Last week CNBC published an article and video footage about ‘How Cornwall is preparing for life outside of the EU’- you can have a read (or a watch) here.
Brexit: the big elephant in the room. Many of us are tired of reading speculation about what may, or may not happen when we leave the European Union. The uncertainty about what the future could look like excites and frightens in equal measure. In particular, this can be said for possible inward investors, looking to move their business to a region like Cornwall, which historically has been supported by European Union funding to help boost the local economy. However, harnessing the potential for success, as well as planning on how to mitigate possible failure is what makes the next-gen businesses today so interesting.
Following our partnership with JCDecaux where billboards across London are showing the opportunities Cornwall has to offer next generation businesses, potential investors and media alike have been in touch to understand more.
This response is exactly the result we were hoping for. We wanted people to sit up and take notice of the region. Those people who dream of running their own businesses but have the misconception they need to be in a city like London to do it and have scale. Or perhaps those who know deep-down are in a job they don’t love, but don’t realise that Cornwall could offer the career satisfaction they crave.
With an awareness campaign comes questions! We are responding to these enquiries, and one of the results is that this media attention demonstrates our eagerness, as a region, to not only exist, but to thrive beyond Brexit.
Historically, we have received significant funding from the EU. It’s true we don’t yet know what we can expect in the future in terms of support, however we have now been preparing for an exit from the EU for eighteen months and since many of the companies in this region are young, they’re adaptable and quick to respond to changing markets. We even have the UK’s #1 crowdfunding platform based in Cornwall and innovative incubation and acceleration programmes such as Launchpad, located at Falmouth University, set up to support new businesses and get them off the ground.
Rather than look back on what we had, we made a conscious decision to look ahead at how we can work to protect the region and build on the momentum we have worked so hard to be able to indulge. Last week we announced an exciting range of development investment propositions, ranging from investment in housing, workspace and infrastructure, backed by a £600 million investment fund from Cornwall Council.
Earlier this month, The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) published a Space Action Plan which aims at creating 1,000 space technology jobs by 2025 and doubling that by 2030. And by the end of this month, we are hoping that the outcome of a funding bid to the UK Space Agency for a UK spaceport to be built at Cornwall Airport Newquay will be known – set to create an estimated 480 new jobs and £25 million a year for the local economy.
We’re proud to live and work in Cornwall. One of the best known and most visited UK regions, promoting a strong economic performance, growing at four percent in 2016 and significantly outperforming the UK average.
We’re working hard to provide the same opportunities we have always been able to for potential inward investors and have a fantastic team in place to be able to do this, so if you’re considering Cornwall for business, please get in touch with the team and we can have an honest conversation about the region, the opportunities it allows and the potential for your business.
Find out how Cornwall Trade and Investment can help your business.
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Whether you’re looking to locate in Cornwall, or to start exporting beyond its borders, get in touch with our friendly team to talk through your needs.
