11 minute read
BUSINESS NEWS
NEW VENTURE IS SPLICE OF LIFE
A family venture which breathes new life into old fishing gear is celebrating overwhelming support from the county’s business sector.
Cornish Spliced, which makes a range of products including dog leads and toys, mats, bowls, keyring and floating fobs from repurposed fishing ropes and ghost gear, is now working with 16 wholesalers from across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly within just a few months of launching.
15-year-old Beth Perkin, who started Cornish Spliced last October with her Grandad, said:
“When I had the idea for my grandad to make me a dog lead from his old fishing rope, using his splicing skills, I thought I might be able to sell a few leads to friends to make some pocket money. I never imaged that nine months later the whole family would be splicing and making all kinds of goodies from rope, supplying 16 businesses around the county.”
Beth makes the products with her mum Rachel and grandad Frank Plummer – a retired St Ives fisherman, who is passing on his traditional fishing skill of splicing to his family, who are all getting involved to support the new family venture, including Beth’s aunty Helen and little cousin Ailla.
A&P COLLABORATION
wind by 2030 in the British Energy Security Strategy.
A&P Falmouth has announced details of a new collaboration with specialist wind developer Morwind to explore the potential local opportunities and benefits that can arise from the development of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
The Crown Estate has announced that plans that competition for the for floating wind projects will begin in 2023. In April the Government outlined its ambition for 5GW of floating A&P Falmouth and Morwind will use their combined knowledge to explore the nature and scale of local opportunities associated with future floating offshore wind development.
Port development director, Drystan Jones, said: “Floating offshore wind is fast transitioning from concept to reality and A&P is delighted to be collaborating with Morwind to explore opportunities in the Celtic Sea.”
VITAL ROLE IN MINERALS STRATEGY
Cornwall’s vital role in supplying minerals like lithium and tin to the UK’s economy has been highlighted in the Government’s firstever Critical Minerals Strategy.
Published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, it sets out how critical minerals will become increasingly important to bolstering energy security and UK industry.
Cornwall, which has significant deposits of lithium and tin, is singled out for its mineral wealth and the ‘world renowned’ Camborne School of Mines for training generations of mining engineers and geologists around the world.
The Critical Minerals Strategy highlights that lithium, cobalt and graphite are needed to make batteries for electric cars; silicon and tin for electronics; and rare earth elements for electric cars and wind turbines. By 2040, the world is expected to need four times as many critical minerals for clean energy technologies as it does today.
CORNISH LITHIUM’S MIKE ROUND (LEFT) WITH STEVE JERMY
The strategy has been welcomed by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which has invested £2.9 million from the Government’s Getting Building Fund in a £4 million pilot lithium extraction plant near Redruth. The project has been built by Cornish Lithium to demonstrate that lithium can be recovered from geothermal waters.
LEP board member and renewables lead, Steve Jermy, said: “We’ve got a wonderful mining heritage in Cornwall and some of the resources here, particularly lithium, are world-class. If we can invest early and get it running early, it’s going to be an industry of national significance.”
ADVERTORIAL REGISTER YOUR TRADE MARK… AND THEN KEEP AN EYE ON IT!
By Frederick Noble, British and European Patent Attorney at Albright IP.
News earlier this year (reported worldwide!) of the lawyers’ letter received by the Star Inn at Vogue unsurprisingly caught our eye. After landlords Mark and Rachel Graham incorporated their established business as a limited company, Condé Nast, publishers of
PHOTOGRAPHY: GIOVANNI EMILIO GALANELLO COURTESY OF ATELIER BRUCKNER
Clayworks has created and provided a wide range of interior wall finishes for The Museum of the Future in Dubai.
The museum has been dubbed “the most beautiful building in the world” by the emirate’s ruler and UAE vice president Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Designed to be “an architectural and cultural icon”, the seven-storey building contains a combination of exhibits dedicated to the future and workshops for testing and developing emerging technology.
CORNISH STYLE IN DUBAI
“Having had the opportunity to bring clay into the luxury realm has been an empowering creative challenge for us,” said Clayworks founder Adam Weismann.
“Earthen building materials can be a vital tool in tackling the big challenges of our time and it is fantastic news for us, for natural building materials and for Cornwall that clay plasters have been used in the most futuristic building in the world.”
SEASALT AND SEAGRASS
A new project to restore Cornwall’s carboncapturing seagrass meadows has been launched.
Funded by clothing brand Seasalt Cornwall and implemented by Cornwall Wildlife Trust, the ‘Seeding Change Together’ project aims to restore intertidal seagrass found in the Fal Estuary.
Seagrass plays a critical role in absorbing and storing the world’s coastal blue carbon. Using technology never previously trialled in Cornwall before, marine experts will identify and test restoration methods that can be scaled up in the fight against climate change.
The three-year project, based at Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Fal Ruan nature reserve, will begin with an important research and development phase. The trust will conduct on-site and aerial surveys, as well as water quality tests, to better understand the environmental conditions affecting the seagrass beds. Thousands of seeds will then be collected and planted by volunteers.
Marine conservation officer Matt Slater said: “We want to see seagrass habitats in Cornwall restored towards their historical levels and for seagrass to be present in all locations that could support it. This partnership with Seasalt will allow us to make headway towards that goal.”
UNDERWATER SEAGRASS MEADOW OFF THE COAST OF ST MAWES. PHOTO: MATT SLATER & CORNWALL WILDLIFE TRUST
Vogue magazine, wrote to say that use of the word “Vogue” as part of the company name “might cause problems”.
It’s not the first time a letter defending a trade mark has hit the news for being a little heavy-handed. In this case at least the publishers have apologised and admitted that “further research” should have been done before firing off the letter. The swift correction seems to have done the trick, and the mistake apparently hasn’t caused any serious hard feelings.
The publishers of Vogue very sensibly have trade mark registrations protecting their valuable brand. Your business may well have done the same. But do you have a watching service to monitor for potential conflicting marks or business names which come into use? Ongoing watching for conflicting trade mark registrations, company name registrations, and other uses of your brand is a vital part of protecting the value and uniqueness in your name. Nowadays, technology makes effective automatic watching affordable for businesses of all sizes – and this really is something that everyone should have in place. As the Vogue story demonstrates though, you do need the human touch as well – a real person to check the notices from the computer-based watch and to decide what (if anything!) needs to be done with them. At Albright IP we can provide both of these essentials – computer-based watching, and a team of attorneys who promise to check carefully before sending letters. So, if you want to discuss protection of your brand, please get in touch.
HIGHEST ACCOLADE FOR STEVE ELLIS
Leader of St Petrocs for 20 years, Steve Ellis has been awarded the Trelawny Plate, the prestigious Cornish award, at a special service held near the home of Trelawny’s living descendants in Pelynt.
The plate, awarded biennially, is presented to the person who has “contributed most to the spirit of Cornwall”. Unique to Cornwall, the Trelawny Plate is chosen by a committee of senior Cornish figures led by Colonel Bolitho, Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall as a mark of significant recognition in the county.
Ellis has been chosen to receive the award following 20 years of outstanding leadership of St Petrocs, working tirelessly to support some of the most vulnerable people in Cornwall. He has recently stepped down from the chief executive role, which he has held since 2002, and continues his involvement with St Petrocs as vice president.
The Lord-Lieutenant’s office commented: “His exceptional work, his campaigning and his compassion for people facing great difficulty, single him out as a remarkable community leader, fully deserving the accolade of holder of the Trelawny Plate.”
Albright IP, Pool Innovation Centre, Redruth, Cornwall TR15 3PL fnoble@albright-ip.co.uk +44 (0)1209 316161
SWIG Finance’s has published its annual Social Impact Report for 2021/22, shining a light on how its finance is being used as a force for good across the south west.
SWIG’S IMPACT
Key findings from SWIG’s latest impact report:
During the 2021/22 financial year, SWIG Finance lent more than £10.8 million to SMEs and start-ups across the region and beyond, making this another record year of lending.
Even though many SMEs have continued to battle the multiple challenges brought about by the pandemic, global conflict and inflation, SWIG Finance says it has doubled down on its efforts to reach target customers and reports “much optimism” among the business community, with a strong demand for growth capital.
SWIG Finance’s chairperson, Christine Allision, said: “It is a pleasure to be associated with SWIG’s 2021/22 Social Impact Report, which tells an upbeat story of an organisation continuing to grow and expand its support to small businesses throughout the south west.
“In particular, it demonstrates the importance of diversity in the provision of business finance, and the unique contribution that bespoke Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) make.”
• Record lending of £10.8m to 502 Start-
Ups and SMEs
• Over 1,000 jobs created or safeguarded
• 25% of lending to businesses in the most deprived areas of the south west.
• 43% of lending to female-led businesses, up 10% from the previous year.
• 15% of lending to businesses led by ethnic minorities, up 2% from the previous year.
• Over 30% of businesses supported during 2021/22 were actively working to improve the wellbeing of people within their communities.
• Up to 34% of businesses supported have plans in place to support sustainable consumption and production.
• A combined 27% of businesses were actively working to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of life on land and below water.
FERITECH SECURES £1M CIOSIF LOAN
A Cornish advanced engineering company that specialises in supplying solutions for subsea and harsh environment applications has secured a £1 million growth loan from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF).
Falmouth-based Feritech Global, which was recently named Exporter of the Year at the Cornwall Business Awards, designs and manufactures a market-leading range of marine geotechnical equipment for customers across the world. stock of technical equipment it holds, which is available to customers for lease and hire. This will enable the company to meet demand which has increased significantly.
This upturn in business has been boosted by the launch of a new Feritech Innovation Centre in April. This new facility offers a full range of services including product design, fabrication, machining, electronics, electrics, embedded software, hydraulics and 3D printing services.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Accountancy firm Bishop Fleming has been ranked 14th in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list for 2022, which seeks to showcase the very best apprenticeship programmes over the previous 12 months.
Truro-based financial planner Watson French has joined the Cornwall Community Foundation (CCF) Business Club. Since establishing 14 years ago, the CCF Business Club has invested over £390k into communities in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, awarding over 200 grants.
China Fleet in Saltash has invested over £100k installing a 165kWp array of solar panels, to help in its quest to become carbon neutral within the next ten years. It will save 95,000kg of carbon per year and will provide 16% of the club’s energy requirements.
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has announced ShelterBox and Cool Earth as its new charity partners, following an employee vote. As part of a three-year commitment, LSM will be supporting each of the global Cornwall-based charities with a corporate donation of £50k per year. LSM will also be holding a variety of engagement activities to further support and promote the charities.
Treveth has completed on its first commercial real estate transaction as it focuses on growing its commercial activity alongside the delivery of more than 300 new homes currently on site across Cornwall. The portfolio of commercial properties includes 8,680m2 (93,432 sq ft) of assets in Bodmin, Falmouth, Pool and Helston, all of which were previously owned by Cornwall Council.
Wadebridge manufacturer Piran Advanced Composites has been awarded a £79k grant from the BIG Productivity fund. The cash injection has gone towards a new piece of machinery which can create master patterns to make moulds for aircraft parts.
A mining consultancy has launched a new website to coincide with a brand refresh. Previously known as Cornwall Consultants, the new website for Cornwall Mining Consultants includes an improved version of its MineScanner tool which provides an instant answer as to whether a specific property requires a Mining Search.
BE RECOGNISED AS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO WORK IN CORNWALL
Business Cornwall is on the hunt for the best companies to work for by launching a survey and recognition programme for 2023. Does your organisation have what it takes to be honoured in the first annual ‘BC Best Places to Work’ listing? To register your company or to find out more visit:
