Cornwall has a dynamic and thriving business community.  Most businesses in Cornwall fit into the Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) sector, with nearly 90% of them employing less than 9 staff.  That means there is a lot of innovation, creativity and enterprising behaviour in the business community, in addition to many other self-employed individuals.

Cornwall secured a Local Enterprise Partnership  in 2011 which will enable the county to focus on the specific, local economic issues which are created through the unique peninsula geography and sparsely situated populations.

Since 1999, Cornwall has qualified for European funding as the economy is recognised as one of the poorest (measured in Gross Domestic Product, or in other words, the average amount of capital generated by each head of the population) areas of Europe.  European funding has injected millions of pounds into developing Cornwall’s physical infrastructure, as well as running projects to stimulate economic regeneration, bringing about wealth creation, jobs and prosperity for the inhabitants. Cornwall is now coming to the end of ‘Convergence’ funding which is enabling investment on economic development work, increasing opportunities for people and upskilling the workforce.  At present, the LEP is working closely with Cornwall Council to plan how the next and final round of European funding will be spent in Cornwall, with funded projects beginning in late 2015/early 2016.

The Cornwall Development Company has some up-to-date facts and figures about the Cornish economy, along with some interesting information about living and working in Cornwall.

Cornwall boasts a networking scene which is second to none, with a thriving Chamber of Commerce and the Hub (Cornwall’s dynamic business network) to name just two popular organisations at the heart of the strong and growing business community.

See below some interesting statistics around unemployment in the South West, sourced from Office for National Statistics.

Find out why more and more graduates are choosing to live and work in Cornwall here.