10 minute read
REVIEW OF THE YEAR
farewell to2021A look back on the past year, when Cornwall was thrust upon the world stage like never before.
Twelve months ago, we wrote that many people would be glad to see the back of 2020. A fair proportion of those people who would probably have similar sentiments to 2021.
But while the pandemic has again cast its shadow over the year, as we all adjust and learn to live with the situation, 2021 actually generated a few more headlines than just
Covid-19.
And many of those headlines were quite positive, particularly for Cornwall. For once we were allowed to open up, there was much to cheer about. While staff issues, in particular, hampered by pingdemic and Brexit in equal measure certainly caused serious issues, the tourist sector still enjoyed a bumper summer of business.
Of course, the year was dominated by G7.
From the day in January, it was announced that the world’s leaders would be descending upon Carbis Bay in the summer, there was little else many were thinking about.
In June, the Ultimately, it was all a whirlwind as the circus swept out as fast as it world’s focus had swept it. For those few days in June, the world’s focus was was fixed upon fixed upon Cornwall. And let’s be honest, we all enjoyed it didn’t we?
Cornwall As for the legacy it will leave, that’s probably a little more subjective. Will Joe Biden return for his summer holiday next year, probably not. But even the most pessimistic can’t deny that Cornwall shone in the sun.
They said it here
CORNWALL'S PREMIER BUSINESS RESOURCE FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION
Over the past year, the CEO Interview in Business Cornwall magazine has featured some of Cornwall’s leading and most prominent business figures. Here’s a small snapshot of what they have been saying.
MARCH 2021 | ISSUE 145 | £3.95 businesscornwall.co.uk
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CORNWALL'S PREMIER BUSINESS RESOURCE FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION businesscornwall.co.uk
FEBRUARY 2021 | ISSUE 144 | £3.95
THE GOOD LIFE JAMES STRAWBRIDGE ON HEALTH AND WELLBEING
FINANCE & FUNDING HOW TO SECURE INVESTMENT “Work, food, diet, where you live and how you engage with a community is important.”
TV personality James Strawbridge, February.
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“Cornwall has SECTOR FEATURE & INTERVIEW WITH TOBY ASHWORTH, PROPRIETOR OF THE NARE HOTEL done very well on national tourism, SEEDS OF GROWTH INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF CORNWALL it’s been top of the pops for a decade or so. And that’s great, but if you want to have a greater spend per head, which is what we should really be striving for, you may need an international market.”
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9 772514 842001 02 Toby Ashworth, proprietor of the Nare Hotel, March.
“Obviously, a lot of people do these trade missions and do very well out of them, but down here in Cornwall I found it quite hard. You’re trying to run a business, you haven’t got time to go swanning of on missions to Japan and China all the time.”
Nick Whitworth, founder of Celtic & Co, May.
TOP 5
STORIES ON BUSINESS CORNWALL.CO.UK
From January 1 up until the time of writing (November 17), the businesscornwall.co.uk website had been visited by in excess of 170,000 users. The most read stories of 2021 were:
From Spaceport Cornwall through to one of the main reasons why Boris chose Cornwall to host G7 in the first place – our growing renewable energy potential –we showed the world that we are about far more than just Poldark and Pasties.
And it wasn’t just the G7 that put Cornwall in the wider spotlight this year. In September the TV cameras were back for the Grand Depart of the Tour of Britain. Again, the benefit to Cornwall has been portrayed to be far greater than just financial.
But good will doesn’t pay the bills or cover home improvements. Luckily, a combined near £90 million injection from the Government’s Town Deal fund that was announced this year, will help regeneration projects in Truro, Camborne, Penzance and St Ives
Also to smile about, the Hall For Cornwall reopened its doors a couple of months ago. And for once it hadn’t just been the pandemic that had forced its closure, but the significant redevelopment work the famous old theatre had been undergoing.
Many of building blocks are in place. 2021 was better than 2020. Let’s hope 2022 is better still.
‘US company charges in Cornwall’
June 21 …Progranalog, a leading provider of power testing solutions, has moved into the Tremough Innovation Centre… ••••••••••••••••••••••
‘easyJet launches new Cornwall route’
April 22 …easyJet is launching a new summer route between Newquay and London Gatwick this summer... ••••••••••••••••••••••
‘Patent pending for British Lithium invention’
May 14 …After three years of intensive research and development, Cornwall-based British Lithium has invented a low-energy, chemical-free process for physically separating the mica in granite that contains lithium... ••••••••••••••••••••••
‘Truro secures £23.6M investment’
April 7 …The Prime Minister today confirmed a multimillion pound investment for Truro as part of the Government’s Towns Fund Deal... ••••••••••••••••••••••
‘G7 in Cornwall: The opportunity of a lifetime?’
January 18 …Guest post from LEP chair, Mark Duddridge…
“Cornwall is a bit betwixt and between at the moment; it’s evolving into a very different place and that different place is really relevant to the sort of growth the Government wants.”
DUDDRIDGE Mark Duddridge, LEP chair, June.
MARK DUDDRIDGE
In a blog published when the G7 was announced, you asked people to look beyond ‘pasties and Poldark’ and open their eyes to a new Cornwall. What did you mean by that?
It alludes to two big things really. In Cornwall we now have opportunities to reshape our economy going forward, particularly around the green agenda. We have relatively small businesses down here emerging in areas which could be absolutely huge. For instance, if we see floating offshore wind realised in the Celtic Sea, by 2030 that could be a £10 billion investment, not just the stuff that goes out on the sea but the assembly, servicing, the power coming ashore etc. We’re starting to get real traction behind the georesources argument, lithium and minerals. And lithium is really exciting, because it’s not just the finding it and mining it but it’s also the refining process of it. At the moment, lithium around the world is shipped intercontinentally, so the cost of doing that and the carbon impact of producing batteries is
What a fantastic opportunity to talk to the world huge. We have an opportunity in Cornwall of doing it all in almost one place. And we’re seeing a lot of interest around space and data. Hopefully launches from Newquay will start next year and then we can start to look at the data application coming back from those satellites; Goonhilly and big data, and some of the investments there. By 2030, if we’re not surrounded by these sort of things, I think everybody will be really disappointed. But the other side of Poldark and pasties is how do we reconfigure our traditional industries as well? We’ve got a fantastic reputation as a visitor destination and for our food and drink and fishing, but those industries have been clobbered by Covid, probably lost well over a billion pounds in revenue over the last year. And we also know they are traditionally relatively low paid and seasonal, so we’re looking also how to redefine those industries and broaden the scope in terms of seasons. Do we make some of the offer more environmentally regenerative, different sorts of holidays? How do we up the whole offer to make sure the quality of what people get in Cornwall continues to improve? And then making sure we’re investing in the right skills agenda to go behind it.
So, we see the key planks of change in Cornwall being unlocking some of these big structural things, which is why we’re so keen that the Government looks a bit longer term around funding opportunities so we can lock in the private money to go behind it. It’s also about getting behind our traditional businesses and making them far more competitive. And behind all of that being mindful that we have some communities Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership chair, Mark Duddridge, is excited at the opportunities the Duchy has to shine on the world stage. MarkDuddridge
with real difficulties in terms of skills, deprivation and earning levels and we know going forward they have to be revitalised and reinvigorated and we need to get more people back into work. So, with ‘Pasties and Poldark’, we’ve got such a fantastic brand strength, but how do we get underneath that and make sure more of the value of that sticks in Cornwall?
Why do you think the Prime Minister chose Cornwall to host G7? We’re really delighted that he did! Cornwall’s international reputation for the things we’ve mentioned, being a place to visit and eat out, family time is key, but I think as well, the Government recognises we ought to be a leader. People talk about the fourth industrial revolution, with our resources around it in terms of energy - wind, geothermal, groundsource. Also, there’s huge interest in unlocking the potential of space as a massive market. Cornwall is a bit betwixt and between at the moment; it’s evolving into a very different place and that different place is really relevant to the sort of growth the Government wants. Hosting G7 might not get people reaching for their order books straight away, but it will help draw investors to some of these emerging areas.
What legacy would you like hosting the summit to leave?
There appears to be a willingness from Government to make sure there is an immediate legacy and the environmental bias towards that is very welcome. But in the medium to long term, in 5-10 years Cornwall will hopefully look back and think what a fantastic opportunity we had to talk to the world. It won’t be the answer, but it will be a big fillip on the way to creating something different. A good shop window for attracting future investment? There’s a lot of interest from investors in energy and geo-resources, but it’s
also encouraging Cornish businesses to look again at where their market should be, raising ambition levels not only of businesses but also young people to see those world leaders here. Things like space for instance, the programme has been engaging with school children which has been massively powerful. And building those bridges between trade bodies and investment bodies, Government, Department for International Trade and people like that, it is relationships like that that will bear fruit. And I suspect that will be the real legacy. Government recognises we ought to be a leader Can Cornwall’s beautiful natural landscape help in attracting inward investment, particularly in the wake of the pandemic? The impact of that is two-fold. There is a lot of house buying at the moment, a recognition that it’s a beautiful place to live and work. But that whole impact on housing is something that is very profound and Cornwall will have to work through how we respond to that collectively. CORNWALL'S PREMIER BUSINESS RESOURCE FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION businesscornwall.co.uk
“Like everyone, we’ve had the double whammy of Covid and Brexit. We’re probably quite similar to a number of the other bedrock sectors in the county like tourism and hospitality. A number of our members, particularly the leisure marine members, are in post Covid recovery. In economic terms, they’ve had the equivalent of three consecutive winters.”
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THE TIDE IS HIGH
INTERVIEW WITH CORNWALL MARINE NETWORK CEO PAUL WICKES
TAKING OFF INTRODUCING TIM BUNTING OF CORNWALL AIR AMBULANCE 10
Paul Wickes, CEO of Cornwall Marine Network, October.
CORNWALL'S PREMIER BUSINESS RESOURCE FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION
businesscornwall.co.uk
NOVEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 152 | £3.95
UNIQUE HOMESTAYS INTERVIEW WITH FOUNDER SARAH STANLEY
MADE IN CORNWALL
MANUFACTURING IN THE SPOTLIGHT IT’S GOOD TO GIVE
CHARITY FOCUS
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11 “For me, the crux of the whole business has been keeping it simple… but one thing I never ever did was get a loan or take a risk. I only ever spent money I had.”
Unique Homestays founder Sarah Stanley, November.
