PRODUCT, ENVIRONMENT, PRINCE

With an unexpected forecast of rain after weeks of endless horizon, spirits were far from dampened for the long anticipated arrival of our royal guests.

As we often say, and one of the guiding principles of our design team, you can have 4 seasons in a single day in Cornwall and sure enough the clouds parted as the royal motorcade rolled down the single track lane.

Meeting with Tom Kay and Debbie Luffman, The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall toured our Head Quarters, atop a cliff in St Agnes, North Cornwall. Meeting the team behind the brand, Their Royal Highnesses showing great interest and an already existing wealth of knowledge and support for Finisterre’s path and vision to better business.

The Duke of Cornwall was introduced to the brains behind our Wetsuit Recycling Programme, while the Duchess met with the design team to hear more about their pioneering approach to sustainability through innovation. Outside the workshop, both the Duke and Duchess had the opportunity to meet Lesley Prior and our Bowmont Merino Sheep; presenting natural fibres as an alternative to synthetics, and our commitment to this uniquely British supply chain.

Marking the occasion, as well as our longstanding partnership with neighbours and comrades Surfers Against Sewage, the two organisations took the opportunity to partner in hosting the inaugural Ocean Plastics Solutions Day. The event brought together key business leaders, innovators, NGOs, politicians, media and other stakeholders to discuss and demonstrate the progress being made towards tackling ocean plastic pollution from source to sea.

Throughout the day, delegates heard inspiring talks from the likes of Lucy Siegle from the BBC One Show, Emma Howard Boyd from the Environment Agency, Richard Walker from Iceland Supermarkets, and United Nations Patron for the Oceans, Lewis Pugh, as well as from Finisterre’s Tom Kay and Hugh Tagholm of Surfers Against Sewage, amongst others.

“To have Prince Charles, the Duke of Cornwall visit Finisterre to commemorate our 15th anniversary was a special moment. I founded Finisterre with the help of the Prince’s Trust loan back in 2003. More recently, I wrote to HRH thanking him for his support in the early years, inviting him to visit Wheal Kitty and see our work around sustainability and innovation first-hand. For him to join our anniversary celebrations, witnessing how the business has grown, meeting the team who’ve been fundamental in this journey, and our unwavering commitment to Product, Environment and People, was a real honour. HRH was particularly interested in our work around ocean plastic awareness and using innovation to achieve sustainability, as well as the duties we’ve committed to in order to become a B Corp certified business.”

Tom Kay, founder; Finisterre