30 UNDER 30

30under thirty

Meet the winners of Cornwall’s 30 under 30, the annual listing and celebration of the Duchy’s brightest young business talent.

As the old cliché goes, a business is only as good as its staff, and on this showing the Cornish commercial scene is in safe hands.

The calibre of the entries received for this year’s cohort was stronger than ever and the judging panel made up of Cornwall Chamber CEO Kim Conchie, Business Cornwall’s Toni Eyriey, Tom Moran from Truro & Penwith College, Pirate FM station director Mark Peters and Don’t Cry Wolf’s John Brown had their work cut out.

And the final 30 they came up with are strong reflection of the young talent we have here in Cornwall, coming from a wide crosssection of sectors.

There will be a special presentation to the winners next month, during Cornwall’s Festival of Business.

RHIANNA HINTON FALMOUTH AND EXETER STUDENTS’ UNION

As a communications professional, Rhianna Hinton understands how to plan and create campaigns that are eye-catching, relevant and effective. Her work at the Student Union is said to be actively improving student engagement. “Her ability to understand brand and marketing at such an early point in her career is impressive,” says her line manager. Among her achievements, Rhianna has taken ownership of the ‘Takeover Tuesday’ project – developing the strategy and approach to this feature on the Student Union’s Instagram.

CHRIS SMITH BULL & WOLF FILM CO

As the creative director of Bull & Wolf, Chris Smith has been instrumental in the business’ continued growth. Since joining full-time early in 2021, his diligent work has led to a number of major client accounts, including the National Institute of Health Research, a major Cornish food and drink brand, as well as helping to retain existing clients. Among his many achievements over the past year has been improving storyboarding and the pre-production process.

JASON RATCLIFFE STEREN SURVEYORS UK

Jason Ratcliffe launched Steren Surveyors in February 2021, initially focusing on residential surveys and valuations in the Truro area. Growth has been rapid. Within four months of trading, the business moved into larger premises on the Cornwall West Business Park in Scorrier, expanding its services across Cornwall, quickly followed by a new office in Exeter. Jason has also established a comprehensive park home survey service, which has proved so successful that it has led to the opening of a London office to launch the initiative nationwide.

JESSICA DAVIES BOCONNOC

Taken from her LinkedIn page, Jessica Davies’ mantra in business is “Purpose, Quality and Determination”. A highly-motivated individual, Jessica, who manages a housekeeping team of 16, is credited with increasing weddings and events bookings massively within the Boconnoc House and Estate business over the past year, and has been busily developing some new event concepts which are in the pipeline for 2023.

SOPHIE CHAPMAN STUDIO GORSE

Following a successful agency career, last year Sophie Chapman took the leap and set up her own interior design company - Studio Gorse. And there has been no looking back, with a number of contract wins from the likes of The Lost Gardens of Heligan, John’s Wines and Whistlefish, where she is executing a brand and consumer-focused interior roll-out across its stores. Sophie also finds time to be a visiting lecturer at Falmouth University, where she passes on her industry knowledge to the next generation of creatives in the School of Architecture, Design & Interiors.

MELANIE BAND N-CODERS

Melanie Band is described by her MD as “one of the most talented and driven individuals I’ve ever worked with” and is credited in “transforming” the culture of n-Coders and significantly improving the wellbeing of the team and overall performance of the company. Melanie is hugely passionate about technology, especially games and XR, which shines through in all n-Coders’ projects and plans.

She has represented n-Coders by speaking at events such as MIN2022, being chosen as part of Creative England’s Game Accelerator programme and joining Cornwall Games.

SOPHIA ROSE THE INVICTUS TRUST

Widely regarded by everyone who knows her as “the kindest person ever”, Sophia Rose is a director of two successful companies (Flying Start Nurseries and TLC Training) and a founding trustee of the charity, Invictus Trust. Her work at the nursery has seen her awarded the Cornwall Healthy Workplace Gold Award, while at TLC she has won over £400k of ESF funding to offer free training and consultation to the Cornish childcare sector. SOPHIE CHAPMAN STUDIO GORSE

JAKE KENDALL THE CORNISH LARDER

With no business experience, Jake Kendall started The Cornish Larder three years ago from his parents kitchen. Today, his range of preserves, sauces and relishes can be found in more than 100 shops and delis across the country and further afield. Last year he provided the G7 Summit delegates with The Cornish Larder’s Spiced Apple and St Ives cider chutney. The First Lady loved it so much she went and purchased more from a deli in St Ives!

CORIN MYNETT KEVRI

Corin Mynett is a co-founder of all-female led start-up, Kevri, which is working with UK universities to identify and capture ‘missing knowledge exchange activities’. Corin and her team founded their company while on Falmouth University’s Launchpad programme and while it has not all been plain sailing, Corin has shown resilience and maturity and is turning into an astute businesswoman. Corin is also a talented graphic designer, with an eye for detail and a passion for purpose driven design. She has developed the branding for Kevri.

KEELEY-ANN MCCABE CORNWALL MARINE NETWORK

Since joining Cornwall Marine Network straight from sixth form, Keeley-Ann McCabe has been promoted seven times in just eight years!

She is currently a contract and compliance manager, making her the youngest manager in CMN’s 20-year history. Credited with having a “fantastic ability to keep a cool head regardless of the challenges”, Keeley-Ann has become CMN’s ‘go to’ expert on Government funding rules. She has also recently started supporting bid-writing to help win further new business, which will support CMN’s transition to self-sustainability after the EU funding in Cornwall ends.

SAM NORTON PRIMA BAKERIES

Sam Norton has been part of the family business since the age of 17, working his way up from a part time entry data job to his current role as accounts manager, overseeing a team dealing with over 600 customers. Sam is also solely responsible for all legal requirements surrounding ingredient and allergen declarations and played a huge role in ensuring Prima Bakeries passed its first ever Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA) accreditation.

ELLEN O’ROURKE TOUCHBYTE

Ellen O’Rourke first joined Pool-based IT company Touchbyte in the summer of 2018 while studying journalism at Falmouth University, helping out on marketing and social media. Upon successful completion of her degree, she took a Masters in Entrepreneurship on the uni’s Launchpad programme, before joining TouchByte full time as head of marketing last year. Since then, she has set her up her own division of TouchByte – Byteside, which is responsible for all digital marketing and provides a similar service to other Cornish businesses.

BEN JOHNSON TFP HYDROGEN

Ben Johnson joined TFP from university in 2018, with a desire to return to Cornwall to work in an industry that supports his personal drivers to reduce the impact of climate change.

Since then, he has become a leader in developing advanced materials to support decarbonisation, leading innovation programmes in materials for green hydrogen production with customers in Europe and North America. And directly arising from Ben’s innovations, TFP is now selling products internationally which has led to growth for the company.

JESS RUDD CORNISH TEA & COFFEE

JESS RUDD CORNISH TEA & COFFEE

Jess Rudd has had an instant impact at Cornish Tea & Coffee. Within six months of joining in the newly-created position of head of marketing, Jess has flourished and pushed the business in new directions, working with key partners and looking at new channels. She has led the design and conception of five new products and is currently managing the development of four websites. “Jess challenges our thoughts and approach, bringing new fresh ideas to the business.”

ALICE MAFFEY OCEAN HOUSING

Alice Maffey is Ocean Housing’s youngest-ever development manager, a role she obtained aged just 24.

ALICE MAFFEY OCEAN HOUSING “An exceptional young person”, Alice manages Ocean Housing’s largest-ever regeneration scheme, in St Blazey, providing 60 new homes and commercial spaces having built strong community support and trust. In total, she manages projects worth £31 million which will provide 154 affordable homes for people in housing needs within Cornwall, and has secured over £8 million of central Government grants.

IZZY GALLOWAY TAKE POINT TRAINING

Izzy Galloway is operations manager at Take Point Training, a company which delivers leadership training shaped by military experience. And despite finding herself working in a sector primarily dominated by men, Izzy has built up her confidence, working alongside inspiring ex-military personnel who have challenged and guided her to be pushed outside of her comfort zone and excel in an agile workplace environment. Within six months of working for the company, her colleagues had such faith in her abilities that she was delivering leadership training courses to graduates; and she now delivers courses to experienced senior managers.

HEIDI THIEMANN TRURO & PENWITH COLLEGE

The space sector in Cornwall has huge potential and Heidi Thiemann is playing a key role in its future success. Currently leading the Cornwall Space and Aerospace Technology Training programme, based at Truro and

Penwith College, in the same year that rockets will launch from Cornwall, Heidi will be helping launch the space careers of up to ten local students who will get the opportunity to work directly in the space sector. Heidi previously developed and led SpaceCareers. uk, a careers resource for the space sector, and founded the Space Skills Alliance, a not-for-profit with the goal of tackling the space skills gap.

JORDAN COOK RESTORMEL KITCHEN

Following the Covid-enforced closure of where he worked as head chef in July 2020, Jordan Cook set about starting up a lockdown-friendly operation from home, producing restaurant quality food for home delivery. Then when an opportunity arose to move back into the former restaurant’s premises, he jumped at it despite the fact that all the old equipment had since been removed. But following a successful opening last summer, the business has gone from strength to strength, culminating in a Gold Award from the Taste of the West.

JAKE GREGORY PRIMROSE HERD

Described by Primrose Herd founder Sally Lugg as “probably the most hardworking under 30 I know”, butchery manager Jake Gregory has been with Primrose Herd for eight years. When the pandemic struck, hospitality lockdowns meant Primrose Herd lost a major part of its income overnight but Jake helped a switch to online sales which proved vital. Not only does he work at Primrose Herd, he also has a farm to run breeding Pedigree Simmental cattle and has just started a flock of Pedigree Suffolk sheep.

MEG SMITH RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT UK

Meg Smith, who combines her work as a marine advisor at Natural England with marine scientist at Research Development UK, has made a success of everything she has tried. Never one to stand still, she set up a cetacean acoustic monitoring project

BRANDON HARGRAVE KOALA KARLOUS

in collaboration with Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Chelonia Ltd and University Researchers. She also runs a RDUK project to remotely monitor water quality in real-time around local Marine Protected Areas. When not at work or running Falmouth Marine Conservation, Meg volunteers for Cornwall Wildlife Trust Shoresearch and Seasearch.

BRANDON HARGRAVE KOALA KARLOUS

Following the outbreak of the pandemic, musician/songwriter Brandon Hargrave converted his mobile recording studio into Cornwall’s first-ever fully powered coffee pop up, which drew national attention during BBC News’ coverage of the G7 summit last year. He then used the profits from this venture to open a premium coffee house/bagel bar in Falmouth. Brandon now has a team of 16 working across the Koala company. On the musical side, over the past two years, Brandon’s music has been streamed 10 million times on Spotify.

JOEL MATTHEWS CROWDFUNDER

For such a young professional, Joel Matthews has an “exceptional maturity” to deal with “impressive commercial challenges”, breaking new ground all the time. He has grown from accounts assistant to head of finance within 18 months, responsible for a growing team and has ownership of Crowdfunder’s data and insights function. Joel has been a key player in helping Crowdfunder to bring in over £250 million of revenue, enabling people to tackle society’s challenges and make a difference in their communities.

PHILLIP ANTHONY DAVID PAULL (CNC) ENGINEERING

Phillip Anthony has been with DP Engineering since leaving college seven years ago and has never looked back. Since starting out as a trainee wanting to be an engineer, he has worked his way up through the business in various roles and just over a year ago was asked to join the senior management team, being promoted to the position of sales and marketing director. Among his many achievements, he recently completed a rebrand to bring back the David Paull history to the business. MEGAN WHITE-JONES OPUS EDUCATION RECRUITMENT

JOE TURNBULL BULL & WOLF FILM CO

Joe Turnbull’s leadership of Bull & Wolf Film Co has led to the rapid growth of the company, which has more than doubled turnover in the past year and grown its team from two to five.

Joe is a staple of the Cornish business scene, regularly giving talks on how social video can support SMEs. He also has strong community credentials. As well as supporting the Government Kickstart scheme, Bull & Wolf is seeking Living Wage Foundation employer certification and is also looking to become a certified B-Corp by early 2023.

MEGAN WHITE-JONES OPUS EDUCATION RECRUITMENT

Within six months of joining Opus Education Recruitment as a trainee consultant, Megan White-Jones had been promoted to stakeholder engagement and brand executive. Having worked in education for over four years, she has a unique insight into the needs of schools and recently launched a variety of schemes to promote mental health and wellbeing both for staff and students and over the coming months plans to get involved with community groups and charities to ensure that Opus is not just any recruitment agency but a partner to support schools when they need it most.

JONNY BRIGHT MILLER COMMERCIAL

Jonny Bright is proud champion of promoting Cornwall as a serious place to do business and one of his passions is helping business people navigate the process of buying or renting commercial property to grow their business. A Cornish Ambassador, Jonny has swiftly progressed from a graduate surveyor to a commercial surveyor within the business transfer team and will later this year qualify as a chartered surveyor. JONNY BRIGHT MILLER COMMERCIAL

BELLA COLLINS FLEXI-HEX

BELLA COLLINS FLEXI-HEX

As head of marketing, Bella Collins has been a fundamental part of Flexi-Hex’s recent success. Having initially joined the business as marketing manager in September 2020, Bella has grown to become a pivitol part of the leadership team, playing a crucial role in growing brand awareness and marketing strategy, educating people on why Flexi-Hex is the viable option for sustainable, paperbased packaging. Away from work, Bella broke the Guinness Book of World Records as part of a team that has become the fastest all-female four to row 2,400 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean.

CHRIS KING THE GROWER

Chris King founded The Grower last year, with the aim of helping to meet net zero targets and providing high-quality UK sourced and grown trees. Currently producing over half a million plants on its farm on the north coast of Cornwall, this year The Grower will be producing over 1 million broadleaf trees from seed with plans in place to expand to over 5 million trees in the next 3-4 years, which will be for sale to the forestry, amenity and community markets.

NIK SAVORIC AIRIZE

Nik Savoric is an outstanding design professional with more than ten years of AR/VR experience. His contributions in the design sector, particularly in wellbeing technology, have been outstanding. Nik has helped many entrepreneurs in Cornwall with his experience in UX, graphics, and AR/VR design, which he continues to do so through his involvement on Falmouth University’s Launchpad programme. He designed a VR video game for reducing the stress level of corporate workers and is now developing a wellbeing technology platform – Airize, which helps people find activity partners, to help people lead an active lifestyle.

GEORGIA CUMMINGS SERVE

Georgia Cummins was all set for a job interview as event staffing manager with event management company Serve when the pandemic hit. With Serve’s business on hold, so was the interview, but Georgia persevered, kept in contact and when things started to open up again, she got the job. And she hit the ground running, swiftly being promoted into a newly-created marketing manager role. Since September she has implemented a raft of initiatives, including mailing, a new website design, a LinkedIn page, improved Instagram and Facebook.