12 minute read
BUSINESS NEWS
HELSTON CHAMBER FORMED
A new chamber of commerce and industry is being formed in Helston.
Local business owner and town councillor Gareth Looker believes that businesses in the area need to have their voices heard in the future development of the town and believes a chamber of commerce is the ideal vehicle to communicate their hopes and aspirations.
He said: “It’s been several years since Helston last had a forum where local businesses could compare notes on what is affecting them. The new chamber of commerce will help businesses work together to achieve success for the good of themselves and the town.
“Having spoken with several business owners and managers in Helston I believe the time is right to establish a new chamber of commerce that can help make our business community stronger.”
Cornwall’s bid to be the UK’s City of Culture 2025 has moved a step closer after being longlisted with seven other parts of the UK.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which runs the fouryearly competition, confirmed last month that Cornwall had made the longlist from an initial 20 expressions of interest from around the UK.
The other cities/regions include the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Bradford, County Durham, Derby, Southampton, Stirling and Wrexham County Borough.
DCMS will now award Cornwall a grant of £40k to support a full application before a final shortlist is announced in early 2022, with the winner expected to be revealed in May.
Announcing that Cornwall had made the longlist, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “Culture is for everyone, regardless of their background and I’m delighted that the bids from our eight longlisted places will help areas across the UK level up by increasing access to culture. I wish all our successful bids luck in the next phase of the competition. Cornwall’s bid showed huge promise and I look forward to seeing what they have in store.”
FULL MARKS FOR MISH
A Cornish business has made history by being the first retailer ever to be awarded full marks in every category of the Drapers award for Best Customer Experience. This makes Wadebridge-based lingerie retailer Mish “the best customer experience” across all retail fashion outlets in the UK and Ireland. The awards celebrate the achievements of the very best independent fashion retailers from across the UK and Ireland and the bestselling brands that make them so successful.
Founder of Mish, Michèle Poynter, said: “We are thrilled to receive this prestigious award and to be told that we received 100% in every judging category is just such an incredible achievement.”
Glenn Caplin-Grey, chief executive of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, which is spearheading Cornwall’s bid, added: “This is fantastic news and cements Cornwall’s position among the top cultural and creative regions of the UK. We’ve already shown we can stage worldclass events from the G7 Summit in June to the recent Tour of Britain race, and City of Culture status would put a national and international spotlight on Cornwall’s culture and creativity for a whole year.
“Ours is very much a collaborative bid, working hand in hand with the creative sector, and we look forward to developing our proposals in the coming weeks.”
Cornwall’s bid has the themes of ‘people, place and planet’, with the environment and the transition to a low carbon economy and society at its heart. The bid explores how culture can foster conversations and community responses to some of the biggest challenges facing the world today, including climate change. Bidding for the City of Culture title has been shown to have a very positive impact on a place, with previously longlisted locations bringing together enduring partnerships to share a vision for an area and attract investment.
And the benefits of winning the title are significant, showcasing a location to the country and the world in a year-long celebration of culture. Coventry, which is UK City of Culture 2021, has attracted over £100 million in capital investment to support cultural projects, while Hull saw more than 5.3 million visits in 2017.
CORNWALL ON CITY OF CULTURE LONGLIST
Cornwall has a new hub for growing businesses following the opening of Cornwall Council’s latest workspace development project in Pool.
The Pool Innovation Centre 2 – Grow On Space project, known as Chi Tevyans “House of Growth”, is located opposite the original Pool Innovation Centre (PIC) and offers 12 high quality office suites for growing or relocating small and medium sized businesses.
The building, which was safely completed despite the challenges of the pandemic, is part of the Council’s plans to support business development and economic growth and is expected to create 40 new jobs and contribute £1.5 million to the local economy.
PIC 2OPENS
It was officially opened by Councillor Linda Taylor, Leader of Cornwall Council.
Cllr Taylor said: “This impressive new development is proof of the Council’s determination to invest in innovative projects that encourage and support business. These new workspaces will support larger, growing businesses that will in turn create skilled and well-paid jobs for our residents. Our economy is not just about tourism and we are leading the way in developing world class work spaces, support and facilities to help businesses grow.”
Redruth Revival CIC has been awarded a National Lottery Heritage Fund development grant to progress plans for the historic Buttermarket. The community interest company will received £54,952 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and £59,850 from the Architectural Heritage Fund to redevelop the Buttermarket complex of historic buildings in Redruth. The project will conserve the Grade II Listed buildings, improve physical accessibility throughout and create a food hall around which will be clustered units for local food providers, as well as bookable meeting and hot-desking
BUTTERMARKETFUNDING facilities, improved lettable workspaces for local businesses and enhancing the courtyard to support a year-round festival, markets and events programme. Redruth Revival CIC was formed in 2014 by a group of local businesspeople who recognised the national failure of high streets and wanted to create a better town centre offer in Redruth. The dilapidated Buttermarket complex was identified as a key site with great potential to help achieve this vision. By 2017, Redruth Revival had raised the funds to purchase the site; the units quickly attracted tenants and regular market days were re-established.
The Cornwall Business Fair is set to return next year, with a new date and new venue.
With a new home at Newquay Sports Centre with plentiful parking and a new spring date (March 9), the 2022 edition of the Cornwall Chamber-organised event has been reinvigorated following a year’s hiatus and a virtual format in 2020.
The event, which will be centrepiece of the Cornwall Festival of Business, will bring together at least 80 stand holders and attract over 1,250 people from all sectors of Cornwall’s business community.
Chamber CEO Kim Conchie said: “The Cornwall Business Fair is a celebration of Cornwall’s pioneering industry, innovation and infrastructure. It has been a key event in Cornwall’s business calendar for more than a decade and after such an unsettled time, we are looking forward to the 2022 fair more than ever.”
BUSINESS FAIR SPRINGS BACK
Stands at the Cornwall Business Fair start from £650. To find out more and to secure a spot, contact naomi@cornwallchamber.co.uk
NEWS IN BRIEF
Rewind Radio, Cornwall’s newest radio station, officially launched on DAB last month. Programming director Jamie Reed said he wanted the new radio station to be “unashamedly Cornish”. “We have been blown away by the support from local businesses and people living in our communities and we look forward to offering something different to the existing stations.”
Feritech Global has been shortlisted for the ‘International Success’ award in the Tech South West Awards 2021. 95% of Feritech’s business is with clients overseas. It has built its international reputation by carrying out challenging marine geotechnical surveys, using equipment designed, built and operated by its own team. It sells and rents equipment for subsea geotechnical surveying and also carries out operational contracts across the world. Winners will be announced later this month.
The Natural Cornish Pet Shop in Hayle was crowned UK Pet Retailer of the Year, at the PetQuip Awards.
The leader of Cornwall Council has welcomed news that outline planning permission has been granted to regenerate the run-down Pydar area of Truro, calling it “a vision that personifies our aims”. Council leader, Linda Taylor, said: “We have said that we want Cornwall to be a place where our residents can start well, live well and age well and these plans tick all of those boxes.”
The Bailey Partnership, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, was named Winner of Winners at the Constructing Excellence Awards South West. The company, which has six offices stretching from St Austell to London, is behind several of the Cornwall’s most notable construction projects, including Aerohub Enterprise Zone at Newquay Airport, Treliske Innovation Centre and the conversion of York House in Penzance.
One of Cornwall’s most highly anticipated food and farming events is back on the calendar for 2021. The Cornish Winter Fair, held at the Royal Cornwall Events Centre in Wadebridge, is returning to its annual slot (Saturday, November 20), having last been held in 2019.
LAW FIRMS RECOGNISED IN LEGAL 500
Cornish law firms have been recognised for their expertise in the latest edition of the Legal 500 industry guide
Local law firm Stephens Scown LLP remains one of the region’s top firms of solicitors specialising in commercial litigation, employment, family and corporate law.
In addition to retaining the highest ranking in four sections of the guide, Stephens Scown has ranked in a total of 18 sections based on the feedback of clients and peers. On top of this, 13 of the firm’s lawyers are also singled out for individual praise, with two – Catherine Matthews and Laurie Trounce - being included for the first time.
The Legal 500 recommends Coodes for advice on agriculture and estates, clinical negligence, personal injury and
SPACEPORT AT MUSEUM
Spaceport Cornwall has launched a new exhibition at the Royal Cornwall Museum.
The ‘Cornwall Space: from Steam to Satellites’ exhibit follows on from the Story of a Satellite showcase at Cornwall Airport Newquay this summer.
It tells the story of Cornwall’s rich pioneering history and promising future in the space industry. payload fairing, a model OneWeb Satellite, a model of Sierra Space’s DreamChaser ‘space plane’, and a model of Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl.
Head of Spaceport Cornwall, Melissa Thorpe, said: “We could not have been more pleased to open our hangar through the summer and truly begin to engage with the public at our first exhibition. This second exhibit will be a chance to further that excitement and education.”
contentious trusts and probate.
Describing Coodes as the “firm of choice for a variety of high-profile farming families in Devon and Cornwall,” the directory highlights the firm’s expertise in farm sales, disputes, partnerships, wills and estate planning. Partner and rural services team leader Pam Johns is described as “a very personable solicitor” who is “knowledgeable in her field of agricultural property law”, while partners Kirsty Davey and Lisa Robinson are also highlighted.
Truro-based Paddle & Cocks, which only set up three years ago, is also recognised for its expertise in commercial litigation describing the team as “highly competent, proactive and insightful”. Joint managing partner and head of commercial litigation, Verona Cocks, is named as a key contact and described as “Tenacious”.
Cocks said: “It really is a tremendous achievement for the firm as a whole to be recognised and recommended in the Legal 500. It reflects the calibre of our people, whether or not they have been individually named, and the quality of work we have been able to attract since opening our doors.”
EDEN ON WORLD STAGE
A new exhibition designed by the Eden Project has opened as part of Expo 2020 Dubai.
Terra, The Sustainability Pavilion, one of the centrepieces of what is billed as the “World’s Greatest Show”, is the first Eden-designed experience to open to the public outside the project’s home in Cornwall. It is the first open example of Eden’s global ambition to create projects on every habitable continent.
The Eden Project International team has co-led the landscape design and visitor experience for the pavilion, alongside its partners on the development Grimshaw, Thinc Design and the Expo 2020 Dubai team.
The pavilion will showcase the Eden ethos to an estimated 25 million visitors during the Expo’s 182-day duration, delayed by a year because of the global pandemic.
It is the first Eden Project-designed content outside Cornwall to open to the public and is at the vanguard of an Eden Project international programme that will see new Edens built in Morecambe in Lancashire, China, Scotland, Australia, Northern Ireland and New Zealand among others.
Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project, said: “Eden is immensely proud to have been offered the opportunity to create marvellous things inside Terra with the genius designer Tom Hennes of Thinc Design. We knew it would have to be brave and startling to capture the imagination of people from all over the world coming to be inspired and entertained.
“The Expo team deserve huge credit for encouraging the creatives to go for their shots, raising emotionally interesting and challenging questions and ultimately asking all of us: how would we like to be remembered one hundred years from now?
“In our view, this is the world’s first rock’n’roll science centre. Congratulations to all. We loved working on it and we look forward to this being just the start of something very special indeed.”
Cornwall Innovation Centres - supporting early-stage innovative businesses and helping companies to grow. Offering flexible, managed and modern workspace combined with access to business support and academic research.
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Penryn, Pool & Truro • On-site parking • Flexible contract terms
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