CASE STUDIES

• Konfidence Ltd
• Mitchell Sails
• Pendennis Shipyard Ltd
• Seacore Ltd
• The Select Yacht Group

REPORTS

• Skills Needs of the Marine & Maritime Sector in the South West of England
• The New Entrepeneurs

Marine

Andy Regan relocated his business Konfidence Ltd from Surrey to north Cornwall in March 2002. Konfidence designs and manufactures a range of watersports wear, including the original Konfidence Jacket (an alternative to armbands for children), UV-protective swimwear, and even life-jackets for dogs - a must-have accessory for today's ocean-going canine.

Andy's in no doubt that the move to Cornwall has brought major benefits, both in business terms and personally. "In Surrey we were living in a box of a house on a postage-stamp plot," he says. ?Cornwall is just so much more spacious."

He and his family have also been delighted at the warm welcome they?ve found in the local community. "In an urban environment there are so many people living in a confined space, there seems to be a desire to get away from each other rather than socialise. There?s a different attitude here - people don't seem to feel so boxed in. And it?s a far better environment to be bringing up children." Andy's three sons enjoy their free time pursuing the wide variety of outdor sports that Cornwall has to offer.

No wonder, then, that his nostalgia for the South-East is so conspicuous by its absence.