A Helston Business Academy to help traders flourish could be on the cards if the town’s bid for almost £100,000 is successful.

The Packet can reveal that this is one of the ideas that form Helston’s application to become a Portas Pilot town.

Just 12 towns in the UK will be successful in their bid to receive the help of business guru Mary Portas, “Queen of Shops,’”together with national exposure and a significant pot of cash.

Helston’s town centre manager Jonathan Birkett has bid for a total of £98,500 to cover a range of projects. These include the business academy, which is described in the application as “a business support service to add stability and encourage growth for existing town centre businesses and start-ups.”

Portas Pilot funding would help employ a project manager, initially part-time for 18 months, and the academy would have four key aims: to support new entrepreneurs, help small businesses and start-ups evolve, give business planning and support to small-to-medium sized enterprises, and help grow Helston’s networking and trade with the rest of the UK and the continent.

The academy forms £31,000 of the bid and is part of the fourth and final stage of the plan, along with the Townscape Together community volunteer scheme that would need £20,000.

Volunteers involved would co-ordinate projects to improve the appearance of the town and offer support to those in need, with the programme also creating a town ambassador scheme to promote quality customer service.

The first phase of work would look at creating a Helston Business Improvement Partnership, spending £4,500 on a website, newsletters and video documentary.

This would be followed by boosting Helston’s marketing, identity and communication, spending £13,000 on creating new town centre identity, a guide to independent businesses and a website, as well as advertising.

The remaining £30,000 is earmarked for markets in the town, to bring back Helston’s identity as a market town.

Mr Birkett envisages night markets – making Helston the only town in the county to have late night opening and night markets – themed international markets and national market days.

As part of the application Mr Birkett has written: “By working together to deliver innovative, result-driven town centre projects Helston aims to be the friendliest and most prosperous market town in the UK. We want to ensure every visitor to Helston and the Lizard will be given a unique, positive commercial experience that they can’t wait to share.”

Other aims were to protect and support the town’s independent businesses whilst nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs, make Helston a “real market town again” where the emphasis was on quality products, exceptional customer service and a positive experience, and ensure Helston was renowned for having “the warmest welcome in the world” for traders, shoppers and visitors.

Mr Birkett says he wants to produce a video diary/documentary about the evolution of the pilot, which would be uploaded and shown in parts on the internet He said the key challenges facing Helston’s high street have been “a lack of clear leadership and no town centre business plan.”

While Helston’s vacancy rate was 7.4 per cent, which was below the national average, consumer spending and footfall was low for a Cornish town of its size.

Mr Birkett describes Helston as “struggling to survive” as a result of two large supermarkets on the outskirts of the town, the impact caused by the national economy and the steep rise in online shopping.

The application also mentions nearby RNAS Culdrose, Flora Day, Goonhilly, Helston Folk Museum and the town’s closeness to the Lizard Peninsula, an area of outstanding natural beauty.”

A video made to support the application has been posted on the internet site YouTube, showing many of Helston’s traders and organisations singing and dancing along to Five’s Keep On Moving.

By the end of Monday, four days after the video was posted online, it had received over 5,000 views and more than 100 “likes.”

The more views and “likes” the video receives, the greater chance Helston has of being successful in its bid. You can view the video online via thepacket.co.uk or directly on YouTube, searching for “Helston Town Keeps on Moving.”

The video was filmed by Nick Maxsted from Twofour and John Martin from Flambards, and edited by Christine Piggott of Purple Steel Productions.

Mr Birkett told the Packet: “This is a very important time for Helston. We fill very positive about the bid and the work we have done so far, but we have got a long way to go.”

He added that it was great to see how effectively businesses and community rallied, with the town rolling up its sleeves to get something done.