Invest in Cornwall

Invest in Cornwall consists of two principal strands of activity, namely the marketing of Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly (C&IoS) as a business location of choice to attract new inward investment and high quality jobs and, equally as important and closely linked, the promotion of the Cornwall Brand to complement the overall C&IoS marketing effort by showcasing those Cornish businesses that support the proposition that businesses in Cornwall can operate and thrive in national and international markets.

The project will pursue a range of linked activities including: the sourcing of new inward investment activity (non-EU, EU and UK) ensuring that such investment is genuinely new in the sense of being new to the C&IoS programme area or a branch of a business established elsewhere in the EU (including the UK) in accordance with ERDF output criteria guidance; development and exploitation of relationships with UKTI nationally, in overseas posts and via their sector specialists; development of tailored and persuasive business propositions for potential investors; an aftercare programme in support of Cornwall’s existing cadre of overseas-owned SME businesses to facilitate their expansion and jobs growth; pro-active sourcing of inward investment to plug gaps in the local supply chain of key sectors; alignment with and provision of marketing and PR support to key sector activity via a new outward-facing and comprehensive Cornwall Marketing hub; fulfilment of the C&IoS LEP-led Cornwall Brand action plan.

This activity will be undertaken by a professional team who will, working with local stakeholders and the national UKTI team, promote the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly as a modern, connected and viable location for 21st century businesses, focusing in particular (but not exclusively) on those Smart Specialisation sectors where we have a world class offering, namely: aerospace and associated advanced engineering, supported by the existence and special status of Newquay Aerohub as an enterprise zone; marine renewables industry including Wave Hub, FabTest and the broad range of specialist businesses operating in the sector; the market-leading superfast broadband infrastructure in terms of speed and penetration; the innovation centres offering high quality touchdown space.

The service will also be reactive to enquiries from businesses from other sectors which offer growth potential.

Key to the outbound messaging will be the continued positioning of Cornwall and the Cornwall Brand as one that is synonymous with quality and innovation so that, over time, the perception of Cornwall as an economy consisting only of tourism, mining and fishing businesses can be overturned.

The overall marketing effort, be it via placement of articles in appropriate media, via the Invest in Cornwall  website or highly focused social media activity, will be supplemented by selective event attendance (national and international), taking leading Cornish businesses as ambassadors.

The ambition of the project is to secure 36 new investments creating 225 high quality jobs and, over the period of this investment, to begin to determine a recognition of Cornwall as a modern and connected business location offering a genuine alternative to other more traditional city-based business centres.

This project is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.