Cultivator is a business development programme that supports the creative sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It’s is a project run by Creative Kernow and works in partnership with the University of Plymouth, Real Ideas, Cornwall College and Cornwall Development Company.  

To support creative businesses, we provide one-to-one consultations with specialist advisors, as well as a range of funding opportunities, employment bursaries, skills workshops, and networking events to help you grow your business and connect with the right people. You can find our full programme here.   

The first phase of Cultivator ran between September 2016 and August 2019. During that time, we worked with more than 600 creative businesses and organisations, from visual artists to musicians, filmmakers to heritage sites. You can find some case studies from Phase 1 here. 

If you have a creative business that is registered with HMRC in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly you can register to receive some form of support from Cultivator. The support we can offer will vary depending on the nature of your business. During the sign-up process we ask a series of questions that will help us to identify what we can help you with.  

If you are at an early stage of your business journey then we may refer you to another business support programme, as you may benefit more from the support they can offer.

Cultivator is a business support programme designed to help people working in the creative industries. Many of our clients (be they artists, performers or museums) might not consider themselves as businesses. If they have a registration with HMRC they are still eligible to receive our support and can benefit from the Cultivator programme. We use the word ‘business’ because it’s simply the broadest way to describe the diverse pool of people that we work with. 

The reason that Cultivator is split into phase 1 and phase 2 is that we initially applied for funding for a project lasting around three years that ended in August 2019. We then applied for more funds to continue the project which was granted in November 2019. We’ve used what we’ve learnt from phase 1 to inform how we run phase 2.

Before you can access our support schemes, you’ll need to complete our application process. The way you answer the questions during the process will help us identify what support we can offer you. You might only able to access limited support when you start your journey with us, but as your business change and evolves, we will review this with you, and you may be able to access additional elements of the programme. 

Our funding comes from the European Structural and Investment Funds, Arts Council England and Cornwall Council. That’s why all the support that we offer to creative businesses comes free of charge.  

Yes, you can! You’ll just have to complete the application process like anyone else – which will involve completing an initial application form and then, providing your are successful, providing some evidence of your eligibility as well as a few more bits of information for us. As we are entering the final year of our programme, we are only taking on a limited number of new clients. You can apply from 14th March – 4th April 2022 by completing our application form. 

To access most of what we do, you’ll need to sign up as a client. We do, however, run networking events across the county. Lots of these events are open to everyone. Sign up to our mailing list to keep up with what’s on.