On February 25th a conference took place to mark three years since the Convergence programmes were launched for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

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Convergence ERDF invested Outset Cornwall has welcomed its 200th entrepreneur to the intensive start up-support programme.

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Over 100 guests celebrated the success of graduates and businesses who have been involved in the Convergence ESF invested Unlocking Cornish Potential (UCP) project over the past 18 months.

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Work has started on the next stage of the pioneering Wave Hub marine energy project with the construction of an onshore electricity sub-station at Hayle in Cornwall.

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A team from the University of Exeter’s Tremough Campus has designed a unique facility that will support the Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) team in researching the feasibility of marine renewable energy in the South West.

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An £8 million scheme to provide the roads, infrastructure and site servicing for the 13.5ha site for Cornwall Business Park has been approved for almost £4 million of ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Convergence investment.

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The achievements of young mums have been celebrated with awards presented to members of the WILD Young Parents Project which reaches out to Cornish mums under the age of 23 and their children.

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Two of the first group to graduate from the Cornwall School for Social Entrepreneurs, Annette Rule and Jane Yeomans, have been awarded grants from national charity, UnLtd. Annette’s enterprise, Life Recycle, helps unemployed people with learning difficulties or learning disabilities move into work or volunteering placements through a bicycle recycling business. Jane has established ZOOP which is a shop selling donated clothes, toys and equipment for under 5s; a training programme promoting sustainable living and a community recycling scheme. CSSE is now recruiting for its class of 2010.

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Additional help is now in place to support unemployed graduates. 2009 graduates claiming Jobseekers Allowance can undertake an internship designed to apply skills in the workplace and improve employment prospects. Internships last for up to 13 weeks and participants will receive a training allowance equivalent to benefit plus £10 per week top-up. For more information ask your Jobcentre Plus adviser or visit Graduate Talent Pool.

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Jobcentre Plus has held a partners’ event to help organisations working with young people to understand the range of support available. Delegates heard from Jobcentre Plus, delivery partners and young people, including Matt Brown from St Agnes who was unemployed for 11 months before obtaining a job through the Future Jobs Fund as a webmaster with Pentreath Ltd.

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“The recession has affected every business throughout the UK in one way or another. Some have suffered because of falling sales others because an understandable caution crept across the economy causing projects to be postponed, if not cancelled.

“The Westcountry, I believe, may have fared slightly better than some other regions because of the high proportion of owner managed businesses where personal commitment ensures a greater willingness to fight for what you have built and to make sacrifices to ride out the storm.

“One positive thing the recession will have accomplished for these hardy businesses is to have made them re-examine their costs and to drive down unnecessary overheads and other expenditure.

“Financial discipline will have been crucial to business survival during the hard times and should be the lesson learned for future profitability. This becomes even more important as the recession bottoms out as business costs are likely to rise more quickly than the ability to increase prices.

“Clydesdale’s Financial Solution Centre in Truro has been enjoying a steady growth pattern through the worst of the recession because it has been supporting local businesses by reinvesting its deposits in the local economy in the form of lending.

“Over £100 million of new business has been achieved over the last two years and we have seen our credit balances quadruple in that time. This has been accompanied by a rapid growth in new members.

“Help with invoice financing as the recession slows down supplier payments from big businesses is a way for SME businesses to mitigate the effects of late payments by allowing them to draw down up to 85% of the value of the invoice owed to them.

“The economic outlook might be uncertain but here at Clydesdale Bank we are increasing our focus on supporting quality trading businesses make the most of the opportunities that definitely still exist.”

Find Rural Development Programme contact details and updates via the link below - including Discover the Extraordinary, a sustainable tourism investment based on the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site. Convergence website.

For contact details and information about the fisheries programme, including investment in a new fish market in Newlyn, visit the Convergence website.