A BUSINESS leader says the Budget has put Cornwall on the map as a destination for investment and opportunity.

John Brown, the CEO of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, states the £30 million Kernow Industrial Fund will boost its agritech, marine and critical minerals industries if spent wisely.

He also welcomed the announcement of a new neighbourhood health centre in Truro and business rates remaining in Cornwall Council’s coffers.

But Mr Brown warned there are tough times ahead for hospitality and retail businesses due to the lack of support in the Budget.

He said: “Last year I was asking the Chancellor whether they even knew where Cornwall was. This year, Cornwall is unmistakably on the map. The Budget name checked us repeatedly and delivered a £30 million Kernow Industrial Fund. Agritech, marine and critical minerals are front and centre, a clear nod to the assets we have been shouting about for years.

“But let me be clear. Good money spent badly is as bad as no money at all. If this fund is going to work, business and Cornwall Council need to be working together, sleeves rolled up, making sure every pound is invested wisely and works as hard as every Cornish business already does.

“There is also funding earmarked for a new neighbourhood health centre in Truro and business rates will remain in Cornwall Council’s coffers. Add to that a £48 million uplift in planning capacity nationally, and we might finally start cutting through the red tape that has kept infrastructure projects crawling along at a glacial pace.

“Then there is the wider picture. Leaders across Cornwall will now be reaching for their calculators. A rising national living wage, a two point jump on capital gains tax for dividends and the halving of Employee Ownership Trust CGT relief will have entrepreneurs and founders scribbling exit plans and cashflow forecasts long into the night.

“And for the high street, let us not sugar coat it. Hospitality and retail businesses still see no VAT relief and business rates support that barely dents the pressure they face daily. Tough does not begin to cover it.

“What will be interesting is whether this Budget unlocks more scale up capital. British ISA changes, strengthened venture schemes, entrepreneurial incentives and reforms to listings and tax certainty all hint at a country trying to get its savings and pensions working for its own businesses. If that turns into real capital flowing into Cornish firms, then we will be getting somewhere.

“Here is the big takeaway. Between the Critical Minerals Strategy and now the Budget, Cornwall has finally entered the Westminster lexicon, not as a charity case, but as a destination for investment and opportunity. We have been saying it for years. Now the language is shifting our way.

“But opportunity without discipline is noise. Investment only matters if it is channelled into commercially astute projects that fit Cornwall’s long term economic future. Accountants, financial planners and MDs across the Duchy will now be poring over the details, working through the ups, the downs and the unintended consequences.”