Proven natural assets. Investment from near and far. Cornwall doesn’t just have potential – it has projects underway, infrastructure in place and a plan backed by government.
Powering progress, naturally
Cornwall’s geology, landscape and location have always been its advantage. The minerals within the granite. The winds off the Celtic Sea. The waters that connect to international trade.
Sectors
Investing in Cornwall’s opportunity sectors, means investing in natural capital, expertise and knowledge that have existed here for millennia.
Nature put the opportunity here. Cornwall is making it count.
Eight sectors. One ecosystem
Across distinctive and core sectors, Cornwall has significant opportunity for investors. Each opportunity forms part of a single ecosystem: our unique geology gives us critical minerals and geothermal, our location and landscape provides offshore wind, marine and defence capabilities, and the climate that enables agri-food and visitor economy.
In Cornwall, everything connects, and everything is powered by here.
Critical Minerals
Europe's largest lithium deposits sit beneath Cornwall's granite alongside tin, tungsten and copper – minerals every EV battery, wind turbine and clean energy system depend on. With multiple projects up and running, the question isn't whether Cornwall can supply: it's how quickly.
110+ businesses
in Cornwall's critical minerals network today
£73m GVA, 800+ jobs
generated by the sector today
50%+ of the UK’s lithium needs
Cornwall could supply
Renewable Energy
The Celtic Sea holds one of the largest offshore wind resources on the planet, while underground, Cornwall’s granite generates clean geothermal power around the clock. With first turbines expected from 2027, Cornwall is already building the clean energy infrastructure the country needs.
100GW+ FLOW potential in the Celtic Sea
enough to power every home in the UK twice over
3,000+ high-quality jobs
from FLOW development alone
232 renewable energy companies
already based in Cornwall
Space
Operational, international and growing fast, Cornwall's space infrastructure is delivering from the edge. Goonhilly tracks missions to the moon. Spaceport Cornwall could host companies putting satellites into orbit. And the National Drone Hub is certified by the CAA as the first site in the UK for UAS testing.
£400bn global space economy
the UK is targeting 10% by 2030
Only operational spaceport in Western Europe
in Newquay, Cornwall
£143m GVA today
£250m GVA target by 2035
Marine
Falmouth is the world's third deepest natural harbour – and the operational base the Celtic Sea needs. With 805 marine companies already building the supply chain that FLOW demands, Cornwall is at the centre of the UK's offshore wind story.
£1.12bn
annual GDP from Cornwall’s marine sector
16,052 people employed
in Cornwall’s marine sector today
805 marine companies
7% of all UK marine businesses
Agri-food
Cornwall's land has never been pushed to monoculture, and that restraint has become its greatest asset. Diverse, traceable and rooted in a place people trust, the food economy here runs deeper than the plate.
£2bn
annual value of Cornwall's agri-food sector
1 in 5 jobs in Cornwall are in agri-food
the county's largest employment sector
80% of Cornwall’s land
is used for agriculture
Creative & Cultural
Falmouth University’s 130+ courses in art, design, games and film have built a reputation for graduates who don’t just leave with a degree; they stay and build businesses.
£291m
GVA contribution from Cornwall’s creative & cultural sector
7,350 people
working in the creative sector
197 new businesses
from Falmouth University in two years (more than Oxford and Cambridge combined)
Visitor Economy
Five million people come to Cornwall every year. They spend £2bn, support 35,000 jobs and most come back – drawn by 400 miles of coastline, a world-class arts scene and a cultural identity that genuinely can't be found anywhere else.
5 million staying visitors
from outside Cornwall each year
£2bn
total annual visitor spend
20% of GDP
tourism's share of Cornwall's economy
Development
Cornwall has always built things well. From the engine houses that powered the Industrial Revolution to the new communities taking shape today, that instinct runs deep.
4,421 homes per year
Cornwall's housing target, second highest of any local authority in England
88,420
homes to be delivered over the next [Local Plan/number of years?] period
26,000
homes with planning permission across Cornwall today
One ecosystem
The credentials
The case for Cornwall has already been made. It holds High Potential Opportunity status from the Department for Business and Trade, and its critical minerals sit on NATO’s Defence Critical Raw Materials register – recognition that what’s here matters well beyond the region.
And the commitment goes further: the UK Government has confirmed Cornwall as a Strategic Foundational Authority, backing that with a £30m Kernow Industrial Growth Fund. The credentials are in place. The investment is already flowing.