Business Cornwall

A traditional North and South divide is expected in many walks of life. However research from Asset Based Lender Venture Finance reveals there may be another kind of split when it comes to receiving good customer service.

Despite the credit crunch the majority of West Country residents are not worried about cutting the cost of their holidays according to an independent study by YouGov.

When ITV announced its intention to merge its Bristol and West Country news services, Sarah decided the time had come for a change and approached Ashley PR, having appreciated their work from ‘the other side’ for over ten years.

A familiar challenge the report highlights is the high level of self employment in Cornwall (17.1%), which it says may be driven partly by a lack of large scale employment opportunities outside of the tourism sector, which is largely made up of small businesses. Sub-regionally, Plymouth had the lowest levels of self-employment (9.1%).

Carrick Housing commissioned Barncroft Design Solutions of Saltash to create and implement a new interior design for the communal lounge at one of its housing complexes.

Regional Rise in Appointments is 4th Highest in the UK, as Credit Crunch Starts to Bite. Latest analysis of administration and receivership figures by Deloitte, the leading business advisory firm, shows that insolvencies in the South West are up by 26 per cent for the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period last year.

I work for a large high street bank and am fed up with one of my colleagues who just does not pull their weight, cuts corners, calls in sick, lots of personal calls in work time etc. I end up covering for them. I don’t like the idea of going behind their back and reporting them, what should I do?

Bodmin-based PFA Research has recorded an increase in turnover of 15 per cent from January to December 2007.

The Eden Project was today named among the top fifty of the Great Place to Work® Institute UK’s annual rankings of the UK’s Best Workplaces. The company featured prominently in the list of the top fifty best companies, which was topped this year by Google.

The June issue of Business Cornwall magazine, out next week, features an in depth and exclusive interview with Joe Keohane, director of the Good Pub Guide’s Brewery of the Year 2008, Sharp’s. Here's a quick preview of what to expect...

A Cornish brewery is preparing to serve up to 50,000 pints at a two-day mammoth Cornish musical event after winning the biggest contract of its kind in its history. Truro-based Skinners Brewery is the local firm chosen to supply ale and cider for Jack Johnson’s headline gig at the stunning Watergate Bay location on July 5 and 6, which is expected to attract around 20,000 people and is part of a nationwide tour.

Administrators from the leading business rescue, recovery and restructuring specialist, Begbies Traynor, have been appointed to manage the affairs of Sunnyside Holiday Park Ltd and have announced that its site at Quintrell Downs, near Newquay is to be sold.

Latest announcements that the number of home sales has plummeted do not just spell the closure of estate agency offices across the South West, warns one of the region’s leading business recovery experts.

Having contributed strongly to an estimated £110 million increase in the value of the South West economy during 2007, Business Link in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon and Somerset is poised to do even more in 2008 and beyond to help the region’s small businesses face up to potentially turbulent conditions.

One of Cornwall’s brightest young businesses has relocated to Brunel Business Park in St Austell. Business promotions company Fluid Branding, which was shortlisted for Best New Business In Cornwall at this year’s Cornwall Business Awards, has just moved to St Austell following a period of rapid growth.

Thousands of pounds have already been raised for NSPCC Cornwall by South West legal firm Stephens & Scown, shortly after adopting it as its charity of the year.

Trewithen, a privately owned estate near Truro, looks set to see an increase in visitor numbers this year thanks to a new marketing strategy that has been overseen by Hudson Armstrong Design

A growing number of entrepreneurial and innovative Cornish businesses are signing up to become the county’s ‘Brand Ambassadors’. To date more than 25 companies – including Business Cornwall – have been selected to use the Cornwall Brand and play a key role in representing Cornish business to the wider world.

With support from Business Link, the future looks bright for Cornish lighting design company GIGB Ltd which completed four projects recently for houses featured on Channel Four’s high profile Grand Designs programme.

For the second year running, the SMART Women Project are holding their pioneering conference, where an astonishing programme, featuring the South West’s finest experts in the fields of women’s enterprise, will meet at Tremough, June 23, for this inspiring one day event.