By Tim Weber Business editor, BBC News website

Cornwall wants to be more than surf, sand and coastline

Think of Cornwall: tin mines, tourism and King Arthur's Tintagel come to mind.

Yes, there have been recent successful additions like the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

But in the minds of business people, all this adds up to not much more than a string of B&Bs, some up-market hotels, films about surfing, many low-paid jobs - and an image of "one hundred years in decline", says Lord George, who was governor of the Bank of England until two years ago.

The reality though is very different as the county's economy has "turned a corner", he insists.

The man once pivotal to keeping the UK economy on track now lives in Cornwall, and is clearly smitten with the region's natural beauty.

And he wants to help its economy to thrive.

The Land's End question

Lord George says investors should look to England's south west

In a nifty move, Cornwall's inward investment programme - dubbed "Pure Business" - has recruited Lord George to front its campaign, alongside Marks & Spencer chairman Paul Myners.

That gets the attention of business journalists, plenty of media coverage, and thus investor awareness.

But why should companies relocate to Land's End? Why should entrepreneurs abandon the attractions of cities like London or Manchester?

It's the work-life balance, says Lord George: "Cornwall is a lovely place to live, to work, to bring up children."

Or as the Pure Business blurb puts it: "You'll discover... the amazingly rich natural and cultural environment that makes this such a superb place to live."

For many years, though, this was not enough to keep skilled people in Cornwall.

This is slowly changing, insists Danielle Atkins, Cornwall's inward investment manager.

The county now boasts "attractive jobs that pay competitive wages of �30,000 and more," and companies have "no trouble recruiting and retaining high calibre staff," she says.

Pure Business has long lists of IT professionals and other experts ready to get to work, in the hope of attracting skills-hungry companies.

By next month, Lord George chimes in, Cornwall will have 100% broadband internet connectivity.

"You can't imagine what that's done for Cornwall, truncating the distance not just to London but the world," he enthuses.

Better roads, rail connections and international flights from Newquay airport add to Cornwall's attraction, Lord George says.

The choice: Cornwall or Bangalore?

Then there is the usual array of government funding, plus the European Union's lucrative Objective One money for the EU's poorest regions.

"The [funding] opportunities are on par with elsewhere, and Objective One funding is very unusual" in the UK, says Lord George.

The Eden project has boosted Cornwall's image

Like development agencies everywhere, Pure Business hopes to turn Cornwall into another corner of the knowledge economy, with aerospace engineering, information technology and biotech industries the main drivers of growth.

Even the famous Eden project has more than tourism potential, says Lord George, it has become a centre for research into sustainable development.

All fair enough, but where is Cornwall's unique selling point?

Firms can transfer these jobs to Cornwall easily, but they can make them disappear to Bangalore or Shenzhen quite as fast.

Cornwall's globalisation

Lord George is sanguine about the dangers of the globalised economy.

"You can't establish something and expect to be immune from competition," he says. "We have to be forward looking and constantly see where the next opportunity lies."

That, he says, is the real differentiator between the rest of Europe and the UK (and Cornwall, he hastens to add).

"France, Germany and Italy seek to protect the old jobs they have... which leads to unemployment in the millions."

The UK has stopped protecting old industries and as a result unemployment is low, Lord George says.

Small is beautiful

But given this, is it the job of government to direct entrepreneurs where to go? Do regional development agencies really provide a good return on investment?, I ask him.

"That's a jolly hard question," admits Lord George, and briefly goes off-message.

"I think they contribute to investment... although their work is difficult to judge, what do you compare it with?," he answers tentatively.

Ms Atkins comes to the rescue. Unlike most other regions in the UK, until a year ago Cornwall didn't have an inward investment service at all.

Now investors know who to speak to if they need help with red tape and to get funding.

Cornwall bets less on large-scale relocations, Ms Atkins says.

It wants to attract small firms that grow organically instead.

That makes for slow growth, although on the upside it will overwhelm neither Cornwall's infrastructure nor the housing market.

Please, would you care to invest here?

But does it work?

Since its launch a year ago, Pure Business has attracted 17 firms, creating some 200 jobs.

To compare: Cornwall already has some 210,000 small and medium-sized businesses.

But then it is early days for Cornwall's first inward investment agency.

As Lord George puts it: Pure Business's first task is "to let the world know that Cornwall is not in the downward spiral anymore".

And Danielle Atkins adds that when companies make investment decisions "we want to make sure Cornwall is on the shortlist".

Right now, it sounds like a plea.