Pricing & demandFalmouth Harbour cruise visits
Seatrade reported on 15 November 2023 that Falmouth Harbour Commissioners had 44 cruise calls that year against 29 in 2022, with an estimated £4m to £6m for the local economy and about £70 spent per passenger. Board minutes from November 2025 record 42 cruise visits and about 60,000 passengers in 2025, with six cancellations, and a forecast of 49 calls in 2026. At £70 a head, 60,000 passengers would spend about £4.2m by our arithmetic, though the £70 is a 2023 estimate. The minutes give no turnover.
Why might cruise calls fall from 44 to 42 while passengers still spend in the town, and what would change the £70 figure? Practise this in AO2 Application.
Interpreting accountsPendennis Shipyard
Boat International reported on 14 October 2024 that Pendennis, the Falmouth superyacht builder, had turnover of £63.1m in 2023, up 4.6%. A 2018 report said turnover in 2017 was a record £52m, up 12%, with operating profit of £3.4m, or 6.5% of turnover, and net profit of £1.6m, down from £2.8m, while employees rose from 372 to 402. The two reports are six years apart, and the 2023 article gives no profit or staff numbers.
In 2017 turnover rose 12% but net profit fell from £2.8m to £1.6m. What might explain that, and what would you ask to find out? Step by step in AO3 Analysis.
Strategy & stakeholdersFalmouth Town Council
Falmouth Town Council’s budget page shows a 2026/27 precept of £4,057,218, up 9.93%, which is about 85p more a week for a Band D home, within a total budget of £5,621,226. The difference, about £1.56m, is other income by our arithmetic. Shares of the precept are 37.23% for the council and corporate costs, 24.43% for buildings and capital, 14.99% for parks, 14.29% for the library and art gallery and 7.23% for the Princess Pavilion. The page gives no Band D total or exact approval date.
Should a town council raise its charge by almost 10% to protect its parks, library and pavilion, and who gains or loses? A real judgement for AO4 Evaluation.
Falmouth’s economy in the classroom
Wikipedia gives Falmouth’s civil parish 24,032 residents at the 2021 census and its built-up area 24,070. A harbour, a shipyard and a town council give students real contexts for demand, accounts and strategy. We tie these themes to topics on the specification.
Sources: Wikipedia, Falmouth; Seatrade Cruise News, 15 November 2023; Falmouth Harbour Commissioners, board minutes of 28 November 2025; Boat International, 14 October 2024; Marine Industry News, 22 August 2018; Falmouth Town Council, current council budget page; provider pages. The £4.2m and £1.56m figures are our arithmetic, the £70 spend is a 2023 estimate, and the two Pendennis reports are six years apart.
