CREATIVE DIGITAL

CITY OF CULTURE BID

Cornwall has announced its intention to bid for City of Culture 2025 in a move that would put the UK’s cultural spotlight on the far south west for a year.

The plan has the backing of creative personalities and cultural organisations across Cornwall and beyond, including actor and writer Dawn French, national Tate director Maria Balshaw, the Eden Project, Falmouth University, Hall for Cornwall, Newlyn Art & The Exchange Gallery and many more.

The competition to find the City of Culture 2025 was launched by UK Culture Minister Oliver Dowden two weeks ago. The winner of the four-yearly contest will pick up the baton from Coventry, which predicts a £110 million investment dividend from being this year’s host.

For the first time, groups of towns will be able to join together and apply for the title to be awarded to their area, which means Cornwall is eligible to bid. Actor, comedian and author Dawn French, who lives in Cornwall and is Chancellor of Falmouth University, is supporting the bid and said: “I’m delighted that Cornwall is bidding to be City of Culture 2025.

“Cornwall is a place of huge creativity and culture and while it might seem strange that a rural area is bidding for City of Culture, it is usual for Cornwall to be challenging perceptions and rewriting the rules.”

The bid is being led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the economic development body for the region, in partnership with Cornwall Council.

Cornwall’s creative economy includes more than 1,000 businesses employing over 5,700 people and it boasts a fast-growing tech sector. Falmouth University specialises in creative industries and contributes some £100 million to the Cornish economy every year, with courses ranging from fine art to computer gaming.

CODICES IN NATIONAL RUNNING

Codices Interactive Limited has been chosen to represent the south west and Wales in KPMG’s search for the next tech innovator in the UK.

Along with Bristol-based Huboo Technologies, the businesses were two of ten shortlisted fast growth tech companies from the region to pitch their businesses to a panel of industry experts in the search for two outstanding representatives to go forward into the UK final to find the next tech giant of the future. Falmouth-based Codices, which was founded in 2018 by Tim Edwards and Fern Pombeiro, develops technologies designed to enable broadcasters to monetise, manage and make their own live interactive shows.

The overall UK winner will secure a place at Web Summit in Lisbon in November, where they will compete against tech innovators from across the world to be crowned the first KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator.

START-UP PRESSES ACCELERATOR

Green+Kode, a start-up from Falmouth University’s venture studio Launchpad, is one of just 50 start-ups from over 400 applications to be accepted onto the Data Market Services (DMS) Accelerator programme.

The DMS Accelerator programme aims to offer support and services to start-ups and SMEs that are located within Europe. Those accepted onto the programme can benefit from meeting investors and mentors as well as opportunities to expand knowledge and develop business plans.

James Tang and Colin Higgs are the cofounders of Green+Kode. Their aim is to see behavioural change within the hospitality and food service sector that contributes towards a more profitable and sustainable business.

Higgs said: “This is a great opportunity to get mentorship in data and IP protection and help with R&D grant applications and fundraising - we see all of these areas as being central to our business development.”

Tang added: “We’re looking forward to receiving mentorship and support from DMS Accelerator. We want to make the most of this opportunity to help us get to our next milestone.”

The programme, which includes mentoring, boot camps, webinars and access to entrepreneurial ecosystems, expert content and promotion, starts next month and runs until November 2021.