Best of times for business in Cornwall by Kim Conchie

What a couple of sensational weeks for Cornwall! Now is surely the moment where Cornwall’s next era of prosperity begins. A30 across Bodmin Moor open on 14 July; go ahead given on A30 Carland to Chiverton section; new Hitachi trains unveiled; the holiday season approaches with record numbers expected here and new outbound flights from Newquay for those of us who want a break to Faro, Alicante, Frankfurt, Dublin and more; the go ahead for geothermal drilling to commence at United Downs (which I think could herald the new golden era for Cornwall – we should aim to be self-sufficient in energy production); Falmouth  and Exeter Universities achieving Gold in the national Teaching Excellence Framework; and an international conference on the opportunities that the Health-tech industry holds for Cornwall held in Truro attracting investors and bio-tech entrepreneurs from Singapore, China, Australia and multi-national businesses.
 
Health-tech? What’s that then? The health-tech and bio-tech industries are typically newish small nimble businesses sometimes in conjunction with universities developing new drugs, devices, methodology, apps, procedures and future magic to ease the pressure on our traditional health and social care services as we all live longer, expect better care, as mental health problems increase and budgets are slashed. These are ideal businesses to establish, grow and innovate in Cornwall. We have a long track record of caring about our people, wanting to work and live in our wonderful and health-giving environment, we have well-trained and motivated people and, in the age of digitally-enabled businesses, these service-providing or small gadget manufacturing companies are ideal to create well-paid jobs in the best place in the world.
 
Health-tech is one of the strategic clusters that we want to develop here. The LEP identified six clusters as sectors where Cornwall could play a role in a global economy. And we think they all sit comfortably in the setting of Cornwall. As well as health-tech the others are creative, aerospace, marine-tech, renewables and agri-tech. All play to our abilities, our passion and our vision and will create a brain gain, good jobs and put Cornwall on the map as a place where good things happen in work and life. They complement perfectly our ‘bedrock’ industries of hospitality, agriculture (including our excellent food and drink), fishing, mining and boat​building. What a wonderful place to live and work! Let us know your thoughts and have a good summer.