Tremough Innovation Centre is celebrating its third anniversary with the news it has supported local companies to grow by up to 33 per cent in the last year – more than three times the national average – and create 43 new jobs.

The centre is one of three business acceleration facilities operated by Plymouth University on behalf of Cornwall Council which help businesses from the eco, enviro, media and creative sectors to expand and grow at a faster rate. Located next to the Penryn Campus, marked its third anniversary with a party on May 22, as new figures show client businesses grew by up to 33 per cent during 2014, with some enjoying an increase in turnover of up to 72 per cent. The UK average for annual growth is 10 per cent.

Targeted support provided by Cornwall Innovation staff coupled with state-of-the-art office facilities and unparalleled networking opportunities are cited as the reason behind many of the 55 companies based at TIC expanding last year.

Richard Snell, manager of Tremough Innovation Centre (TIC), said: “Everyone working at Cornwall Innovation is passionately committed to helping our client businesses to fully achieve their growth potential and we’re delighted that once again, these exciting companies are expanding at a fantastic rate. In some cases of businesses who have been with us for a while, that is up to three times the national average.

“It’s vital that we keep dynamic businesses like this with the potential for growth and high quality job creation in Cornwall, and facilities like TIC are enabling them to stay in the region.”

Tremough, along with its sister centres Pool Innovation Centre and the Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre in Truro, are operated by Plymouth University with the support of GAIN, the Growth, Acceleration and Investment Network which aims to boost business growth and job creation in the South West. Cornwall Innovation is supported with £29million of investment provided by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Of the 42 businesses surveyed, only half said they would have stayed in Cornwall if they hadn’t been able to locate their company at Tremough, with five saying they would have moved to London or Bristol if TIC wasn’t available.