Future Focus Event helps 150 Cornish Businesses become a Force for Good

Over 150 Cornish businesses attended the sell-out Future Focus Event at the Eden Project on Tuesday 20 February.

The ‘People, Planet, Profit’ Event saw delegates leave with the resounding message to make ‘business with purpose, business as usual’.

Delegates heard from an impressive line-up of key speakers who talked about everything from global movements, to becoming more responsible in business, behaving with purpose and how to embed this within business ethos and every day operations.

Key influencer, director of Greenpeace and co-founder of Futerra, Ed Gillespie, kick-started the event with a passionate talk.

He said: “It is our job to make sustainability so desirable that it becomes normal. It is fundamentally important that our vision is to change the world, imagine a better one and then apply logic to make it happen. Purpose gets you up in the morning and purpose needs to be better than yourself.

“We need to think about the future in everything we do, we need to plan and make products that have longevity built in. We already have the ideas, the money and the technology – this is the new economy; an economy which addresses social need. Profit is not a dirty word – it’s your reward for serving society.”

Tom Kay, founder of St Agnes based business Finisterre, took to the stage to speak about how passion and optimism drove him to create a brand which has employed sustainable principles from the start.

He said: “Environment, product and people – that was my vision when I started Finisterre from my bedroom 15 years ago. It hasn’t been easy but I knew my narrative was strong. The Finisterre brand and the community around it is something I am extremely proud of.”

Founder of the Changer Maker Group and expert in organisational culture change, Simon Phillips, facilitated a thought-provoking discussion for delegates who were asked to consider how they can become a ‘change maker’ within their own business, sharing practical models with the audience and focusing on collaboration as a strong tool for change.

The closing speech was from Matt Hocking, Managing Director of LEAP, who spoke about how trust in his team and the environment are what makes his business more purposeful.

He said: “When I started LEAP, my first consideration was that it should be an environmentally sustainable business and that I should have people around me who believe in my business purpose. My team inspire me to go further and develop new purposeful ideas.”

Allyson Glover, Programme Director at Unlocking Potential and host of the Future Focus Event, stated:

“It’s great to have so many passionate people in the room who are all interested in making a positive change for business in Cornwall. There is a tide of young people out there who want to work for businesses who are purposeful and committed to being a ‘business for good’. I hope that the people who attended today will leave feeling inspired and start to make changes in their own business.”

Future Focus Events, run by Unlocking Potential, bring inspiring and influential speakers together and put them in front of Cornish Businesses to help share global ideas to help future-proof their business. The next Future Focus Event takes place in early May. To find out more, sign up to receive updates or visit our website www.unlocking-potential.co.uk.