IT IS hoped the ‘This is Launceston’ day held by the town’s Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, November 12, will become an annual staple for the town following a successful first event.

The day saw a number of local businesses and traders from a range of sectors filling the town hall and Square to showcase what is on offer in the Launceston area.

Artists, professional services, local groups, charities, historians and everyone in between came along to promote and talk about the town and its local economy.

Chair of Launceston Chamber of Commerce Annette Baskerville-Smith, who helped organise the event, said: “I’ve talked to a lot of stall holders today who have been pleasantly surprised about how the day is going.

“There’s not been a vast amount of people attending today but there has definitely been a steady flow — this is our first event though and from that point of view a good footfall is starting to come through.”

The aim of the day was to promote and support the local businesses and services available in Launceston.

Annette said: “We have such a fabulous town, we’ve got everything you need — if you know where to look. We want to bring people together to help put our town on the map.”

Despite being the first event of its kind the Chamber has held, an impressive number of businesses and services attended filling the venue.

Annette explained: “We have 36 businesses who have got involved today. As it is our first event we wanted to showcase a wide array of businesses in Launceston.”

Those attending took full advantage of the opportunity and networked with other businesses and members of the public.

Annette said: “The good thing about today is a lot of the businesses involved got some good leads by talking to each other. That’s what you want as a Chamber of Commerce, to get people talking and working together to support local businesses.

“We have everything from professional services like accountants and solicitors, to energy providers and the money advice centre. We also have creative businesses like M4KE and numerous other artists as well as people from the retail industry, property, the NHS, representative from the Launceston Medical Centre expansion project, a local book seller, recycling services, tourism information and Cornwall Chamber of Commerce — I hope I haven’t missed any as there are so many worth mentioning! There really is a vast array of businesses in Launceston and these are just a few here today. Even the Tregadillett Songbirds have joined us too.”

She added: “Do you know what, it is amazing how many businesses we have. This is our first event and we hope to continue with it. We can learn from this year and will know what to do next year. I think people have waited to see what was going to happen with this event and hopefully they will see it has been a success and want to join in next year!”