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Balloons race to celebrate business collaboration
A display of 1,000 red balloons soared over Truro on Friday (28 May) in celebration of businesses in Cornwall working together to explore new opportunities.
ERDF Convergence funded project Partner to Succeed released the balloons from Newham, to represent more than 90 businesses across the county working together in collaboration.
The balloons are being raced to see how far they will travel, with some balloons tied in groups of two or more to better their chances of going the extra mile.
The event took place during European SME Week 2010, which recognises the value of small and medium-sized businesses in building a strong economy.
The balloon to travel the furthest will win a business a trip in a real hot air balloon.
Helen Trudgeon, programme director of Partner to Succeed, which is run by business development company YTKO, said: “Our programme recognises that by working together, businesses can take advantage of new markets, be more efficient, share resources and ultimately be more competitive nationally and internationally.
“The balloon release is a really colourful and engaging way of celebrating how business collaborations are proving successful in Cornwall.”
The launch took place at Silvertree Engineering on Heron Way, Newham; just one of the businesses to have taken part in a business collaboration with Partner to Succeed.
Robin Proctor, sales and marketing manager at Silvertree, said: “Partner to Succeed's support has helped us and our partner QES get a long-discussed project off the ground. We hope the project will be as high flying as the balloons!”
Another business represented in the balloon release having benefited from a business collaboration project with Partner to Succeed is skincare company 100% Organics.
In March this year, the company took part in a London showcase of 12 Cornish brands, presented to more than 50 national journalists.
Director Angela Young said: “Working in this collaboration enabled us to reach PR and marketing opportunities we’d never have managed on our own – getting our brand in front of major, influential beauty and lifestyle journalists.
“Partner to Succeed was the catalyst in making this happen. Staging this balloon release is a creative way to mark how collaboration is working for businesses in the county.
“There has been a shift in the way people perceive collaboration with more businesses understanding how it can positively influence their development, and this has been brought about by Partner to Succeed.”
Partner to Succeed is being delivered by business development company YTKO. The project has been financed by £1.35 million from European Regional Development Fund Convergence together with £150,000 from the South West Regional Development Agency.
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Press release distributed on behalf of YTKO by mpad. For more information, interviews or images, please contact Rachel Picken, 01872 321533, rachel@mpad.co.uk
The Cornwall Business Collaboration Network project is part of Convergence, a multi-million pound European support programme designed to increase employment, skills and economic performance. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly qualified for Convergence in 2005 because economic performance between 2000 and 2002 was below 75% of the European Union average.
