How we've helped Dave Cusick RPT

Turning his passion for woodturning into a professional business, Porthleven’s Dave Cusick has been on the professional woodturners register for over 20 years now.

Making bowls, pens and door wedges amongst a range of other items, Dave predominantly uses English hardwoods such as oak, yew and sycamore while also turning brass and other soft metals.

Specialising in artistic and commercial woodturning, Dave was selling his work through galleries, craft fairs and local shows prior to COVID-19. Since March of 2020, his business model has changed dramatically.

“My sales were virtually non-existent during the lockdown periods. Sales in summer were very good, but since then it’s back to being quiet,” he said.

In the process of making a bunch of new stock to fuel the expected summer rush, Dave is hoping sales will also pick up thanks to a brand-new online home for his work.

Coming to the Skills Hub for help with making his new website work, Dave is already seeing the benefits of heading our way.

“I had a phone call from Cornwall Council telling me about the Skills Hub, and I thought that it would be of great help in regard to expanding my website. The technology is often a strange language, and I can’t seem to understand it, so this is why I turned to the Skills Hub,” he said.

With Skills Connector Ian Watkiss linking Dave to the training needed to get his website e-commerce ready, the hope is that with a fully-functional online platform to sell his crafts, Dave will be able to cut his losses on the commission currently taken by the galleries he supplies at present.

“Whilst they are an important aspect of my business, by-passing the high commission rates of galleries, as they often take up to half of the product’s total cost, could certainly change my business for the better,” Dave said.

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Skills Hub from October 2017 - June 2023 was part funded by the European Social Fund and match funded by Cornwall Council and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership. The project  received £2,885,993 of funding from the European Social Fund as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England.