part of a trans-European VAT and excise network. 2019 has seen significant inward investment to the UK where companies have needed our assistance.

We and our clients do need to know what the position will be following any eventual Brexit. The continued uncertainty as to the regulatory framework going forward is holding back business decisions. As soon as there is some certainty, we will be able to plan and advise accordingly.

BROCK

Cornish Partnerships 2019 was amazing. We started with Cornish Partnerships and 300 plus partners and now we are going into 2020 franchising out UK wide from Cornwall as Your Partnerships Ltd. and with over a thousand partners. We now have three new networking areas and more in progress.

BRIAN HARVEY PKF Francis Clark

2019 has been another good year for PKF Francis Clark. It has been a year in which we have celebrated our first 100 years and we think we are well placed to look forward to starting our next 100 years in 2020!

Whilst Brexit has created uncertainty that still casts a shadow over everything, for the most part it has been business as usual for both us and our clients.

Is it time to make a difficult decision, long avoided? The business may not survive if you don’t. How will this be delivered with empathy and without creating further problems?

begins, you can be reassured that one of the team at Stephens Scown will understand your challenges and will have a wealth of ideas and solutions that will take the weight off your shoulders or provide you with the confidence to make the change.

Whatever it is that catches your attention as the old year ends and a new one

Whatever 2020 brings, we wish you a prosperous New Year.

on employees and apprentices to deliver better service?

Christian Wilson is partner and head of the corporate team at Stephens Scown.

The team has top rankings in legal guides Chambers and Legal 500.

For more information please call Christian on 01872 265100, email corporate.cornwall@stephens-scown.co.uk or via www.stephens-scown.co.uk BUSINESS CORNWALL | 5

CORNWALL

BUSINESS NEWS

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A Cornish reprographic business has launched a new online marketplace for arts and crafts. theartofcornwall.co.uk has been developed

by Roche-based PH Media, which is a member of the Fine Art Trade Guild.

Ralph Wills, who founded PH Media 25 years ago, said: “Our mission is to offer our members and partners an opportunity to raise their brand, share their story and increase our customers’ understanding of Cornish Art.” PH Media is recognised as one of the UK’s largest independent reprographic companies with a portfolio that majors in fashion, museums and the arts.

St Agnes-based outdoor clothing brand Finisterre smashed its £2 million crowdfunding target on Crowdcube within 24 hours of going live.

Founded by Tom Kay in a flat above a surf shop in 2003, the business has grown rapidly to what it is today with sales of £6.7 million, selling to customers in 60 countries worldwide.

While Finisterre has a strong ecommerce channel, it also has nine shops across the country including in Cornwall, London and Edinburgh. The successful investment raise will further fuel the company’s growth, with

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plans to open an additional eight shops in the next five years, including international expansion into markets such as the US. Kay said: “One of the things I get asked a lot is ‘How can I be part of Finisterre’s journey’?

It’s always great to see our community shares the passion and belief in what we are doing.This was the reason why we decided to crowdfund. As well as raising funds, we’re giving our community a chance to own part of our future.”

At the time of writing (with 23 days to go), the total had reached £3.7 million and climbing.

IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS Fastnet Marketing MD Sarah Leverton is getting into the festive spirit

6 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

BUSINESS NEWS

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MANUFACTURING WINNERS Composite Integration took top prize at the Cornwall Manufacturers Group (CMG) awards.

The Saltash-based company was named Manufacturer of the Year at the ceremony held at the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay, hosted by Richard Rumbelow, director of international affairs and exports for Make UK (the manufacturers organisation).

Other winners included St Austell Printing Company, which won the Environmental/ Community Project category, hot on the heels of being named Environmental Printing Company of the Year at the industry PrintWeek Awards.

Emily Brown of DP Engineering was named Apprentice of the Year, while there were also awards for Teagle (Export), Unmanned Survey Solutions (Innovation), PV3 Technologies’ Dr David Hodgson (Business Leadership) and Ken Martin, who was recognised for his Outstanding Contribution to Manufacturing.

WORLD FIRST FOR KML

NEWS IN BRIEF Cornwall Air Ambulance picked up three awards at the Association of Air Ambulance Awards. The charity’s critical care team were awarded Incident of the Year; Kevin McGall was awarded Air Operations Support Staff Member of the Year; while executive, Paula Martin, received the Chairman’s Award 2019. ____________________ Coodes Solicitors was named the best conveyancing firm in Cornwall by The ESTAS, the biggest award scheme in the UK residential property industry, for the third year in a row. ____________________ Cornish housing developer Gilbert & Goode was crowned Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) of the Year at the Constructing Excellence National Awards 2019. The awards recognise high standards and best practice within the built environment. ____________________

A Falmouth marine business has successfully decommissioned the world’s first large scale commercial tidal stream generator.

SeaGen was the world’s first commercial scale tidal turbine and has now become the first to be fully decommissioned.

Keynvor Morlift Ltd (KML) completed the decommissioning of the SeaGen Tidal System in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, on behalf of Atlantis Energy, the global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects.

KML MD, Diccon Rogers, said: “The SeaGen project is a great example of how our versatility can deliver excellent cost effective solutions for our clients.

As the principal contractor, KML was appointed to undertake the removal of the 760T marine turbine foundation.

Phew! The last few weeks seem to have been a non-stop round of parties and networking events, and with Christmas just around the corner there doesn’t seem to be any let up.

First up was the Cornwall Marine Conference, which we founded three years ago and run yearly alongside our partners, PKF Francis Clark and Stephen Scown. It’s always an event to look forward to, with both wine and conversation flowing in equal measure. You can check out some of the highlights on page XX - including some great photos of our guests trying out the latest VR technology!

But whilst I so look forward to the CMC, this year it was the day after the conference that

“This project was designed by our in-house naval architects and fabricators, made creative use of our fleet and was executed by our talented marine team. I am delighted with the amazing outcome.”

was particularly special - the grand opening of Fastnet House. Our new co-working venture has been over 18 months in the making, and the excitement (and relief!) of finally seeing it come to fruition was more than a little emotional for everyone involved.

As I write this, and despite the fact that we’ve been officially open for less than a week, we’ve already welcomed a number of new businesses to the space. The whole team are really enjoying getting to know our neighbours over a cup of coffee or a lunchtime chat.

Of course, now we’ve started on party season we’re finding it hard to stop! Next up in the diary is the Fastnet House Christmas Bash - a chance to officially show off my tree decorating / fairly-light-hanging / mulled-

More than £5 million has been invested into local businesses with the support of the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) in its first full-year of operation.

The fund has so far supported 13 local businesses with £2.9 million of investment, attracting a further £2.2 million of private sector investment. ____________________ Toll charges on the Tamar Bridge have risen the first time in nine years. The charge for TamarTag customers (which represent 60% of all crossings) rose from 75p to £1. For those paying by cash, it went up from £1.50 to £2.00. Operator Tamer Crossings said the increase will help fund much-needed maintenance and improvement projects.

wine-making skills (I’m even considering elf outfits for the dogs).

If you’d like to join us - whether that’s for a workspace or simply for a mince pie why not get in touch? We’d love to give you the guided tour.

For more information go to www.fastnet-house.co.uk

www.fastnetmarketing.co.uk | 01326 250879 BUSINESS CORNWALL | 7

CORNWALL

BUSINESS NEWS

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NEW WORKSPACE A local business has vowed to revolutionise the way we work in Cornwall by investing half a million pounds in a cutting-edge new co-working space in Falmouth.

Fastnet House, on the new Church View Business Park on Bickland Water Road, offers 300sqm of custom-built office space, designed to echo the increasingly popular co-working offices that have opened in major cities around the world.

Designed to be inspiring and flexible, it offers a variety of different working, meeting and collaboration options including hotdesking, permanent desk space, and private studios and offices.

Fastnet House is the brainchild of local husband and wife team Alex and Sarah Head. They had struggled to find a space that reflected the ambitious plans they had for their marine marketing agency, Fastnet Marketing, and so decided to build their own.

“We were starting to realise just how difficult it is to find flexible, high-end office space in Falmouth and the surrounding areas,” Sarah Head said.

“We wanted an environment that gave us room to grow, without restrictive tenancy agreements. It had to be beautiful and dynamic, but also a space where we could socialise and collaborate with other businesses, which I think is so important when you work in a small team.”

LOVING THE GOOD LYFE Two Newquay-based businesses are collaborating in a drive to rid retail of singleuse plastics.

The Good Lyfe is a packaging-free store which sells refillable laundry and cleaning liquids as well as dry foods, and personal care and homeware products. Customers can bring in their own containers, fill them up with the product(s) of their choice – only paying for what they need.

WARRENS TO CLOSE FACTORY Warrens is facing “significant job losses” after announcing plans to close its St Just factory and a number of shops.

The bakery said the factory, which it had operated since the 1970s, was “no longer economically viable”.

In a statement, the company said: “In reaction to continued Brexit uncertainty and

its ongoing consumer impact, we have taken the extremely hard decision to propose a restructure of the business.

“With sadness and a heavy heart, we are consulting with staff and examining streamlining options, which could lead to a significant loss of jobs throughout the west country.

“With its configuration and remote location, our St Just manufacturing site, occupied since the 1970s, is no longer economically viable based on market influences. We are also consulting on the closure of a number of loss-making shops to safeguard the future of the wider business.”

WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT!

8 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

Refillco, meanwhile, aims to make refill technology “the new norm”, eliminating the need for single use plastic packaging to create a truly circular economy. It is trialling four of its prototype refill machines at the Newquay store.

Laura Peters, who co-founded The Good Lyfe with Jaime Johnson, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to Refillco for asking us to trial their machines. The technology and innovation is pure brilliance. The machines work really well, they’re beautiful to look at, they’re made here in Newquay – and they’re already reducing product waste. It’s the perfect solution.”

A St Austell-based business has been named Best Artisan Reclaimed Wood Furniture Specialist.

It is the third award for the family-run business this year, following on from the BuyMeOnce Excellence Award in the Most Sustainable Furniture category and Best Eco-Friendly supplier in the Build Magazine Awards.

Sustainable Furniture UK (Ltd) picked up the accolade last month at the SME News Southern Enterprise Awards.

Margaret Larson, who founded the family-run business in 2007, said: “We are delighted to win the awards. We are excited to see what the new year will bring and will continue to provide our customers with durable and ecofriendly products.”

BUSINESS NEWS

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CORNWALL

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BEST IN CORNWALL Cornish property agent Rohrs & Rowe has once again been named Best Estate Agency in Cornwall by the International Property Awards.

The judges also shortlisted Rohrs & Rowe to one of just three estate agencies across the country to compete for the national title, Best Estate Agency in the UK. This highly coveted honour will be announced at an awards ceremony in early December, at the Savoy Hotel in London.

The International Property Awards are judged by an independent panel of over 80 UK industry experts. Judging focuses on design, quality, service, innovation, originality, and commitment to sustainability.

Martyn Rohrs and Matthew Rowe were once again awarded a Five-Star accolade, the highest level within the category. The presentation ceremony took place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Hyde Park, London.

The International Property Awards, now in their 26th year, are the largest, most

prestigious, and widely recognised programme throughout the world and are open to all estate agents.

So what does this all mean for the Cornwall property industry and more importantly Rohrs & Rowe’s clients?

Rohrs and Rowe commented: “We are ecstatic to be awarded this prestigious accolade once again.

“To also have been shortlisted for Best

Estate Agency in the UK is a huge honour for us and the wider Cornwall property industry.

“It’s acknowledgment from the most established and trusted industry awards that our clients receive the best all round service in Cornwall, that is amongst the best in the entire UK. It is also validation that we present and market our clients properties to the highest standards; as well as assurance they will receive five star customer service and satisfaction.”

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We’re starting to see a big ramp-up and development really start to pick up

We catch up with Al Titterington, who celebrates ten years as MD of Cornwall Airport Newquay in January. He keeps us up to speed with the latest goings on at the airport and its plans for the future

CEO Feature & Cover photographs by Toby Weller

So how is life at the airport?

Business is good, just coming off the back of a very busy, successful summer, we’re now drawing breath in terms of taking the review and lessons learnt from the summer season and starting to implement a lot of our training plans across the entire airport site through winter so we’re ready to go again come the end of March.

You’ve been at the airport for 13 years, nine as MD.

10 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

It’ll be ten years in January. And yes, life has changed quite considerably from what I inherited as a business which didn’t look like a business, and one which was going to fail.

Back in those days it was almost tumbleweed blowing down the runway wasn’t it, with Air Southwest ceasing trading and Ryanair pulling out in 2011?

We effectively went down to 164,000 passengers but conscious decisions were taken to diversify the business and rebuild a sustainable route network which we have today which actually gives us – and the Council and the people of Cornwall – an airport which looks more financially sustainable and heading towards actually making money rather than being a drain on the taxpayer.

It’s notoriously difficult making money from regional airports. Do many tend to be council-owned like Newquay?

There’s a view around the country that most airports are privately owned – well actually, they’re not. You’ve got all the highlands and islands airports in Scotland which are publicly owned; you’ve got Cardiff Airport which is owned by the Welsh Assembly; Prestwick which is owned by the Scottish government – because if public intervention hadn’t happened, those airports, like us, would have closed, in the same way that Plymouth and others have fallen by the wayside in recent times.

But these airports are key economic drivers for their regions and that’s why we looked to diversify and make sure that we had other business activities – whether that’s maintenance, whether that’s helicopter training, whether that’s a new aerohub business park –

AL

TITTERINGTON

Al Titterington to bring in other streams of income. Passenger air services will always remain the bread and butter, but that’s the area that’s more susceptible to market volatility.

The Aerohub Enterprise Zone was launched in 2012. Would it be fair to say it’s been a bit of a slow burner?

The business park side of it certainly has. I think as an airport we’ve managed to develop very quickly in terms of making sure that we attracted businesses like Apple Aviation and Bristow Helicopters.

But Brexit and the economic climate and uncertainty around investment has probably affected the development of the business park itself, but we’re starting to see a big ramp-up and development really start to pick up.

And are all these businesses aviation related?

With the airport, absolutely everything is aviation related, as you’d expect. On the business park it’s probably non-aero, businesses who are looking to expand in Cornwall – indigenous businesses which don’t have the capability to expand within their current footprint who are looking for major expansion. And we’re now starting to see more inward interest coming from the private sector market outside of Cornwall but also outside the UK, and Spaceport is helping support some of that interest.

If the Spaceport goes ahead, would it be a significant addition to the airport portfolio?

I wouldn’t say significant, in terms of those initial phases it’s pretty low activity. It is a very good marketing opportunity which we’ve benefitted from, and the association with that and the exposure which the airport gets and also Cornwall gets is very powerful. Is it going

to make me rich? No it’s not. Is it a positive addition? Yes it is. But still, we’ve got a lot of work to do over the next 12-18 months from a licensing and regulatory perspective to secure a license for spacecraft activity as well as the physical infrastructure improvements which we need to make.

I guess you’re taking advantage of the facilities here, like the long runway?

Yes, certainly the (Virgin Orbit) 747 needs a long runway which we have. We do have to make some improvements around that to accommodate that because it’s a big aircraft and the current configuration wasn’t built to accommodate that weight and the wingspan of that aircraft but they are modifications, it’s not building something brand new, it’s widening and strengthening something which is already there.

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 11

AL

TITTERINGTON emissions for flying between here and Heathrow are lower than what it is if you did that same journey by car or by rail. We are more carbon efficient for that journey because we’re flying high load factors and we’re flying on more environmentally friendly aircraft which, on the carbon per head basis, is much cleaner than against other modes of transport.

Talking about the London route, having Heathrow back must be pleasing? Was it a surprise? I thought it depended on the new runway being built?

A lot of the controversy surrounds the environmental impact. I know there has been an independent report that said the impact would be negligible but in today’s climate it’s a difficult one isn’t it?

We’re incredibly conscious of our impact on the environment. Probably as an industry and as an airport we haven’t articulated well enough what we do in terms of reducing carbon. At the airport we have a five-megawatt solar farm which has led to a considerable reduction in our carbon footprint; and electric vehicles. But we need to articulate what we do as an airport and an industry in a much better way.

Is this the biggest challenge for you and the airline industry generally?

Yes and particularly when you’ve got the Government’s 2050 target to be carbon zero and here in Cornwall we’ve got 2030.

And while the airfield is new in terms of its license, its infrastructure is old and we’ve got work to do to be able to meet those challenges. But it’s things which we are capable of, we need to come up with a more robust plan to expand on what we’re already doing and articulate what we’re already doing and be able to demonstrate that while air transport is perceived as being a dirty industry, actually, it doesn’t emit as much carbon as some other modes of transport.

Which is greener, 200 people driving down from London or 200 people flying down?

Flying down.

The carbon per head

12 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

I started a one-man crusade about four years ago on Heathrow recognising the demand there would be for that service as we’re showing, because we’ve had record months of patronage on that route. We’ll carry circa 189,000 passengers this year versus the 173,000 we did on Gatwick in the previous period.

The support which we had from Government and the support which we had from Heathrow Airport Ltd itself and from our MPs to bring all those pieces of the jigsaw and align them to complete the picture and then actually move that to make the transition from Gatwick to Heathrow was incredibly challenging but incredibly pleasing at the same time.

We demonstrated a business case for it; a number of factors brought together which would actually show that we can connect Cornwall in a much more efficient way to the world. And what we’re seeing is many more international visitors coming in to Cornwall who spend more than a domestic passenger would do, and the benefit, whether that’s a cake shop in Padstow, or businesses being able to get their executives who are headquartered in America over to Cornwall, in a much more efficient way than they could before.

in those markets and probably we’ll see increases going forward in terms of capacity and frequency on those routes.

But destinations like Doncaster, which served as a Flybe base, have been cut for next year because they’ve pulled out of Doncaster.

Seasonal services to Liverpool, Aberdeen and Glasgow have been ceased by Flybe but we’ve been able to replace Glasgow and Aberdeen with Loganair and Loganair have increased frequency and seasonality on Newcastle which was operated by Flybe before. They’ve effectively come off that route and Loganair have moved in, so there are ups and downs but we’ve probably come out of that level.

How many airlines do you deal with now?

Loganair will be our seventh airline when it starts operations next year. There are not many regional airports serving under a million passengers who have seven airlines operating, so I think that’s a positive. We’re continually speaking to new airlines about new opportunities into new growth areas, and I think what the Heathrow link has given us is much more of a sense of credibility in the market.

I can say, when they ask me what’s our core route, four a day into Heathrow, seven days a week and it creates that positive message.

A couple of weeks ago I was with a Norwegian airline and we were talking about the opportunities from Scandinavia and being able to demonstrate that SAS operated in Copenhagen this summer and that they’re on sale for next year already. They were thinking of Jersey. I told them Cornwall and Jersey are similar, but Cornwall has more to its offering in terms of attractions – Michelin-star restaurants, beaches etc.

We’re incredibly conscious of our impact on the environment

Has Flybe being taken over had any impact?

It’s obviously part of the Connect Airways group now. The financial plight of Flybe itself is well understood in the open market, so they’re having to rationalise capacity. Around the UK no airport is going to be immune to that. Positively for us, our two strongest markets are London and Manchester, which is where the Virgin focus is. We remain strong

I wouldn’t have been able to have that meeting had it been four, five years ago because it’s a fairly unknown brand in the UK, but very, very strong in Norway and we’re talking about the inbound market. So being able to open up those discussions and be relevant in the industry and the airline sector is really important and that’s from the success which we’ve been able to achieve in building a sustainable route structure.

And Spain, that’s all year round now. Is that mostly outbound?

Yes. When you look at Scandinavia and Germany which are probably 90% inbound, you flip that and Portugal is all on the

AL outbound as well. Again, very, very strong markets so we need more frequency and more capacity on that but unfortunately Brexit is affecting Ryanair, and they’ve again reduced their profit expectations. But also, the Boeing 737-800 Max grounding when they should have had multiple more airframes coming in for next summer haven’t, so they’re having to reduce their capacity for next year.

Brexit has been a pain in the backside. As a business, we’ve reacted, we’ve adapted our model to account for that, whether that’s through labour, whether that’s through supplies because a lot of our equipment is foreign-manufactured. So we did bulk purchase in a number of areas to make sure we had requisite spares. But I think where we’ve seen it particularly on the airport has been around consumer confidence. And from a German perspective, we saw reduced numbers. They picked up a little bit this summer but for summer 2018 we saw a fairly big drop because they didn’t feel welcome.

Europeans take it much more personally, they think we don’t want them here.

Apart from the environment, what are the other challenges facing regional airports?

The other big challenge for us is the disproportionate cost of regulation, that onesize-fits-all. If you take the example of new cabin baggage technology which is going be introduced over the coming years, which will allow you to leave your liquids and laptops and everything in the bag. The Government made a big promotion about this but the subtlety which they missed and didn’t include was that actually this regulation wouldn’t be applicable to airports under one million passengers.

So, we could potentially be faced with a passenger who goes through the security at Heathrow and can leave everything in his bag with all his liquids, who then departs Newquay and actually finds he’s got to take his laptop out or can’t take those liquids. And that’s going to cost us £2.8 million. Because it’s not just the equipment but because this equipment is the size of our whole baggage screening, we’ve got to make building modifications to actually fit the equipment in. And if we don’t do that, then we have to change again in terms of search ratios which will affect the customer experience and cost.

Is that what gives you the most sleepless nights, the regulations? Obviously, it has to be a highly regulated business.

Absolutely. Health and safety and security are in the DNA. I’m the go-to-jail man if it goes wrong, and I don’t particularly want to!

TITTERINGTON

We’re never complacent, but with our processes, procedures, the skills, the staff, the colleagues who do all that day to day, it does allow me to sleep easy. What gets me about the regulations is when they just lay more and more on top for no justifiable reason.

How does security differ from an airport like this to Heathrow? Visibly at Heathrow you’ll see armed police walking around, which you don’t have here for instance.

Everything in terms of processing the passengers is exactly the same. We have to screen baggage in exactly the same way using the standard technology which they all use. The difference around that more public facing stuff comes down to risk assessment in terms of our flights.

Does Cornwall need a police presence on its airport for the type of traffic which we handle, the volume of passengers, risk assessment based through our committees?

No it doesn’t. But obviously Heathrow – with millions of passengers going through every week and a different mixture and composition of flights and passengers – yes it does.

How many people work here?

Just over 200 as an average year-round, obviously we uplift in the summer and then reduce down through the winter, but not as much as we used to. Again, because the airport’s been able to expand into more yearround routes and destinations and capacity, that’s reduced the seasonality of the business.

Is it the busiest it’s ever been then at the moment?

Yes, we’ll be round about 465,000 this year which is a record. We’ve basically gone up for the last three years. Within our master plan it says by 2030 we’ll be up to 600,000 passengers.

We’re on that high growth scenario trajectory at the minute.

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 13

AL

TITTERINGTON Where’s growth going to come from, domestic or international?

I think we’ll certainly be looking over the next couple of years

around that sun international market, and that inbound market. We’re pretty well-served domestically but we have key markets which are under served. Manchester, despite two flights a day, is an under-served market; Edinburgh is a big under-served market; Newcastle was an under-served market but that will now be year-round.

Ski flights?

It’s just trying to find an operator who can do it. Again, slots into the main ski airports like Geneva, Chambery and Grenoble, are almost as scarce on a Saturday as slots on a normal day to Heathrow. It’s a big market and we know we’ve got the demand. If we can just get an airline, and there are a couple who are almost going to bite, if we can do that, then we’ll be away.

You’ve got the facilities haven’t you, to be able to do that? Haven’t you got the Thomas Cook planes here at the moment?

Yes, the Thomas Cook aircraft are parked over on the other side, which are being looked after by Apple Aviation. They have to keep them in an air-worthy condition, so they have to go through the daily and weekly checks, whether that’s firing up the engines, making sure the avionics are still in good working order because those aircraft are owned by the debtors who come summer next year will want to have those flying back. Unfortunately they won’t be flying in Thomas Cook colours, but hopefully they’ll be flying for another airline.

I’m never bored and I enjoy coming to work every day

What’s the reticence of the airlines?

We need an airline which is based at one of those airports to fly at us to pick up.

The Flybe aircraft is fully committed to Heathrow so there’s no spare capacity from the base here, so we have to look down at the other leg in the same way that we’re never going to have a Ryanair aircraft based here because we don’t have the demand, so we have to look at the destination and what airlines are based in the destinations to fly and pick up.

So, you don’t have any aeroplanes based here at all?

Only Flybe and the Isles of Scilly.

Obviously we try to look at expanding that relationship with Flybe and Connect Airways to get a second or third aircraft based here.

What aspects do you enjoy most about your job?

I’ve always said I feel privileged to work in the sector because every day is different, I’m never bored and I enjoy coming to work every day. Every day is different. Working in some sectors, you can go into work and it’s going to be the same, but ours can be disrupted inside the first 20 minutes. I can be in a Council meeting one day, I can be meeting Michael O’Leary the next day or speaking to a foreign investor looking at developing capacity on the airport. So it gives a very broad breadth of activity which keeps us on our toes.

Do you travel around a lot to see other airports and how they operate?

The industry is close, particularly at the small level. I vice chair the Regional Business Airports Group which is a collective of airports under three million passengers who have very similar issues, so we have an exchange of information and quarterly meetings. But my main travel is going to see other airlines.

To schmooze them?

We have route conferences which is essentially sitting across a table and being able to speed date with them for 20 minutes and trying to get the point across in terms of why they should fly to Cornwall when there’s another 300 airports who are all saying that they should fly to their airport.

We have a very clear route development strategy. I’m not going to go to a conference and try to sell a direct flight to America or

14 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

AL Asia. I’ll focus on where I know our demand is, so Germany, Scandinavia, domestic sun connectivity, identifying which airlines can actually serve our routes.

We will have some ‘off-ball’ discussions, because of Thomas Cook going pop and the fact that Ryanair have closed down their Canary Islands bases – these are big opportunities where actually a lot of our population wants to travel in winter for sun. So we are now speaking to airlines which have got bases in Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt – the Egyptian market has now been opened up into Sharm El-Sheikh – these are opportunities we wouldn’t necessarily have focussed on because we were just trying to get the Canaries before, but with that effectively now being closed off we need to look at the other opportunities.

How long does it take from an initial talk to a route actually coming into fruition?

A minimum of two years I would say.

Sometimes you get some curveballs which just fall into your lap like Jersey and Guernsey last year but SAS on Copenhagen was a four-year slog.

Are routes done on a year-to-year basis?

They are medium-term contracts, but they have plenty of caveats in them in terms of if they are loss-making. Sometimes we have to start small. Copenhagen started small but I expect it to grow over the coming years in the same way that Lufthansa started a Dusseldorf service for ten weeks of the year on a 50seat aircraft, that’s now operating for 22 weeks of the summer on a 150-seat aircraft.

Do you get more pressure from the Council for inbound traffic rather than outbound traffic?

vulnerable to market forces.

And it’s key for us to make sure that we have touch points for everybody in Cornwall because we are Cornwall’s airport and everyone’s got a stake in it. So the need for Mr & Mrs Smith in Helston to be able to fly to Alicante to their holiday home is as important as the bed & breakfast in Looe which is full through the summer from German passengers coming through the airport, and as important for the business traveller who could travel up to London.

How far east is your market? If you live in Plymouth, that’s Exeter I guess?

It will depend on service. For Plymouth to London, it’s not really because you can catch a train to London in three hours as opposed to driving an hour to fly back over yourself. So for certain markets I would probably cut the catchment off at Bodmin, but for something like sun or leisure that’s open seasonally all the way over into Plymouth and we’ll then compete toe to toe with Exeter.

We have to be looking at continuous improvements, whether that’s through terminal infrastructure or through the efficiency

No, to be fair there’s no pressure around that. Because the economic benefit to Cornwall is obviously people coming in, not locals going out.

We’ve got to make sure we have a balanced portfolio of inbound and outbound, and a mixture of business and leisure. If we put all the eggs in one basket it leaves you very

TITTERINGTON

What makes a good airport for passengers? Do you have to offer more facilities?

That has become a challenge as we’ve grown in terms of our facilities, which are creaking. If you don’t have a good product, where there’s competition, people will migrate away from you. So we have to be looking at continuous improvements, whether that’s through terminal infrastructure or through the efficiency, that’s why I came back to that example of going through security – I’m going to have to bite the bullet on that because we can’t have a different product, we’ll lose.

Our capacity handles two aircraft of a decent size. That’s our design level at this minute, in the summer we can have four or five aircraft on the ground and there isn’t a seat in the house. And that’s not a good product, one thing is customer experience but also it just pushes us towards our limit in terms of regulations, so we did some extension this summer just to give us an extra 60 seats, but we’re starting to creak.

We’ve done a piece of work which gives us a much bigger footprint, which has been designed and has now been priced up. It’s feeding into a business case which we’re doing at the moment to show return on investment. But for Cornwall, and I say this quite frequently to stakeholders, we are a first and last impression so actually it just can’t be straight economics of cash return, there is also a product consideration.

Looking ahead, is the overall picture quite positive for the airport?

I think our growth will probably slow this year. I think we’ll probably be stagnant next year because of the changes within Connect Airways which affect us, there is that Brexit factor of economic uncertainty, but again once we can break through that then there’s no reason why we can’t expand further. And then he environmental factor. It’s not that it’s not been important to us, but probably now has more focus – for everybody.

We’ve got to look seriously over the next few years as we develop in terms of creating a better product because we’re starting to exhaust our facilities.

Does that include café-type facilities?

Facilities for when planes are delayed?

That’s our biggest nemesis, seating capacity.

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 15

BUSINESS

TOOLKIT

Business

toolkit

2020 To help your business get off to a great start in the New Year, the next few pages detail some specialist advice and tips...

2020 VISION

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS With the hectic festive period over, the new year can be the perfect time to stand back, take stock and make a few New Year’s resolutions for your business. RRL partner, Nick Skerratt has a few you might want to consider back into the business, getting good control of your cash flow is important to help make your business sustainable in the long term.

1. Set targets for growth

The new year is a great time to be setting financial targets (and making a plan for how to achieve them) for your business growth.

2. Review your expenses

Have a look through your business expenses and see if there is anywhere you can trim the fat – switching utility provider, getting a better deal on your broadband or going paperless can all add up, freeing up more cash to invest back into your business.

3. Get on top of your cash flow

For small business owners and sole traders who may have large ebbs and flows in their cash flow or have been unable to create enough capital to invest

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4. File your tax return

The deadline to submit a self assessment tax return and pay any tax owing to HMRC is midnight on 31 January – so if you haven’t already sorted this, don’t delay!

5. Make time for professional development/training

Most people’s new year’s resolutions are about self improvement, and your business resolutions shouldn’t be any different. Be honest about where your weaknesses lie – no one can be an expert at everything – and make a plan for training and improvement.

6. Upgrade your digital presence

If it’s been a while since your website was updated or you haven’t done anything to make your web presence mobile-friendly, make this a priority for the new year. Digital is no longer just an option, so make sure your online presence is up to scratch and conveys the image you want it to.

RRL is an independent firm of chartered accountants and chartered tax advisers.

For more information visit www.rrlcornwall.co.uk or call 01872 276116 or 01736 339322

BUSINESS

TOOLKIT

DOCUMENT SECURITY

GET SHREDDING With the introduction of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in 2017, how data and paperwork is handled and disposed of is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Whether it is your own documents at home or how you dispose of your customers and client’s information as a business, it is important you have total peace of mind this is done securely.

For businesses, it has never been more important to dispose of any data produced during interaction with a client or customer such as printed emails, files and written notes containing personal information, in a safe and trustworthy manner, with the penalties for not doing so ever increasing.

For Britannia Lanes’ business customers, as well as offering the shredding sacks, it has secure lockable consoles which allow anybody in your office to securely deposit documents into the console without being able to regain access to them.

you can assure your customers you take disposing of their information seriously.

When it comes to shredding, the number of documents now needing to be shredded for total security is at its highest level with leading advice telling us that any envelope, letter or scrap of paper with a name, address or contact number needing to be disposed of securely our work environment can often become overrun with stacks of documents and files ‘to be destroyed’.

100% of the paper shredded is recycled

The shredding console option offers flexible packages to suit the amount of confidential waste your business produces with packages starting from £7.50 + VAT per week. The weekly charge includes the hire of the high-quality lockable console and the collection and waste destruction at either weekly, fortnightly or monthly intervals so

Most remote shredders are unable to keep up with the demand of a business’ needs let alone the lengthy and costly process of a

member of your team having the laborious task of shredding a few sheets of paper at a time.

Britannia Lanes can supply shredding sacks where all paper and files to be shredded, including staples used, can be simply put into the sack and sealed with a security tag.

The sacks are easy to use and you can fill them up as you go, making unsightly paperwork piles a thing of the past. The bags can be dropped back to the Truro office or if you have filled five bags or over, Britannia Lanes will come and collect from you for no additional charge. For total peace of mind and to comply with all your data protection compliance regulations, you can then use the individual tag number with your postcode to track your bag’s progress online and receive a destruction certificate once the bag has been shredded.

You can also be rest assured that not only are all of Britannia’s shredding services carried out securely, 100% of the paper shredded is recycled which is a great addition to your business’ environmental policies.

www.britannialanes.co.uk | 01872 560147 BUSINESS CORNWALL | 17

BUSINESS

TOOLKIT

EXIT STRATEGIES

TEN STEPS TO SELLING YOUR BUSINESS Sonya Bassett, partner and head of corporate and commercial at Coodes Solicitors, describes the ten key steps of selling a business

Whether you are a sole trader or run a large multi-national company, selling your business is a lengthy process with several stages. While every sale is different, the process can be split into ten key steps.

1. Establishing the approach to take

There are two different ways you could approach the sale of your business: a direct sale to the buyer or an auction sale. The approach you take will depend on a number of factors, including the target timescale for the sale, the level of interest from potential buyers and the structure of the business.

2. Putting together the deal team

The make-up of the team that works on a sale can vary considerably.

However, it will probably include members of the senior team, a corporate lawyer, a commercial property lawyer, an employment lawyer, any other specialist legal advisors and your accountants.

There are, essentially, two ways to sell your business. One is to sell shares of the limited company that owns the business, so its assets, liabilities and obligations are also acquired by the buyer. The other is to sell the assets that make up the business, so the buyer just takes on the assets it wishes to purchase together with any agreed liabilities and obligations. If you are a sole trader or in a partnership, this will be an asset sale.

Before starting negotiations, you may need to sign a variety of agreements.

These can include a confidentiality agreement, exclusivity agreement, and heads of terms, setting out the terms of a commercial transaction agreed in principle between both parties.

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Establishing who owns the various business assets can prove complex and time consuming. For example, do you own all the Intellectual Property (IP) that you wish to sell?

A designer may have created your website or logo and the IP rights contained within the documents or website have not actually been assigned effectively.

With IT, it is often the case that the seller does not own all the software but must be able to produce the licences in respect of all software and equipment used.

8. Reviewing the main contract

Before starting negotiations, you may need to sign a variety of agreements

4. Signing a confidentiality agreement and heads of terms

level of investigation, so you need to be prepared by having the right team in place to handle the enquiries. It is important for the seller to carry out financial checks on the potential buyer to ensure that they have financial ability to make the purchase.

5. Establishing who owns the assets

3. Structuring the sale

At this stage it is advisable to seek a lawyer’s help with drafting these agreements. Otherwise, you could agree to something that causes you to lose your bargaining power or commits you to unrestricted ongoing liabilities.

9. Securing key issues for the transaction

You will need to establish whether your commercial premises are freehold or leasehold, if there are registered charges or any other impediment to the sale such as necessary third-party consents.

6. Checking consents and approvals

If you are a limited company it is important to check your articles of association and any shareholders agreement to ensure that you are able to sell and have got consents and approvals in place. You will also need to carefully check any commercial contracts and title ownership of assets to make sure that you are aware of any other consents or approvals that may need to be put in place prior to completion of the transaction.

7. Carrying out due diligence

The due diligence process is a commercial, legal and financial investigation of the company in preparation for a sale.

The buyer will carry out detailed due diligence prior to a purchase. This can be time-consuming, depending on the

If you have heads of terms then you will need to check that all terms are covered by the main contract. The main contract (a share purchase agreement or an asset purchase agreement) will set out the terms of the transaction and also the process, obligations of both parties and how it will all work. Depending on the structure of a transaction, you may need an employment lawyer to help protect you from any claims at the time of completion and transfer of the business or shares.

There will be many issues to consider as part of the transaction, from arrangements for employees and their pensions, to property, environmental issues, IT and IP. You will also need to secure consents and approvals, including from regulatory bodies and from your Board and shareholders if it is a limited company.

10. Dealing with warranties & indemnities

Warranties and indemnities relate to the condition of the business and arrangements to compensate a buyer if issues occur following completion.

Seek legal advice to ensure that the right warranties and indemnities are in place.

Selling a business is often a complex, and sometimes difficult, process. Having the right team of people to support you through the sale is the best way of ensuring you get the best result.

www.coodes.co.uk

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TOOLKIT

DIGITAL MARKETING

AN ONLINE EXPERIENCE Want to boost your online business in 2020? Here are HookedOnMedia’s expert digital marketing tips for getting ahead in the new year…

• Boost your customer service experience with private messaging Forward-thinking businesses are starting to use private messaging to ensure their customers get a more personal experience and receive a faster response to their enquiries. Improve your consumer relations and add direct points of enquiry for your business by getting to grips with private messaging apps such as WhatsApp Business or Facebook Messenger and making these available on your website and through your social media channels. Instead of emails, consumers are increasingly using these easy-to-use messaging apps to

communicate with brands.

These users are typically already familiar with the app and the personal chat nature and ability to retain chat history all add to the overall experience they are comfortable with.

• Reach out to a receptive audience With the digital marketing tools available today, it is possible to not only build initial awareness and then generate leads and sales, but also to re-engage your customers and turn them into either advocates or repeat sales. This can be done via re-marketing channels, such targeted advertising to audience lists in Facebook and Instagram, for example, or drip-fed email nurturing. The potential benefits of email retargeting are enormous – compared with a normal ecommerce

conversion rate of between 2-4%, email retargeting conversions can be as high as 41%. Don’t miss out!

• Plan a content strategy Start the new year with a visible wall calendar and plan a content strategy to follow throughout the year. Try to think of four blog content subjects per month; over the year this will grow your website by an additional 48 pages, increasing organic site traffic and boosting your SEO ranking. Focus on quality, reader-focused content that your target audience will find useful and want to share.

info@hookedonmedia.com 01872 248376

PACKAGING & DESPATCHING

READY TO DELIVER Forms Plus helps e-commerce businesses from the likes of Gap, H&M, Frugi and Sainsburys to much smaller companies selling on Amazon, Ebay and Etsy, to efficiently pick, pack and despatch their products around the world Established in 1981, long before online shopping, Forms Plus is now an expert market leader in supplying integrated labels.

Earlier this year, it moved into brand new, purpose-built office and warehouse space in Helston.

Integrated labels are the forms you see when you receive an online order.

Often, part of the label peels off and goes onto your package, another part carries your order details and a further peel off section is included, should you choose to return an item.

This makes it easy for the retailer to know what should go in the package, makes sure the goods go to the right person and simplifies any returns. These forms can be supplied off-the-shelf, in a wide range of layouts and sizes to suit all the major online marketplaces.

To really make the most of your forms, Forms Plus also offers a bespoke service.

Labels can be designed to incorporate the seller’s branding, highlight special offers and carry a more personal message that ensures the customer knows exactly who their order has come from.

Well-known and respected for its expertise in despatch paperwork, Forms Plus has now extended its range to include packaging materials. With each item evaluated for its environmental impact, its packaging offer includes mailing bags and boxes, protective envelopes, postal tubes and other warehouse consumables such as eco-friendly paper tape.

Forms Plus directors, Victoria Andrews and Jo Carter, have achieved high growth since their management buyout in 2012. Do get in touch with them and the team to find out

how they could help your business make the most of forms and packaging to get ahead in 2020.

www.formplus.co.uk

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01326 564331

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BUSINESS

TOOLKIT EVENTS

A SPACE TO INSPIRE Standing in ten acres of its own headland, the Atlantic Hotel has the perfect space to inspire and motivate your delegates and guests

Whether it’s a small breakfast meeting for two or a conference for over 300, your event at the Atlantic will be effective, efficient and effortless. All rooms offer spectacular sea views and complimentary WIFI. Ideally situated within a 15 minute walk to Newquay train station or 20 minute drive from Newquay Airport, the team’s experienced event coordinators can take you through each aspect of planning your event, including; understanding your objectives, choosing the right conference or meeting rooms and selecting the most appropriate seating style and menus.

They can also organise a multitude of activities including surfing, coasteering, flower workshops or even a round of golf.

You can let off some creative steam with a walk in and around the hotel grounds and once you’ve worked up an appetite it’s your choice whether to opt for a buffet in your work space or have a change of scenery and enjoy a delicious meal in Silks Bistro or their Sea View Dining Room.

Book your conference or event today by calling our friendly events team on 01637 872244 or email info@atlantichotelnewquay.co.uk

PERFORMANCE MONITORING

BUDGETS AND FORECASTS Budgets and forecasts can help to ensure long-term success for your business and can help to make sure that you are spending money in the right places at the right time It is important that a cash flow forecast is prepared at the same time as a profit and loss budget as profitable businesses can fail due to running out of funds.

A few top tips when setting budgets and forecasts: • Make time for budgeting. If you invest some time in creating a comprehensive budget it will be easier to manage and ultimately be more effective.

• Involve the right people. It’s best to ask staff with financial responsibilities to provide you with estimates of figures for your budget.

• Be realistic. Base them on what you think will happen and not what you are hoping for.

• Use past performance as a guide.

Also remember to adjust for one-off income, expenses or known changes going forward.

• Make sure balance sheet items such as

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capital expenditure, finance repayments and tax & VAT payments are included in the cash flow forecast.

• Run different scenarios. What would happen if turnover or gross profit margin achieved is lower, costs are higher, or customers take longer to pay. How much of a variance can your business withstand?

MONITORING PERFORMANCE There is little point in spending valuable time preparing budgets and forecasts if they are not revisited on a regular basis. Preparing management accounts and updating budgets and cash flow projections enable owners to review past performance and assess future periods.

If the performance is below budget and it is identified early, you can analyse why and take action to rectify this. If it is left until the accounts are prepared it may be too late to

do anything about it.

Anticipating short-term cash flow shortages also provides a chance to review revenues and costs, and where necessary to apply for funding or take other actions to cover the gap.

If the budget is being exceeded, projected cash flow surpluses enables decisions on new investment & recruitment to take place.

For more advice or information on budgets, forecasts and performance monitoring, contact Andrew Bray at ABray@bishopfleming.co.uk or on 01872 275651.

BUSINESS

TOOLKIT

CLIMATE EMERGENCY

TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE How Tevi is using technology as part of an intelligent response to the climate emergency

In Britain now roughly 80% of the population lives in areas that have declared a climate emergency. Populations covered by jurisdictions that have declared a climate emergency amount to a total of 290 million citizens, with 53 million living in the UK. Businesses supported by Tevi are changing the culture of living and working in Cornwall.

Tevi (Cornish for ‘grow’) is an EU-funded project, currently working with over 200 small and medium sized companies across Cornwall. The work is led by the University of Exeter and is delivered in partnership with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Cornwall Council and the Cornwall Development Company.

The support Tevi provides to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is helping Cornish businesses transition to a more sustainable way of thinking and working.

The Tevi team are specialists in circular economy and environmental growth, both of which are key to responding to the climate emergency that we all face.

Business support focused on circular economy is helping to change the way Cornish businesses view the production and consumption of goods and services including sourcing materials, increasing recycling and reducing waste products.

Support we provide on environmental growth projects are aligned to Cornwall Council’s strategy to protect, enhance and develop Cornwall’s natural environment and wildlife. Tevi is about bringing these two concepts together and helping SMEs throughout Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly to play their part.

ENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCE Tevi is currently developing a series of datadriven environmental sensors and mapping services, aimed at bridging the knowledge gap between business premises across Cornwall, and the county’s unique natural environment. The technology developed through Tevi is delivered alongside management tools and expertise based at the University of Exeter’s new Centre for Circular Economy (CCE).

As every business is unique, our aim is to give businesses the data they need to identify the most resource intensive areas, where efficiency would have the most positive impact on addressing the climate emergency. For example, our Tevi-FIRE-E tool could help save 10%-30% off a typical business energy bill significantly reducing energy related carbon emissions.

LAGAS LAUNCH Lagas (Cornish for eye), our online Natural Capital Information and Management Hub, will launch in the next few months and will provide access to a wide range of environmental and economic data, primarily through an interactive mapping platform. The intention is to provide policy makers, businesses and the public with the key data required to make better environmental decisions and guide sustainable economic growth in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

• Tevi-SENSE: Tevi-SENSE is one of our legacy digital solutions. Broadly the network will collect data to monitor environmental growth, circular economy and resource efficiency in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, in line with Tevi’s core aims.

The network consists of several sensor packages. Some will directly provide insights to the business, to help them identify potential improvements to their processes.

• Tevi-FIRE-E: Our energy monitoring system (Tevi-FIRE-E) is one of our firstphase offerings. Energy consumption is recorded at 5 second intervals and provides a much higher level of detail compared to a smart meter.

• Tevi-LIFE-C: Tevi-LIFE-C, is a network of live streaming cameras. These are intended to engage businesses and the public with the beautiful local native wildlife and landscapes all around them.

This might be as simple as viewing a bird feeder on an industrial estate or something more ambitious. We currently have installation sites with potential to view many species including: badgers, foxes, beavers, seals, red squirrels, swallows, herring gulls and bees. In each case we consult with local experts and ensure that installation is planned and scheduled to ensure wildlife is not adversely affected.

All our systems are installed free of charge to businesses. If you are interested to hear more about the work of Tevi including our technology, or would like to enquire about an installation, please get in touch! info@tevi.co.uk Stay up to date on all the latest news and events by following @TeviCornwall on Twitter.

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 21

BUSINESS

TOOLKIT HUMAN RESOURCES

HR HEADS UP! When you are looking ahead and planning for the coming year, says Sapience HR director Sue Hook, it’s easy to just think about time management, cash flow and organising things more efficiently

Whilst all these things are important, I would additionally put in a plea for business owners to also consider what else can be done to establish themselves as a great employer and what staffing needs there will be in the future. Planning to ensure that you have the right staff, doing the right job, to deliver company goals, is a well worth investment of time.

• Assess what your future staffing will be and plan to recruit in a timely manner.

Particularly important if you have peaks and troughs of staff needs.

• Prepare for employment legislation changes coming in April 2020: · National Minimum Wage; · Changes to when written statement of employment particulars need to be provided to new employees;

To get you thinking, here are some areas that are worth preparing for:

· Rules for calculating holiday pay changes;

• What training do your staff need?

Important for new staff or when a new system, process or equipment requires training. Identify and put together a plan for implementation.

· IR35 regulations apply to medium & large companies who contract for services;

• Set a date for a pay and benefits review. Is there a good time of year when this would be done?

· Parental bereavement leave expected to be introduced in April 202o;

• Review and update your staff handbook or HR Policies to ensure any company or

POSITIVE SIGNS Parc Signs MD, Karen Barnett, explains the importance of good quality signage to make a brand stand out

Signage is something that can be visible 24/7 and as such is one of the most costeffective forms of advertising to gain brand exposure and attract customers.

Initial outlay may be higher than other marketing strategies but once it’s made, it’s there advertising your business day and night for years to come. Having good quality, bespoke signage gets your brand noticed and in a retail environment can be the difference between someone setting foot through the door or not.

22 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

• Schedule company/team meetings, as well as regular one to one meetings with each team member.

• Set a review or appraisal date with each of your team.

• Set the date for a company wide planning and team day.

• Get staff to let you know what they like about working for your company and set the date for a staff survey.

As the year goes on, things will change and your plan will evolve. It’s still better to have a plan which can be adjusted, rather than fire-fighting as things happen!

· ‘Swedish Derogation’ which applies to agency workers is abolished.

SIGNAGE

In these times of ever-increasing competition businesses need to put extra effort into marketing strategies in order to stand out. Signs can play a huge part in this as customers, both existing and potential ones, relate to a brand via every visual interaction they experience with it. If it’s poorly executed, in whatever media, this can impact your brand identity.

legal changes are captured.

Avoid the mistake of thinking more signs, bigger and bolder, will get you noticed and apply the principle of less being more.

Having been awarded a contract with a national organisation who place importance on raising presentation standards and reducing the amount of signs, we have become more acutely aware of taking that forward with other clients too.

Review whether something is really needed and avoid replacing ‘like for like.’ Instead think about the different signs you need, what function do they need to perform and which ones do you need to really make stand out? That’s where we can really help businesses, by offering advice on materials and production processes to really make something stand out from the crowd.

01726 74747 | showroom@parcsigns.co.uk

www.sapiencehr.co.uk

BUSINESS

TOOLKIT

IT SUPPORT

CHANGING FACE OF IT SUPPORT Focus Technology Europe MD, Andrew Davenport, explains why a managed service provider should be an integral part of your business

In the last decade the demands placed upon technology within businesses has grown exponentially. It is rare that you come across a company now that does not almost entirely rely on guaranteed, secure, access to its data.

The threats to this data from malware, viruses and criminals has also never been greater and is on the rise. This is in part down to the increase in the demand for data availability and the dependence on access to it as well as the diverse range of devices and ways to access this data. The attack surface has grown and provides new targets.

Add to this the rise in requirements for regulation, GDPR, PCi DSS, CES and CES Plus to name a few, also insurance companies who now want to minimise their liabilities in the event of a data breach or loss.

For a business to comply with regulation the entire scope of that regulation needs to be catered for, this will include policies on how the system is used, managed and monitored. Regular updates to operating systems and patch management to ensure security. Software and firmware updates to fix vulnerabilities and security problems on network devices such as switches, firewalls and WIFI access points to name a few. Secure backup on premises and in the cloud to ensure recoverability and disaster recovery capability. Regular consultation to ensure the business technology is developing in line with the business aspiration and need.

The list goes on, but it is all very important.

The speed at which technology, specifically cloud technology, is changing is incredible

What has been generated is an awful lot of work in ensuring the data is available, secure, protected from threat and meets the tough security requirements of the modern digital world.

A business can no longer work based on calling their IT support as and when they need them or, when something requires attention, this is simply not proactive enough to cater for the challenges above.

While there are opportunities for automating some aspects of this work, in general it is very time consuming. The expectation now is that much of the work that requires reboots or resets is performed out of hours to avoid interruption to daily operations.

Technology support providers have had to flex and adapt to meet these challenges daily. The speed at which technology,

specifically cloud technology, is changing is incredible with regular updates to functionality, security and software design on a weekly, if not daily basis. They must continuously learn.

A business needs to partner with a Managed Services Provider who can proactively deliver this monitoring, administration and maintenance around the clock. They must be an integral part of your business and your businesses aspirations and growth strategy to enable them to expertly guide you on your digital journey.

Managed Service Providers invest a lot of time, effort and money in learning, training and utilising systems and software to ensure all this happens for you.

Just because you don’t see it happening on the surface does not mean they are not working hard behind the scenes to protect your business and one of its most valuable commodities, your data.

Do not underestimate the amount of work they do.

focus-technology.co.uk

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 23

BUSINESS

TOOLKIT WORKPLACE DIVERSITY

CREATING A GOOD PLACE TO WORK LEP senior skills officer Clare Harris has an opportunity for your business

Company culture is so important to any business and a positive workplace has so many proven benefits. It can boost performance, retention rates, productivity and motivation among employees, leading to a higher rate of job satisfaction and employee loyalty.

A really important part of creating a good place to work is how you manage staff wellbeing. Some 83% of people with a disability acquire it while at work, and that can create challenges for the employee and the employer. The UK workforce is

getting older and there’s no escaping the fact that our health can change.

offers businesses the right advice and information when they need it.

In the UK around £100 billion is lost to the economy every year due to 400,000 people leaving work because of a disability or health condition.

Beacon aims to support businesses through the process of creating a good place to work, accessing the widest pool of talent, and managing health and wellbeing, to ensure your staff are happy and work effectively.

That’s a massive toll on businesses across the country. Many of those staff will be long-serving, and when they leave work a huge amount of experience, knowledge and skill leaves with them.

The challenge is to help more people with a disability or long-term health condition to start or stay in work. Many businesses aren’t sure how best to recruit or manage someone with a health condition and how to create a work environment in which they can thrive.

Beacon has been designed by business for business and after 12 months in development with Cornwall-based Evident Agency, it will shortly go live. If you want to be an early adopter, please register at www.cornwallbeacon.co.uk and we’ll be in touch soon.

That’s why the LEP has been working with the business community through the Beacon Project, to develop an innovative new digital platform that

CHARITY

BECOME A LIFE CHANGER One in ten children have a diagnosed mental health problem.

Yet here in Cornwall, there are few services available for them The Wave Project is a Cornish charity that uses ‘surf therapy’ to support children through trauma and anxiety – with incredible results.

“I drove a broken sad child to the beach that day, my last hope, the end of a very long emotional journey and I drove home with my little boy again and a heart full of hope.”

Wave Project parent

Yet with no statutory or government funding The Wave Project relies on donations to deliver its award-winning service. Funding for this work is a constant challenge, which is why the charity is now appealing to Cornwall based businesses to help.

In return, corporate supporters can: • Attend VIP events such as the Wave Project annual awards • Receive regular updates about how their donations are helping children in Cornwall

Photo: Ben Battell

£50 pays for a winter wetsuit for our children, £100 pays for a board, £150 match funds the cost of a a six week course for one child, £300 pays for a child do a full surf therapy course.

• Take part in volunteering opportunities in the sea and on land

CHANGING LIVES TOGETHER

• Receive discounts in the charity’s online shop

Your business can help by becoming a corporate supporter of The Wave Project.

A donation of just £20 per month will help to ensure the future of this immensely popular and respected charity in Cornwall.

By supporting The Wave Project your organisation will also be making a positive statement to its own employees that mental wellbeing is at the forefront of its organisational ethos.

24 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

Contact our Head of Marketing, Helen Kirkman, today to get your membership pack – helenk@waveproject.co.uk or call 01637 820833.

BUSINESS

TOOLKIT

BROADBAND

GO FASTER IN 2020 Is slow or unreliable broadband costing your company? Jason Wood, commercial manager at Cornish superfast broadband provider Wildanet, talks about the impact of poor connectivity Take a moment to stop and think about how reliant your business is on its Internet connection. From emails and online CRMs to cloud services and telephony, day in, day out, businesses use multiple systems that require a reliable broadband connection.

With that in mind, businesses must take the appropriate steps to align their connectivity capabilities with their usage requirements.

Not doing so could result in an array of business issues: LOSS OF INCOME If you can’t undertake basic business processes, you may not to be able to provide your customers with the service they expect or communicate effectively. Poor service can result in loss of both sales and reputation.

Your website must be up and running effectively at all times. Sluggish load times or site outage could quickly lead to lost

sales and income. People aren’t likely to wait around for you, they’ll head to the next (superfast) option.

POOR PRODUCTIVITY Employees can’t be effective if their connection drops out on a regular basis and ongoing blackouts can have a dramatic impact on an organisation’s productivity.

Think about it. Each ten-minute interruption to connectivity when multiplied by the number of employees affected can result in a very significant loss of capability.

When you’re choosing an internet provider, establish what kind of internet user you are and track down a package that suits your needs - whilst considering cost, speed and contract length.

If you’re struggling to access the broadband your business needs, Wildanet uses innovative technology to provide superfast connectivity to businesses across Cornwall, so get in touch and enjoy the broadband you deserve!

EMPLOYEE FRUSTRATION Imagine coming to work each day and not knowing whether the internet is going to fail. Your to-do list grows ever bigger and deadlines which you’re working to may be missed while you’re unable to tick anything off.

hello@wildanet.com

wildanet.com

|

0800 0699906

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@biz_cornwall

/businesscornwall

businesscornwall.co.uk

Don’t miss our Finance & Funding feature in the February issue of Business Cornwall 01209 718688 | caroline@businesscornwall.co.uk

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 25

Organised by Hale Events Limited www.hale-events.com

If you’re involved in hospitality, catering and food & drink, then this is the one trade show you cannot afford to miss.

To get your hands on your free trade entry badge:

3 - 5 March 2020 Wadebridge expowestcornwall.co.uk

Register online or call 01934 733456. Stands are selling fast - to enquire call 01934 733433.

2019

REVIEW

that was

2019...

We take a look back at the past year, reflecting on the leading stories and events that have shaped the Cornish business landscape

JANUARY Cornwall Development Company’s inward investment arm, Invest in Cornwall, rebrands as Cornwall Trade & Investment (CTI).

CTI says the rebrand reflects the project’s new ambitions not only to continue to attract businesses into the region but to also work with high-growth businesses in Cornwall, helping them export their products and services nationally and internationally.

Cornwall Food & Drink announces that the Great Cornish Food Festival won’t be taking place this year. MD Ruth Huxley says that while the event had outgrown its Lemon Quay location, finding a suitable new venue had proved difficult. “The amount of investment needed to build the event in a new location is far more than we feel we are likely to raise in the current wobbly economic climate,” she says.

According to latest figures, more new businesses were established in Cornwall during 2018 than any previous year. 2,829 new businesses were registered in the Duchy compared to 2,665 in 2017 - an increase of 6.2%.

Launceston-based dessert company, Kensey Foods, announces it is set to close with the loss of 650 jobs.

FEBRUARY Michelin-star chef Paul Ainsworth acquires the lease of foodie pub The Mariners in Rock, from fellow cheffing royalty, Nathan Outlaw.

Cornwall Chamber CEO, Kim Conchie, looks to address the shortage of Cornish tonics to complement the abundance of local gins, by launching Navas.

Canadian dairy group Saputo announces plans to buy Dairy Crest in a deal worth close to £1 billion. Among a number of brands including Clover margarine and Country Life butter, Dairy Crest owns Cathedral City cheddar, which is made at its creamery in Davidstow.

Meanwhile, a decisive moment in the often ill-tempered ‘helicopter wars’ in west Cornwall. Penzance Heliport secures £1.8 million of European funding towards its project to restore the helicopter link between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly.

Just weeks later, Isles of Scilly Steamship Group announces that it is to cease its Islands Helicopters operation after less than a year in operation “due to a lack of demand”.

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 27

REVIEW

2019

MARCH Cornwall Chamber of Commerce names Jacky Swain, communications and site manager at Commercial Estates Group in Carlyon Bay, as its new chair, assuming the role from Headforwards’ director Toby Parkins, who continues to represent the chamber in his capacity as president.

Andrew May steps down as chairman of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group after 16 years to be replaced by Ian Howard.

Popular local radio station, Pirate FM, is under new ownership after parent company, Redruth-based UKRD Group, is snapped up by global media giant, Bauer.

The Tour of Britain cycle race will be coming to Cornwall, it is announced. The first stage will start in Penzance in March 2020, taking in 170km of Cornish countryside on its way to Bodmin. It is estimated that the race will generate over £3 million of extra spending within Cornwall during the stage.

APRIL A busy, busy month for news.

Business leaders gather at Cornwall Airport Newquay for the much-vaunted launch of the new four-times a day link with London Heathrow. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP chairman Mark Duddridge, says the new route “will help our ambitious businesses trade around the world and attract more domestic and overseas visitors to one of the best parts of the UK”.

Meanwhile, the airport reports the financial year 2018-19 was its busiest ever, with 461,000 passengers passing through its terminal doors.

Callestick Farm wins a £500k contract to supply its Cornish ice cream to China.

According to new research (and who doesn’t love a good bit of research), Cornish Pasties are the nation’s most widely-recognised Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) product, ahead of Jersey Royal potatoes and Scotch whisky in second and third places respectively.

Tate St Ives records its highest ever visitor figures in 2018, according to latest figures from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA). 302,864 visitors went to the gallery in 2018, making it the 115th most visited attraction in the UK. The Eden Project was once again Cornwall’s most visited attraction, drawing 1,006,928 people in 2018 (down 1.68% on the previous year), putting it in 36th place overall.

James Staughton announces that he will retire as CEO of his family business, St Austell Brewery, in January 2020, to be succeeded by Admiral Taverns CEO, Kevin Georgel.

“Having reached the age of 60 I have decided 2020 will be the right time to stand down and to pass on the baton to the capable hands of Kevin Georgel. Kevin is a good friend to me personally and we are very fortunate to have such a qualified and experienced chief executive to take on the role.”

Less than a year after entering service, Isles of Scilly Steamship Group announces that is to cease operating the Mali Rose freight vessel and seek its disposal “as soon as possible”.

Since buying the vessel three years earlier as an intended replacement for the Gry Maritha, it has been dogged with operational problems. “Following extensive trials and an appraisal of the current position, it is clear the Mali Rose cannot sustain a reliable and profitable service for the islands without further significant investment,” says a spokesman.

“ I’m not really a big fan of this infinite growth that our economy and society seem to strive for, it’s unrealistic and unsustainable.

I’m looking for something much more sustainable.”

28 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

Dave Cockwell, MD of Cockwells Modern & Classic Boatbuilding

2019

REVIEW

MAY Richard Baker is appointed managing partner at Stephens Scown, replacing Robert Camp who will remain at the law firm as director of strategic innovation.

Jill Stein is named the new chair of Visit Cornwall, taking over from Lord St Levan.

Pendennis Shipyard collects a hat-trick of awards at the World Superyacht Awards for Vijonara (sailing yacht 30m-59.9m), G2 (refitted yacht) and Haida 1929 (rebuilt yacht).

St Austell Brewery chief executive, James Staughton, is awarded the Trelawny Plate in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Cornwall.

The first Laura Ashley Tea Room opens in Cornwall, at The Cornwall Hotel in St Austell.

JUNE The Spaceport Cornwall project receives a pledge of £20 million funding, subject to business case and approvals.

The latest new route from the UK’s fastest-growing airport takes off – Scandinavian Airlines’ seasonal twice-weekly route between Newquay and Copenhagen.

Despite wind and heavy rain on the Friday of the show, Royal Cornwall is still proclaimed a great success and attracts 110,704 visitors.

Lynher Dairies owner, Catherine Mead, is awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Mead, who also chairs the Specialist Cheese Association and the Cornwall Food Foundation and serves as Deputy Lieutenant for Cornwall, declares herself “delighted and rather overwhelmed”.

Padstow-based fudge maker Buttermilk secures a contract to sell is tasty wares through a supermarket chain in Dubai. And it’s not just Cornish fudge that tastes good. The Cornish Duck Company scoops the title of ‘Best Food Producer’ at the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2019.

Cornwall Air Ambulance is crowned Business of the Year at the 14th annual Cornwall Business Award. Some 350 business leaders attended the gala event at St Mellion, along with guest speaker - Olympic rowing champion Helen Glover.

JULY A new ‘green’ data centre is opened at Goonhilly. The centre will use locally generated renewable power and an innovative cooling system where computers are kept cool by fully immersing them in liquid.

PREMIER CORNWALL'S

BUSINESS RESOU

RCE FOR ALL

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NEWS AND

businesscornwa

Engineering company Partech is presented with its Queen’s Award for Enterprise at a special ceremony at its St Austell base. Partech is the only Cornish company to receive the award this year and will hold the honour for the next five years.

OPINION

ll.co.uk

Cornish-owned cinema group, Merlin Cinemas, opens its latest picture house. The Capitol in Bodmin becomes the sixth Merlin cinema in Cornwall. With a head office in Penzance, Merlin runs cinemas in rural and seaside locations across the UK.

£3.95 ISSUE 130 | MAY 2019 |

CORNWALL SSE D CEO SALLY HEAR

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES S SECTOR FOCU

“ There’s a high percentage of women leaders who are social

ACE AEROSPLIMIT SKY’S THE

entrepreneurs. I think they just identify with it really well.

Women are very passionate about something they want to do.”

05

05 9 772514

9 772514

842001

Sally Heard, CEO of Cornwall School for Social Entrepreneurs

842001

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 29

REVIEW

2019

AUGUST Stuart Reid is confirmed as the new CEO of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group.

Reid had been acting MD since last September and prior to that was chief operating officer.

Stormy weather forces the last-minute cancellation of the Boardmasters festival at Watergate Bay. John Evans is appointed the new CEO and principal of Cornwall College Group.

Evans had served as principal of Yeovil College since the beginning of 2014.

Kensa Heat Pumps begins construction work on a new factory which it says will create up to 150 new jobs. The expansion, says Kensa, will make it the largest low carbon business in Cornwall.

The National Maritime Museum in Falmouth welcomes its two millionth visitor.

SEPTEMBER Tarquin’s Gin secures its first-ever supermarket listing. Bottles of Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin and Tarquin’s Rhubarb and Raspberry Gin are to be stocked at Tesco stores across Devon and Cornwall.

Truro-based insurance company Cornish Mutual announces that after 15 years at the helm, Alan Goddard is to set down at the end of the year and will be replaced by operations director Peter Beaumont.

Truro, Camborne, Penzance and St Ives are among 100 towns nationally invited to apply for investment from the Government’s £3.6 billion Towns Fund.

WH Bond cites “market conditions, coupled with the uncertainty of how Brexit will affect the plant and machinery sectors” as the main reason for exiting the plant hire and agricultural machinery sales side of its business.

The Headland Hotel and The Nare are named as Cornwall’s first-ever AA Five Star hotels.

Pendennis Shipyard’s burgeoning global reputation continues to spread as the superyacht specialist acquires the Vilanova Grand Marina in Barcelona. Toby Allies, joint MD at Pendennis, calls it “a real strategic coup for the business”.

Cornwall’s largest gaming studio, Antimatter Games, announces ambitious expansion plans after being acquired by Swedish studio Toadman Interactive. “Being owned by Toadman Interactive means we can build games based on our own IP, with full artistic control,” says MD Rich Barham. “And that’s a vital step on our way to becoming a world-renowned studio.”

With many worried about funding for Cornwall in the wake of Brexit, PM Boris Johnson promises to match the EU contribution with a like-for-like fund, which if true to his word, could be worth up to £600 million over the next decade.

“There is going to be a discrete fund for Cornwall, the Prosperity Fund, which will match the existing funding. We’re determined to do that,” he says.

CORNWALL'S

PREMIER BUSIN

ESS RESOURCE

FOR ALL THE

LATEST NEWS

AND OPINION

businesscornwa

ll.co.uk

“ I think my wife would probably say she would be happy SEPTEMBER

133 | £3.95 2019 | ISSUE

if we had never done it (appearing on TV show Grand Designs). But I’ve always been ‘come on, we’ve got such an

WITH FACE TO FACE TOM RAFFIELD

CLIMATE CONTROL

opportunity, so much potential’. My wife has always been

SPOTLIGHT ONY SUSTAINABILIT

about the lifestyle side, but unfortunately, I think I’ve ruined

FUTURE FOCUS M

TRANSFOR YOUR BUSINESS

09

09 9 772514

9 772514

842001

842001

30 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

that with my ambition!”

Tom Raffield, designer

2019

REVIEW

OCTOBER Lynher Dairies – maker of Cornish Yarg and World Champion cheese Kern – takes its quality control standards one step further by buying its own herd of cows.

Tregothnan continues to export its brand of Cornish tea across the world, winning new contracts in the US and Kazakhstan.

Roy Warren replaces Giles Cross as MD of peer-to-peer lending company Folk2Folk.

Lithium exploration company Cornish Lithium crowdfunds £1.4 million. The company’s first exploration drill holes, targeting lithium in geothermal waters deep beneath the surface of Cornwall, will be drilled with the funds raised.

Sector 2 of the Aerohub enterprise zone opens at Cornwall Airport Newquay, offering high quality business and light industrial space.

Nearly £17 million of funding is announced to start geothermal drilling at the Eden Project. Sir Tim Smit says: “Geothermal will be a game changer for Eden, Cornwall and the UK.” Truro & Penwith College reveals details of a new £7 million specialist technology facility, with construction work set to start in the sprint.

Cornwall’s oldest fishing and processing business, Ocean Fish, completes the acquisition of a controlling stake in Newlyn firm W Stevenson & Sons. The deal takes Ocean Fish’s fleet of fishing vessels to 19.

St Austell Printing Company (SAPC) is named the UK’s Environmental Printing Company of the Year at the PrintWeek Awards. Prawn on the Lawn in Padstow is named the UK’s Seafood Restaurant of the Year.

The inaugural Cornwall Festival of Business, organised by the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, proves to be a resounding success, with more than 60 events taking place across the Duchy during the week, including Cornwall Business Fair.

NOVEMBER Mylor Sailing and Powerboat School is named winner of winners at the 18th annual Cornwall Tourism Awards, presented at Truro Cathedral.

Barefoot Media wins a brace of gold awards at CIPR South of England and Channel Islands PRide Awards.

Cornish outdoor clothing brand, Finisterre, passes its £2 million crowdfunding target on Crowdcube in the first 24 hours.

For the fourth successive year, 100% of Cornwall’s beaches pass tough government bathing water quality standards, according to figures published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

“ We’ve done some celebrity

“ We don’t ever want to over commercialise.

houses which is always good

Mont St Michel in France looks more

fun – Carole Vorderman,

imposing from a distance, but when you

Paul Young and a few others.

are actually there it is in my view over-

Russian oligarchs whose

commercialised, whereas here we are very

names we never get to know!”

protective of the authenticity.”

Eric Nicholls, Spiral UK

Ramon van de Velde, chief executive St Aubyn Estates

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 31

Now offering a wider range of outsourcing software solutions.

Building on our international success providing clients with a continuous dedicated resource for outsource software development, we are now offering a wider range of services for shorter projects including advanced e-commerce and cloud application development.

Contact our Special Projects Division to find out how we can help you.

+44 (0)1209 311 150

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www.headforwards.com

www.sapiencehr.co.uk

PEOPLE

SPONSORED BY

ON THE MOVE

A CAREER ‘HIGHLIGHT’ Penzance Helicopters has appointed Justin Wood as its new general manager.

The new helicopter service is due to get underway in March, flying direct from the purpose-built heliport in Penzance to both St Mary’s and Tresco.

19WHITEHATS

recruited as a junior front-end developer.

Wood is a former Isles of Scilly helicopter pilot who flew for over a decade, until the previous Penzance operation ceased in 2012.

Digital marketing agency 3WhiteHats has taken on seven new recruits across all departments.

Meanwhile, the content team has welcomed Dan Aston while Hannah Turnbull and Carrie McCreadie have bolstered the finance and administration department.

He said: “Re-establishing the helicopter link to the Isles of Scilly will be the highlight of my career. It’s a great pleasure to be part of the team bringing a fast and convenient service to Scilly - benefitting both island communities and visitors alike.”

A number of roles, for both senior and junior positions, have been created. Aaron Dickens has joined the analytics team, while the business has a new R&D developer in Oli Jeffery. Nicky Oldale has joined the paid search team, while Ryan Weeks has been

MD Tom Telford said: “As we enter our eleventh year, we’re super excited to see the team swell to 19, our largest yet. I am thrilled to welcome seven new faces in such quick succession, particularly given the difficult trading conditions in the UK currently.”

Coodes Solicitors has recruited a specialist property lawyer with four decades of experience to its Truro office.

Jonny Hall’s appointment is the latest in a series of strategic developments to grow Coodes’ commercial property team.

With a background in law firms in London, Bristol, the home counties and the south west, Hall qualified as a solicitor in 1978.

Head of Commercial Property at Coodes Solicitors, Jo Morgan, said: “Jonny’s appointment cements our commercial property team’s presence in the city and will enable us to continue to provide clients with the very best expert advice.”

HALL JOINS PROPERTY TEAM

IGNITION IN GEAR Truro-based vehicle and asset finance company, Ignition, has appointed a new business development manager.

CORNWALL CARE

DIRECTORS

Cornwall Care has named three new nonexecutive directors to its board.

“Saying goodbye to people is never easy, but I’m delighted to welcome Ian, Heather and Allison as our new non-executive board members,” said chief executive Anne Thomas.

Financial planner Ian Harris, former NHS senior manager and leadership coach Heather Mullin and care assistant Allison Haywood have all joined while Geraldine Lavery, John Acornley and Dr Tony Felton have stood down.

“Appointing Allison Haywood, one of our employees, is an important part of the culture change we are aiming for because she is there, on the ground, working shifts and providing care on a daily basis.

Richard Bowley has 27 years’ experience in the south west business community, including 11 years as relationship manager with Lloyds Banking Group.

MD Paul Caunter said: “It’s an exciting time for Richard to be joining us… with a strengthened team we will be increasing our presence in the business community, maximising opportunities, and consolidating our reputation for outstanding customer service.”

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 33

CREATIVE

AND DIGITAL

SPONSORED BY

GENDALL ‘SPEED DATING’ Gendall Design hosted 20 of the UK’s leading independent holiday cottage letting agencies and four leading booking software providers at a special event last week.

An expert in designing and building bespoke websites for the destination sector, Gendall was inspired to organise the event after

GOLD FOR BAREFOOT Barefoot Media returned home from the CIPR South of England and Channel Islands PRide Awards in Bristol last month with two gold awards.

The St Wenn-based agency received the double accolade for its Hospitality Hacks campaign - a campaign tackling an important issue impacting on the region’s tourism economy - triumphing in the ‘Integrated Campaign’ and ‘Travel, Leisure or Tourism Campaign’ categories.

A Cornish holiday hotspot has been digitally connected by an innovative local broadband provider.

Wildanet, an independent, hybrid wireless provider based in Redruth, is now able to provide superfast broadband to homes and businesses in Newquay and the surrounding area where connectivity has previously been unreliable.

“We’re delighted to be up and running in Newquay,” said community broadband manager, Daniel McCarthy.

INTERNET BOOST FOR NEWQUAY

hearing that the widely-used booking engine Software - TAB’s, was being withdrawn from use by 2021.

Gendall MD, Greg Welch, said: “A large number of our holiday cottage clients currently use the TAB’s software and we saw a need to help them plan effectively for their future.”

www.digitalpeninsula.org

Gendall kicked off the day with the launch of its Gendall Gateway product - a service that connects cottage agency websites to their chosen booking software, helping to future proof their digital services for years to come.

The letting agencies then enjoyed live pitches from the booking software providers as well as ‘speed dating’ sessions in the afternoon with them all, to help them make an informed decision as to an alternative booking engine software platform provider.

GOOD TIME FOR ANYTIME Helston-based booking software specialist, Anytime Booking, is set for expansion after receiving funding from investment firm Continuum Systems.

Anytime’s products are aimed at the camping and holiday property letting industries. It acts as a hub for tracking reservations, guest communications and travel website bookings, all in one place.

Anytime co-founder and MD, Wendy Radford, said: “Continuum has a strong track record of partnering with founders to grow businesses.

Their experience, expertise and network will enable us to make Anytime bigger and better.”

“Not only is it one of Cornwall’s largest towns, it’s also one of the fastest growing so we’re thrilled to be able to offer a consistent connectivity solution to people in the area.”

With new housing being built and Newquay’s population increasing by more than 300% in the summer, Wildanet claims that “digital infrastructure is often an after-thought”.

“Residents have been left with poor connectivity, and local businesses are struggling to thrive in an online environment” continued McCarthy. “This is simply not acceptable in 2019 and we’re so proud to be revolutionising the town’s Internet connectivity.”

APPY PIRATES Cornish Pirates rugby fans can now access all the important match day information at the touch of a button thanks to a new app from managed service provider ITEC. The latest collaboration follows ITEC’s renewed sponsorship of the Cornish Pirates’ hospitality and entertainment marquee for the fourth consecutive year.

ITEC also provides business IT support in the Cornish Pirates head office and sourced a new scoreboard for this season.

Robin James, Cornish Pirates’ chief operating officer, said: “It’s great to have ITEC on board to help deliver this new service to our fans. It will make it easier for spectators to find out all the latest news from the club on home and away matches, and hopefully encourage new supporters to join in.”

The free app is available for all Apple and Android devices.

34 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

NEWS

SPONSORED BY

CALL FOR MORE POLICE A new report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has revealed the true extent of crime and its impact on businesses in the south west.

for Cornwall, said: “These figures show the immense pressure that small firms are under on a day to day basis and the hugely damaging effect of business crime on UK productivity.

The report found that in the south west, almost a third (32%) of small firms have been the victim of a traditional crime such as theft, criminal damage and assault. Meanwhile, around 23% of small firms in the region have been hit by some form of cybercrime including phishing, malware and data theft.

“These are uncertain times for all firms and with ever-increasing costs, business crime is a problem that is devastating firms across the country.

FSB is calling on the Government to tackle crime against small businesses as a priority and help to plug the £17 billion that is being lost in the economy every year as a result.

Central to this is the hiring of new police officers which is crucial to tackling business crime in England and Wales along with making sure police and crime commissioners give it the priority it deserves.

Ann Vandermeulen, FSB development manager

“On average, those businesses affected by traditional (non-cyber) crime in England and Wales have suffered costs of around £14k over the previous two years. This is money that many small firms simply cannot afford to fork out.

“Over the next five years, we want to see progress towards around an additional 85,600 police officers hired which can be used to tackle some of the criminal acts that are costing businesses billions every year. The announcement of an additional 20,000 extra police officers is a step in the right direction but much more needs to be done.”

LOST CONNECTION COSTING BUSINESSES Small businesses in the south west are being held back by poor broadband and mobile connections, according to a major new FSB report.

The findings, revealed in the organisation’s recent digital infrastructure report Lost Connection, show that 41% of SMEs in the south west are struggling with broadband speeds that are insufficient for their current business needs and almost half say their broadband is not good enough for their future needs. The report also explores mobile connectivity, with FSB data showing 56% of small firms in the region cannot get a good connection on their mobile phones.

Edward Chapman, volunteer area lead for FSB Cornwall, said: “There is some good news for us, as Cornwall is ahead of many others with access to superfast broadband and sometimes it is purely the rural nature

of our geography that gives us those last stubborn ‘not spots’ that can be challenging and costly to address.

“So, we really do need those sorted out, but the FSB further recognises that the issue extends to connectivity with the rest of the country because of course you need to have the connection at both ends to work.”

Responding to the recent Government announcement on a Shared Rural Network, FSB national chairman, Mike Cherry, said: “Targeting these gaps in mobile coverage in rural areas by creating a shared network would go some way to help bridge the widening communication gap in the countryside. It would allow mobile phone users to connect, regardless of what network they are on. We are now keen to see more detail on the plan to see how it would be rolled out.”

#FSBCONNECT

FSB WOMEN CONFERENCE On Friday March 6, we are going to the lovely Falmouth Hotel for a day full of wonderful, inspirational speakers, motivational workshops and networking.

However, as you might imagine, we are just pulling together the final line-up and agenda for the day and so we also wanted to hear from you to see what else you would particularly want to see at an event like this.

Do you have anything to offer such as sponsorship, expertise for a workshop, demonstration, a good idea for a small exhibition stand or an inspiring story to tell others? This will be the biggest women’s motivational business conference in Cornwall to date. Those of you who remember our 2018 event at Hotel Tresanton, will have an idea of what to expect but think BIGGER! So, if you have some input or want to be involved email: Ann.Vandermeulen@ fsb.org.uk. If you want to come along then you can book via our new events system but book early as the last one was oversubscribed by 50% a month before the event!

How you book FSB events is changing.

FSB members don’t need to do anything, you will automatically receive information as part of your membership.

If you are not currently an FSB member and want to continue to be notified about events please visit https://www.fsb.org. uk/eventschange, fill in your details and we’ll do the rest.

FSB Offer for Business Cornwall Magazine Readers at www.fsb.org.uk/join If you want to join FSB after reading this page then please quote BCM30 when you join and save £30!

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 35

FOOD

& DRINK

GREAT GIN A Cornish artisan gin distiller has added to its growing list of awards.

Curio Spirits’ Blueberry Gin won the flavoured gin section in the Great British Food Awards 2019.

Beating a long line of other distilleries from across the UK, Curio Blueberry Gin was judged by chef and owner of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Raymond Blanc.

BEST SEAFOOD A family-run Cornish restaurant has been crowned the UK’s Seafood Restaurant of the Year 2019.

Claiming the title after several judging rounds, Prawn on the Lawn in Padstow impressed some of the country’s toughest industry experts with its “visible fish counter, excellent wine list, range of available species on the menu and overall concept”.

Prawn on the Lawn is owned and run

by Katie and Rick Toogood and opened its doors in Padstow in May 2015. Prior to the 24-cover eatery launching, the couple ran a fully licenced fishmongers and restaurant in Islington, London.

Rick Toogood said: “We are absolutely stunned and a bit emotional. It’s incredible to win this against such respected competition.”

Now in its fifth year, the Seafood Restaurant of the Year competition is presented by Seafish, the public body that supports the £10 billion UK seafood industry, and The Caterer, the UK’s leading hospitality magazine.

Co-owner Rubina Tyler-Street said: “We couldn’t be more delighted to bring this award home to Cornwall, it’s the only one we entered this year and felt the Great British Food Magazine was a good fit.”

OGGY! OGGY! OGGY! Entries have opened for the ninth edition of the ‘Oggy Olympics’.

The World Pasty Championships will be held at the Eden Project on February 29 and are set to attract bakers from Cornwall to the USA. For the third year running, the championships will be the finale of Cornish Pasty Week, starting on Sunday, February 23.

The week of festivity is inspired by the Eden event and delivered with the project’s help by the Cornish Pasty Association (CPA), which represents the £300-million-a-year pasty industry.

To enter the World Pasty Championships 2020 or find out more about the competition go to: www.edenproject.com/pasty

Callestick Farm’s ice cream and cafe have won a Good Food Award for the second successive year.

food hygiene scores, the 2020 Good Food Award was presented to the family-run business on the basis of “exceptional levels of food quality, service and value when compared to industry benchmarks”.

Based on customer feedback over the last 12 months and

Marketing manager Amy Breach said: “We’re really pleased to have been judged worthy of a Good Food Award for the second year in succession – our aim is to achieve the highest standards in all aspects of our business and this is further proof that we’re doing that.”

GOOD ICE CREAM 36 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

CPA chairman Jason Jobling said: “In its short history, I’ve been staggered by the way people right across the globe have got behind Cornish Pasty Week – testament indeed to the love that exists for Cornwall’s hero product.”

CHAMBER

SPONSORED BY

cornwallchamber.co.uk

NEWS

MADE IN CORNWALL SCHEME EXPANDED A new community interest company has been formed to promote Cornish products and services.

Made in Cornwall Enterprises Ltd takes over from the Made in Cornwall initiative, and was established so that services as well as products could benefit from the Cornish brand recognition scheme.

The first member to sign up to the service category is St Agnes building consultancy, Desmonde Associates.

Established in 1982, Desmonde Associates, under the guidance and direction of Adam Desmonde, has a team of highly-skilled and experienced personnel providing advisory structural and civil engineering services nationally and Internationally.

General manager of MIC, Tony Goodman, explained: “One of the first areas we wanted to expand on in the new scheme was the services industry, so that people of Cornwall would be able to find Cornish businesses, safe in the knowledge they had been audited by Trading Standards, and are an authentically Cornish business.

“So, we were delighted when Adam approached us and asked if Desmonde Associates could apply.

Trading Standards were able to adapt the standards to services and were able to audit Desmonde Associates and I was extremely pleased to be able to go and meet Adam personally to welcome him to the scheme.

“We hope he will be the first of many to join Made in Cornwall and gain the numerous benefits our members receive.”

Desmonde Associates is a specialised consultancy firm which advises on policy, planning and the built environment. Director Adam Desmonde, who was born in Camborne and served as a city Councillor for Truro, believes passionately that Cornwall’s best years are ahead, if we all pull together.

He said: “We are incredibly proud to be the first service provider awarded Made in Cornwall

Status, and we see this great initiative as an opportunity for more Cornish SMEs to collaborate and pull our collective power, one and all, to challenge the big organisation which hoover up Cornish business opportunities whilst failing to invest in Cornish talent or our economy.

“Made in Cornwall is a kite mark of Cornish quality and excellence and Desmonde associates are proud to be one of its newest members.”

ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR The inaugural Cornwall Chamber Festival of Business saw more than 60 events taking place across the length and breadth of the county.

The highlight of the week-long festival was the Cornwall Business Fair at the Sir Ben Ainslie Sports Hall at Truro School, where over 100 businesses displayed, networked and engaged with each other and the wider community.

Kim Conchie, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said: “I think we’ve created something really important and positive for Cornwall.

“We felt the first Festival of Business was a great success and we are determined to make this an annual occasion with plans already underway for 2020 with the dates set for November 2-6.”

Email: hello@corwallchamber.co.uk Call: 01209 216006 Online: www.cornwallchamber.co.uk BUSINESS CORNWALL | 37

EDUCATION

AND TRAINING

UNI UPGRADE A major new development is under way to upgrade facilities at the Penryn campus of Falmouth University and the University of Exeter.

SPONSORED BY

Midas Construction has started work on the £4.4 million design and build project which is part of the Penryn Campus Future Spaces Plan.

The scheme will see the extension of the Stannary restaurant and bar, creating a new social study space; and the extension of

www.truro-penwith.ac.uk

academic spaces, primarily the four-storey Daphne Du Maurier building which currently houses teaching rooms, laboratories, the Camborne School of Mines and the Centre of Ecology and Conservation.

The project is due for completion in late spring 2020.

NEW ECOTOURISM COURSE A new university level course delivered in Newquay is tackling the growing impact of the tourism sector on our environment.

The Ecotourism foundation degree offered

by Cornwall College Newquay, is focused on a new form of tourism, intended as a low-impact and smaller scale alternative to standard commercial mass tourism.

Head of campus at Cornwall College Newquay, Ruth Martin, said the course was vital “in these times of environmental change”.

“Our FdSc Ecotourism programme offers a mix of key themes for employment in the growing ecotour industry,” she said. “It really is the only course of its kind, with a focus on wildlife, business and tourism, enabling students to learn the underpinning knowledge and skills to be a valuable employee or to even set up a business themselves.”

38 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR Tim Martin from FireText has been named Cornwall’s Apprentice of the Year.

Martin received the accolade at last month’s Truro & Penwith College’s Apprenticeship.

Despite joining FireText with little prior experience in Computing and IT, Martin developed an “auto top-up” feature, allowing customers to “top-up” their SMS credit with a stored credit card. This feature was developed, tested and launched to the

first customers within just four months of Martin starting his apprenticeship, and has generated in excess of £50k.

Two new categories were introduced this year - the Beacon Award for Inclusive Apprenticeship Recruitment, which was won

by Cornwall Council, Land-based Apprentice of the Year, which went to Megan Lowman from Eden Project.

Other winners on the night included Pendennis Shipyard, which was named Large Apprenticeship Employer of the Year, and Hunter and Walsh which took the SME equivalent.

For a full list of winners, visit www.truro-penwith.ac.uk.

www.visitcornwall.com

NEWS

SPONSORED BY

TOURISM

CELEBRATION OF TOURISM Mylor Sailing and Powerboat School was named Winner of Winners at last month’s Cornwall Tourism Awards.

The event, now in its 18th year, saw 77 awards presented across 27 different categories, with a new one this year for Tourism Business Leadership, which went to June Donnery of Perran Sands Holiday Park.

There was also a special Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award presented to James Staughton, CEO of St Austell Brewery, who is about to retire following 40 years of contribution to the industry.

commented: “The awards shine the spotlight of excellence on some of our best and leading tourism operators in Cornwall. It is this excellence that makes Cornwall one of, if not the leading, UK holiday regions.”

The 27 award categories covered everything from glamping, B&Bs and wedding venues to cottages, spas and holiday parks. Other Gold winners on the night included The Park Cornwall, Pentillie Castle and Trevose Harbour House.

Head of Visit Cornwall, Malcolm Bell,

Food and Drink Golds went to Boscastle Farmshop and Cafe, The Pandora Inn and Una Kitchen. Attraction Golds went to St Michael’s Mount and Camel Valley Vineyards. Bude Canoe Experience took Gold for Learning Experience with Select South West Tours taking its third Gold for International Tourism.

All of Cornwall’s beaches have passed tough bathing water quality standards, according to figures published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The overall pass rate of 98.7% for Devon and Cornwall in 2019 – with 82.8% of beaches receiving the top ‘excellent’ rating – is the region’s best-ever results under new

It was the second time the awards had been held in Truro Cathedral, with over 320 guests enjoying Cornish food and drink underneath a dazzling light show.

There was a Gold for Boconnoc for Wedding Venue of the Year and for the Headland Cornwall for Business Events Venue. Teacup Tearoom took Gold for Dog Friendly with the Halzephron starring as Dog Friendly Pub. Accommodation Golds went to Glynn Barton Cottages, Penbugle Organic Farm, St Michaels Resort, Stargazy Inn and Coastal Valley Camp and Crafts.

The Tourism Event and Festival Gold went to Porthleven Food Festival, with Longstone Lodge and Café winning Gold for New Tourism Business and Tanglewood Kitchen for Tourism Innovation.

Visit Truro Visitor Information Centre showed its class taking Gold for Visitor Information, while Gold in the popular Wildlife Friendly category was taken by Forest Holidays. standards introduced in 2015, which are twice as tough as in previous years.

Malcolm Bell, Chair of the BeachWise Forum for the south west and chief executive of Visit Cornwall, welcomed the results.

“It’s fantastic to see all Cornwall’s beaches pass these tougher tests with flying colours, with Devon not far behind,” he said. “This is great news for everyone who enjoys visiting our beautiful coastline.

CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH

“This year is the fifth time that the results have been reported against the new standards. As well the region’s best results to date this is the fourth consecutive year that 100% of Cornwall’s beaches have made the grade.”

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 39

OPINION

JUST A THOUGHT

Fifteen Cornwall marketing director Katie Sandow discusses the rise of celebrity brands

FOOD FOR THOUGHT credibility, network, authority. The tempting list goes on. But celebrity endorsement can be fraught with danger, probably most frequently in sport and probably most spectacularly with Lance Armstrong, and Tiger Woods coming in as a close second.

It’s been a roller coaster ride of a year for Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall. It’s widely known that the restaurant market has been experiencing serious challenges over the last couple of years, compounded for us by the announcement in May that Jamie Oliver was closing his UK restaurant group.

Although independently owned by Cornwall Food Foundation and operating under a brand licence agreement, Fifteen Cornwall felt the pain, both emotionally as part of the family, and in real terms as many failed to realise our independence and presumed we closed with Jamie’s other UK restaurants.

Media reporting did little to clarify this complexity and the adverse impact on our bookings and revenues has been real, although we can now see signs that the tide may be turning. We’ve been very grateful for the support we’ve received locally - it’s definitely a moment where we are saying ‘now’s the time to show us you value Fifteen!’

I wouldn’t really class Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall as being a typical celebrity brand, but the whole experience did get me thinking about the celebrity brand phenomenon.

Celebrity brands have powers fledging brands can only dream of: audience, reach, values,

40 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

Fifteen Cornwall isn’t just a celebrity association - Fifteen is very much Jamie’s own concept, the brand is his and he inspired and oversaw the establishment of the Foundation. He believes that you can teach anyone to cook and help them change their life in the process and Fifteen’s success over the last nearly 14 years shows he’s right.

Fifteen Cornwall is now recruiting its fifteenth cohort of trainee chefs and has so far recruited over 200 trainee chefs, of whom over 130 have come out the other side and gone into jobs.

whole 15-month programme to be a success.

There’s a necessary toughness at the heart of the brand, but as a result there’s also a credibility. Graduate trainee chefs from Fifteen Cornwall are in kitchens all over the world and we have Fifteen-trained front of house staff winning awards and working in incredible restaurants.

In a world where online content is constantly recycled and clicks are now king, the awareness and reach that a celebrity endorsement can bring you is further exaggerated. When life is rosy, fantastic, but over the last six months we’ve seen continued repetition in the media of the message that all of Jamie’s restaurants are closed. Talk about rubbing salt in a wound.

In a world where online content is constantly recycled and clicks are now king, the awareness and reach that a celebrity endorsement can bring you is further exaggerated

The Fifteen promise to give people a second chance and to take on trainees who wouldn’t ever be given other opportunities means we take on people who have the odds stacked against them. We consider getting even two thirds of all recruits through the

Fifteen is interwoven as a brand with Jamie Oliver and so, as we asked ourselves earlier this year, what do you do when the going gets tough? When it comes to brands and celebrities, I think you need to decide whether you’re in it for a quick fling and a bout of awareness, or an enduring marriage ‘in sickness and in health’. For us, it’s a long-term relationship and always has been.

The profits from Fifteen Cornwall go to Cornwall Food Foundation to fund the work we do, including the chef training programme, but also other community food projects in Cornwall. We speak to people all the time who came to Fifteen when it first opened, but that’s now almost 14 years ago.If you’re one of those people that hasn’t joined us for a while, then please come along and find out what you’ve been missing.

Business training solutions With Truro & Penwith College your trusted training partner

Consultancy services, professional qualifications, Apprenticeships and bespoke training packages.

Employment law specialists providing a personal & tailored service for your business.

Corporate & Commercial Solicitors policies & procedures * Contracts, takeovers & redundancy * Restructuring, HR legal support * Facilitating exits & settlement agreements * Workplace disputes & tribunal representation *

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01872 226990

Meetings and Events at the

Cornwall Innovation Centres www.cornwallinnovation.co.uk

Meeting Room Hire 18 meeting rooms across three locations in Cornwall - Truro, Redruth and Falmouth.

Accommodates between 4-100 delegates.

Dedicated onsite event support.

Super fast internet connectivity.

Onsite event catering with vegetarian and vegan options.

Please contact us for more details; Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre hwicevents@plymouth.ac.uk Pool Innovation Centre picevents@plymouth.ac.uk Tremough Innovation Centre ticevents@plymouth.ac.uk

01872 248323 01209 311242 01326 567166 BUSINESS CORNWALL | 41

TEST DRIVE

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY COMMERCIAL

LAND ROVER

DISCOVERY WORDS BY MORVETH WARD

If you’re looking for a luxury work vehicle that still comes under the remit of a ‘commercial’ then this variant of the new Discovery may be for you. It proved the case for Hayle-based business, Cornwall Stairs. As well as test driving the Discovery, Morveth Ward visited managing director and co-founder Mark Thomas to find out why it works for him

42 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

DISCOVERY COMMERCIAL

The Discovery I always saw as bridging the gap between a Defender and a Range Rover, as a meet-in-the middle, the perfect combination for many. And nowadays, SUVs seem to defy physics, performing superbly on-road, despite their heavy and tall structure - the Discovery 5 is no exception.

Whether on-road or off, it has the foremost all-terrain capability, helped by a new aluminium monocoque chassis.

the blacked-out (actually non-existent) rear windows, hinting towards an interior which boosts a normal front row cockpit for a driver and passenger but with a bulkhead that leads to a seat-less rear space: so, like most vans, there are seats in the front, but the back is used purely as a loading bay.

It is brilliant for client meetings yet has practical load space when needed

Mark from Cornwall Stairs, which offers bespoke staircase design and manufacture inhouse, purchased his Discovery Commercial from Carrs Jaguar Land Rover, who sourced him a nicely spec’d 3l TD6 SE. I prefer the V6 – it’s not solely because of the extra power because that’s actually marginal – the V6 is more linear, sounds better and generally sets a nicer tone to the way it drove and felt, more in line with the opulence of the Discovery.

However, the 2L is more than capable and is of course more efficient and cheaper to tax (I’d still have the TD6).

Externally it’s hard to tell the difference between a normal Discovery and the Commercial, the only obvious sign being

Now, you may be wondering, why would I want a Discovery with two seats? Well, you may be right, as it’s not for everyone, but for some, it’s perfect, along with some huge potential tax savings.

From a practical point of view, the stripped out rear bay leaves plenty of capacity for throwing gear in, and the lining and omission of rear side windows means it’s resilient and easy to maintain. Being a Discovery, it also has the maximum towing capacity of 3500kg. Luxury and practicality in harmony.

TEST DRIVE

annual VED road tax, both of which will work out much cheaper for the Discovery Commercial than a regular Discovery passenger car.

Mark explained why the Discovery was the choice for him: “The new Discovery is a dream car for me, it is a superb luxury vehicle that is also very capable. It is brilliant for client meetings yet has practical load space when needed.

“When Carrs found this one for me and explained that I could literally save thousands, being a commercial, I was sold.”

Then you have the big bonus: Being a commercial, many businesses can potentially save thousands since it is subject to the same tax rules as any other van.

This is good news, as vans are taxed at a fixed rate in terms of company car tax and

Contact: Carrs Land Rover | 01872 305986 BUSINESS CORNWALL | 43

CONNECTED

CORNWALL

SPONSORED BY

www.cioslep.co.uk

CORNWALL HERITAGE TRUST The Cornwall Heritage Trust launched its new corporate sponsorship scheme at a special event at the Royal Cornwall Museum last month

COLONEL EDWARD BOLITHO

CAROLINE TETLEY (CORNWALL HISTORIC CHURCHES) AND DR LAMORNA SPRY

RICHARD AND MIKE CAWLEY (CORNISH WRESTLING ASSOCIATION)

MARK SULLIVAN (PROVENANCE BRANDS)

CORNWALL BUSINESS FAIR The Cornwall Business Fair at Truro School was one of the highlights of the inaugural Cornwall Festival of Business

SPEAKER LORD MYNERS OF TRURO

TIM THOMPSON (ST IVES GIN)

CAROLINE WILLIS AND LUCY HATHERALL (CORNWALL AIRPORT NEWQUAY)

44 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

BUSINESS FAIR BREAKFAST

DARREN BUCKLEY (CORNWALL CHAMBER)

CORNWALL

CONNECTED

CORNWALL CHRISTMAS FAIR The 28th annual Cornwall Christmas Fair, held at the Eden Project, raised £68.5k for Cornwall Macmillan

WILL NORTON (CORNISH PIRATES), KIERAN HEMSWORTH (GINSTERS), JAMES MCRAE (CORNISH PIRATES), ROBIN JAMES (CORNISH PIRATES) AND TOM COWAN-DICKIE (CORNISH PIRATES)

JANE HARTLEY (CORNWALL CHRISTMAS FAIR CO-CHAIR), TOM CARY (BEST OF BUBLÉ), IAN LILLICRAP (LILLICRAP CHILCOTT), KATE HOLBOROW (CORNWALL CHRISTMAS FAIR CO-CHAIR) CORNWALL CHRISTMAS FAIR COMMITTEE

WILD WEST COMMUNICATIONS WITH GUESTS

ED MITCHELL (SOUTH WEST WATER)

SARA CADGE, CAROLYN PETERS (DALES)

TESTING OUT HEADSETS DURING THE VR WORKSHOP

NETWORKING WITH DRINKS AND PASTIES

CORNWALL MARINE CONFERENCE

Networking and workshops were on offer at the marine conference, held at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth

BUSINESS CORNWALL | 45

CONNECTED

CORNWALL

SPONSORED BY

www.cioslep.co.uk

CORNWALL MANUFACTURING AWARDS The best and brightest manufacturing talent was celebrated at the Atlantic Hotel

ANDREW HOLLAND (SPIRAL UK)

MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR, COMPOSITE INTEGRATION

BETH MAYMAN, MATT BUNT AND JON HART (ST AUSTELL PRINTING COMPANY)

MICHAEL GIBBS (EUROPEAN SPRINGS & PRESSINGS)

CAROLINE HILL (BUSINESS CORNWALL) AND JOSH HOOLE (GROWTH HUB)

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO MANUFACTURING WINNER KEN MARTIN

46 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

CORNWALL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & MADE IN CORNWALL TEAM

UPCOMING

DECEMBER & JANUARY

EVENTS

EVENTS 10 11 12

DECEMBER

CORNWALL CHAMBER LUNCH

16

Penventon Hotel, Redruth

Cornwall Chamber’s Big Breakfast and Chamber Awards 2019 will be held at the spacious Penventon Hotel. cornwallchamber.co.uk

KING NETWORKING

Victoria Inn, Threemilestone

Members each give a one-minute presentation on their business and the kinds of referral they would particularly value. king-networking.co.uk

FALMOUTH BUSINESS CLUB

The Carnon Inn, Carnon Downs

Falmouth Business Club’s final networking event of 2019. All welcome! falmouthbusinessclub.co.uk

19 22

CORNISH PARTNERSHIPS CHRISTMAS PARTY Hotel Victoria, Newquay

The Christmas party will feature Cornish Partnerships’ very own Lee Randall-Pybus with his Robbie Williams tribute act, as well as a resident DJ. cornishpartnerships.co.uk

GREENE KING IPA CHAMPIONSHIP RUGBY

Cornish Pirates v London Scottish

Get the full matchday experience with Cornish Pirates’ amazing matchday hospitality package, a perfect way to entertain clients and colleagues alike. robyn.ashurst@cornish-pirates.com

The Cornwall Innovation Club, ran in partnership with Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, facilitates bi-monthly networking breakfasts which feature inspirational speakers with expertise from all areas of innovation. eventbrite.co.uk

CORNISH PARTNERSHIPS OPEN HOUSE Victoria Inn, Roche

GREENE KING IPA CHAMPIONSHIP RUGBY

Cornish Pirates v Hartpury

Get the full matchday experience with Cornish Pirates’ amazing matchday hospitality package, a perfect way to entertain clients and colleagues alike. robyn.ashurst@cornish-pirates.com

Jubilee Pool, Penzance

14

Bude Golf Club

The original open house. Always has 40 plus businesses in attendance. cornishpartnerships.co.uk

PENZANCE BUSINESS BREAKFAST Join us at the next Penzance Business Breakfast for the opportunity to meet other local businesses, gain contacts & establish mutually beneficial relationships.

Everyone is welcome! eventbrite.co.uk

CORNWALL INNOVATION CLUB

9

JANUARY

FALMOUTH BUSINESS CLUB

The Carnon Inn, Carnon Downs

Kick off 2020 with a visit to the Falmouth Business Club, which meets every second Thursday of the month. falmouthbusinessclub.co.uk

12

GREENE KING IPA CHAMPIONSHIP RUGBY

Cornish Pirates v Yorkshire Carnegie

Get the full matchday experience with Cornish Pirates’ amazing matchday hospitality package, a perfect way to entertain clients and colleagues alike. robyn.ashurst@cornish-pirates.com

22

MURRELLS BREAKFAST SEMINAR Murrell Associates, Truro

The second in the series of breakfast seminars will focus on the topic of ‘performance management and the art of difficult conversations’. eventbrite.co.uk

26

GREENE KING IPA CHAMPIONSHIP RUGBY

Cornish Pirates v Bedford Blues

Get the full matchday experience with Cornish Pirates’ amazing matchday hospitality package, a perfect way to entertain clients and colleagues alike. robyn.ashurst@cornish-pirates.com

28

CORNWALL CHAMBER BREAKFAST Alverton Hotel, Truro

The first Big Breakfast of the new year will be held at the Alverton Hotel in Truro. £20 for chamber members and £25 for non-members. cornwallchamber.co.uk

CORNISH PARTNERSHIPS WELCOME DAY Victoria Inn, Roche

This event is for current members and anyone who keeps hearing about the partnership but is not sure what it is all about. cornishpartnerships.co.uk

Following the recent publication of our sister magazine Talking Tourism (Winter 2019/20), we’d like to invite companies that supply to hospitality and accommodation businesses in the south west tourism sector to get in touch.

The spring edition of Talking Tourism is due to be issued in February 2020.

If you would like to advertise, sponsor features or even contribute news in the spring issue, please contact: nick@businesscornwall.co.uk

For further details of these and more networking events visit businesscornwall.co.uk To publicise your event for free, email news@businesscornwall.co.uk BUSINESS CORNWALL | 47

THE LAST

WORD

SPONSORED BY

www.paddleandcocks.co.uk 01872 672072

Whyfield director

LAURA WHYTE

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG?

I wanted to work in the health & beauty industry as possibly a hairdresser or beauty therapist…a million miles away from my career path as an accountant.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST FULL TIME JOB?

As an accountant! I started as an apprentice after finishing A-Levels and that has been my career choice for the last 15 years.

WHAT’S IN YOUR POCKETS?

Keys, business cards, phone and a few sweets from the business fair the other week.

HOW DO YOU LIKE TO RELAX?

Going to the gym or having a glass of wine with friends (not at the same time). I just like getting out and about as my job involves a lot of sitting behind a computer.

IF YOU ONLY HAD £1 LEFT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, WHAT WOULD YOU SPEND IT ON? I’d like to give a really clever answer to this like a spin on the roulette wheel but I would probably spend it on chocolate!

48 | BUSINESS CORNWALL

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FILM?

I really enjoyed ‘The Founders’. I’ve watched it quite a few times.

IF YOU COULD INVITE ANY TWO PEOPLE FOR DINNER, WHO WOULD THEY BE AND WHY WOULD YOU INVITE THEM?

It would be nice to have dinner with my two closet friends as we all have demanding jobs and trying to schedule a dinner together is almost impossible. Aside from them I’d also like to pick the brains of Estee Lauder as her story shows a true passion to succeed and she achieved so much in her career and then I’d invite Beyoncé…strong dinner party!

WHAT’S THE GREATEST INVENTION EVER?

Wine. Or wine glasses? Or maybe the bottle opener…

WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKE IN LIFE?

When starting in business, believing everyone you meet and work with will treat you with the same respect you have for them. Being naïve to someone’s agenda is a tough lesson to learn.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE ADJECTIVES Genuine, passionate, determined

LOOKING FOR A VENUE?

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