A panel of judges from across Cornwall’s business community came together to interview shortlisted candidates and later select the winners for each category.

Scooping the title of Employee of the Year was 26 year-old Becky Palmer. The judges were impressed by Becky’s beyond the call of duty approach as an employee for Hayle-based, Sapience HR. As Office Manager, Becky is often required to be the first point of contact for clients, but Becky went much further and in a little over 12 months introduced and implemented new systems and procedures and overhauled the company’s marketing strategy that enabled the business to provide valuable new services to their rapidly expanding client base.

This year’s Green Business of the Year award was handed to Redruth-based Piran Technologies. The judges commented upon how successful Piran Technologies had been at challenging the traditional accepted thinking of energy efficiency within the IT facilities sector both within, and most significantly outside of, their company.

27-year old Dan Parker scooped the award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Since setting up SMS marketing company, FireText, in September 2010, the business has in a short period of time grown considerably and won a number of significant contracts. Judges commented on how infectious Dan’s enthusiasm and passion was for doing business and how he would be firm member of Cornwall’s business community well into the future.

The Best Business Start Up award was won by Blackwater-based Cornwall Solar Panels. The judges were impressed at how quickly the founder, Tony Sampson, had been able to establish the company in the county having only set it up in November 2010. The business now employees ten people across two companies and is taking on an Unlocking Cornish Potential in January.

A special Hub Contributor of the Year Award was given to Anna Penrose from Mail Away. Anna was not only recognised as being a regular Hub attendee over the past year but for also playing her part in helping welcome new members.

Visit www.cornwallhub.co.uk for more information.

For more information visit www.coppafeel.org

Unplugged, which forms part of Eden’s tenth birthday celebrations, is part of the ongoing collaboration between Eden and Cape Farewell. Cape Farewell is a creative project that helps people to engage in the subject of climate change by combining science with music and the arts. This event has been created by London-based composer, Tim Sutton along with Vicky Long, creative producer for Cape Farewell. The music itself has been inspired by different folk traditions and the history of mining to form a piece that encourages people to think of Eden’s background, and the connection between people and the environment. Tim Sutton said: “I’m really excited by the possibility of working with Cornish musicians to create a piece which will inhabit the great outdoors. The aim is to invite people to experience Eden in a new way, with heightened attention to and appreciation of the sounds of the natural environment, reflecting upon our responsibility towards it.”

The performances will take place at 4pm on Friday June 3 and at 1pm and 4pm on Saturday June 4. The musicians will be positioned so that visitors to Eden will be able to enjoy Unplugged from wherever they are on site. For more information on the Unplugged event and how to take part, contact Amie Rey a...@edenproject.com

Photo: Jim Linwood via Flickr

The confirmed acts so far for 2011 are Primal Scream and The Horrors (June 23), Pendulum and special guests to be announced (June 25), The Flaming Lips, The Go! Team and OK Go (June 30), Fleet Foxes, Villagers and The Bees (July 1) and Brandon Flowers and Mystery Jets (July 12). Eden also hosted Live8 Africa Calling in 2005 which saw the Cornish project join the likes of London, Paris, Moscow, Tokyo and Johannesburg in one of the biggest global music events ever. Live8 aimed to make poverty history and an estimated 3 billion people watched the shows.

The Eden Sessions kicked off in 2002 when Jarvis Cocker’s Pulp became the first band to grace the Eden stage. Since then PJ Harvey, Supergrass, Keane, Editors, Muse, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Hot Chip, The Verve, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, Paul Weller, Florence and the Machine, Jack Johnson, Mumford & Sons and many more have played at Eden. Oasis played one of their final gigs at the project in 2009, both Doves and Badly Drawn Boy have played twice and Primal Scream will be returning for their second headline turn this summer. Highlights over the years include Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs jumping into the crowd in the middle of a number, Noel Gallagher’s stab at a Cornish accent and Rufus Wainwright’s encore while dressed in drag.

John Empson, Eden’s Director of Music, said: “The beauty of the Eden Sessions is that they inspire the unexpected. We celebrate diversity in culture and over the last ten years are proud to have delivered some landmark moments from Jarvis Cocker encoring Common People in front of the Biomes, Jack White’s improvised guitar solos, Amy Winehouse’s prickly performance, Polly Harvey’s majesty and Muse and Oasis squeezing stadium sets into the clay pit. We’ve had early support shows by the likes of Florence and the Machine, Mumford & Sons, Editors and Elbow. We’ve had legends – Weller, Brian Wilson and Jack Johnson all commanding inspired performances in the best and most unique venue in the UK. There will be some magic moments on the way in 2011 – Pendulum warming up for their Beyonce support at Glastonbury, the Flaming Lips zorb and confetti party, Screamadelica Live!, Fleet Foxes’s sun-drenched harmonies and Killers frontman Brandon Flowers’s UK exclusive headline show. Here’s to the next ten years Eden!”

This year, the Sessions will be more like one-day festivals than ever before. Starting from midday on each date, Eden’s stages will play host to some of the best up-and-coming acts around, as well as poetry, story-telling and debates. The daytime programme will be split between the Stage Right Stage, situated next to the main arena, and the Biotik stage, which is in the Mediterranean Biome. Biotik is the result of a long-term collaboration between the Eden Project and Cape Farewell, a creative project that brings artists, scientists and communicators together to engage people in the subject of climate change.

There are still tickets left for this year’s Eden Sessions, all priced at £37.50 plus booking fee. To book, visit www.edensessions.com or call 01726811972. The Eden Sessions are on Facebook at www.facebook.com/edensessions and on Twitter on www.twitter.com/TheEdenSessions

Words: Michaela Howe

Words: Michaela Howe

To celebrate the single’s launch, she will be playing at The Rod & Line in Cornwall on March 18th, following in The Pigs Nose Inn, Kingsbridge, on Saturday March 19th in lieu of the release on March 28th through Canned Records.

Written and produced by Claire’s brother and ex-Primal Scream producer, Hugo Nicolson, the new single is the second of Claire’s releases and bringing it to the South in anticipation of her new album “52 Card Pick-up”. Her new single “You & I” is a collaboration with LA-based Yellowhammer, yet Claire’s recording experience has fallen short of the LA glamorous music industry thus far shadowing her “Sing for her Supper” tour at the end of last year where she pitched in and out of pubs offering a song or two in exchange for a meal. Her recording experiences follow closely behind on the sophisticated scale: “It was nothing so glamorous as recording it in LA,” she laughs. “I remember recording the vocal straight to Hugo’s laptop in his flat in London. The lead was too short so I had to bend down. He was very particular about the exact notes and way he wanted me to sing it. But I’ve always been a fan of my brother’s music, and was happy to oblige – and so here we are: together on the same record.” Claire’s hard work and her brothers pedantic ways paid off, as her music proves her talent in its rawest form, ensuring an incredible live performance.

More info at www.clairenicolson.com

Words: Michaela Howe