INCOMING
THE CONVERSATION
STEVE TRETHOWAN Flexi-Hex
Both myself and my wife, Tara, were furloughed, 12 weeks of DIY, then I had risk of redundancy. My wife’s Bridal Shop closed and there was a genuine fear of pending doom, dependents, financial crisis, mortgages… that most of us felt in some shape or another. However, coming out of lockdown led to a new job for me, I’m now working for an amazing business at Flexi-Hex. Mrs T and the Bridal Studio are open again and flying (just had her busiest month ever as brides queue for appointments) and strangely through a very worrying period the Trethowans have come out stronger and with the added bonus of five new lockdown Collie puppies!
JAMES HOPSON Captain Satsuma
As a new children’s author looking to launch my first ever book at Easter, like many others my world was turned upside down by Covid-19. My first thoughts and concerns were for family and those directly affected by this terrible disease. Today nothing has changed. I still worry and wonder what might happen in the future. I share the grief for those who have suffered and lost loved ones, while being full of admiration for the bravery and unselfish acts of people on the front line, who battle to protect us all. I decided that I didn’t want to be defeated by coronavirus, and rather than delay the printing and publishing of my book that I would push ahead. Thanks to the brilliant
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work of my illustrator, Russell Becker of Rocket Pixels, Roche in Cornwall and the efforts of St Austall Printing Company I achieved my goal. On May 1, Captain Satsuma Has Landed officially became available for sale. I might have lost all of my opportunities to visit schools, or attend shows, but this is a small price to pay against the plight of others. Nearly three years ago I created Captain Satsuma whilst spending some time with my granddaughter. I promised her that one day she would see him in a storybook. I have a photo of her receiving the first copy of the book. The delight on her face is something that will live for me forever. There could never be a greater achievement than this for me, whatever happens in the future.
JASON MITCHELL PKF Francis Clark
Since making the rapid transition to working from home at the start of lockdown, our people have gone above and beyond in assisting our clients and the wider Cornish business community, particularly to access the various Government support measures. It has been demanding but incredibly rewarding at the same time, knowing you have made a real difference as a trusted advisor to those who need your support in challenging times. On a more personal level, I also wanted to give something back to the community. So as lockdown restrictions were eased, my colleague Richard Wadman and I did a socially distanced 12-hour night run on the Cornish coast to raise funds for NHS Charities Together. We covered 40 miles
CLAUDIA MONTANO
Thosemomentsofmine.co.uk I initially work freelance in digital marketing, as an Instagram specialist and travel content creator. On one side I work with an array of influencers and small brands to help them improve their Instagram presence and organic reach, and on the other I work with a travel and tourism boards (and the odd brand) to create beautiful photo content for them. Everything has a central focus around social media, and everything is done by me with my own two hands. When the pandemic and lockdown hit, all of my clients cancelled in the fear that they all may lose work/jobs/income - and so I lost all of my clients in one fell swoop. Travel of course was closed off around the world and unsafe, and so I couldn’t create content for my usual travel focused clients either, not even from my doorstep. After an initial slump and day to day devotion to Netflix box sets, I decided to put my camera and creativity skills to good use and started sharing some ‘behind the scenes’ and ‘how to’ product photography videos to TikTok. Some of these really took off, one now with over a million views. From there I reached out to small brands, started to revamp my product photography portfolio, created a whole new second website (with blog) and Instagram account to feature it... and since then I’ve been creating new product photography each week!
SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES THROUGH THE PANDEMIC When the country entered lockdown, Cornwall Council’s Business Regulatory Support (BRS) team understood the impact this would have on local businesses. The BRS team wanted to ensure that the most up to date regulatory advice and legislation was easily available to the business community. The officers produced guidance covering:
6 | BUSINESS CORNWALL
and raised £1,925 with a real sense of pride. The level of generosity was overwhelming. In times like these you get to see the best in people as they pull together, and this is the real sense of satisfaction.
• Food delivery • Fire safety • Trading standards advice covering refunds and cancellations • A comprehensive Back in Business Guide These are all available to the business community free of charge via the BRS website.
