Dan Start from Nerth

In this episode of the Cornwall Innovation Centre podcast, Rebecca Loto speaks with Dan Start, founder of Nerth Limited, a business operating in the offshore renewables sector. Dan explains how Nerth was formed four years ago during the post-Covid period, building on 13 years of experience working in the offshore and marine industry for world-leading Cornish contractors. His background combines technical engineering knowledge with commercial expertise, giving him a unique perspective on both the technical and business sides of the industry. The conversation covers Nerth's evolution from initially providing sales, tendering and marketing services for other marine sector businesses, to developing a consultancy practice focused on high-level planning of large-scale infrastructure projects including ports and harbours. Dan explains what offshore renewables encompasses, including offshore wind, floating offshore wind, and wave and tidal energy. The discussion explores the future opportunities in the offshore wind sector, with Dan highlighting that any solution reducing human exposure to offshore environments through autonomy, robotics or efficiency improvements will be valuable over the next decade. Dan also discusses the benefits of being based at Cornwall Innovation Centre, including how the office space has helped increase turnover and profitability while providing much-needed sociability for small business owners and access to free seminars and business advice. The name Nerth means power and energy in Cornish, reflecting the company's focus on bringing offshore renewable energy to the Celtic shores.