PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

The growth of large supermarket groups such as Tesco during the last few years has left the future of the small high street shop continuously in doubt. Yet despite the fact that the small shop sector is one of the parts of the Welsh economy that has been continuously under threat for the last decade, very little has been done to address this issue by business support organisations. Indeed, what has always surprised me is the scant amount of specific business advice and support which has been provided to small retailers during the last 20 years, especially compared to other sectors of the economy. It is as if Welsh policy-makers have decided that small retail firms are not important to the future of a Welsh economy which seems to bend over backwards to accommodate out-of-town retail developments. Whilst public resources have been used to support the development of these large retail projects, this has usually been at the expense of existing local retailers, many of which were left to fe...

The most momentous news of the last two decades has just hits our news stands - yes, the Police are reforming . The rumours are that the one-off gig may turn into a full blown tour - bliss! One of the greatest rock bands ever, I only managed to see Sting on tour solo after the breakup in 1984 and the songs were the beginning of a slightly pretentious phase after the genius of Synchronicity. This is one gig the prof ain't gonna miss....

Had a fascinating evening last Monday in the company of Gerald Davies after the Cardiff Business Club meeting, where Lord Walker of Worcester gave a fascinating insight into his days as Secretary of State for Wales. Gerald is, of course, a gentleman, a great conversationalist and, of course, one of my heroes from my schoolboy days. I am sure we solved the rugby world's problems that night but, strangely, it all all disappeared from my memory in the morning! With the Six Nations starting again on Sunday, it is every Welshman's duty, whilst looking forward to another golden era under Gareth Jenkins, to wallow in the great rugby of the 1970s and the BBC have done us proud with this link. Enjoy!!

Today, Rhodri Morgan has submitted the plans for the new round of £1.3 billion of European funding for the poorest parts of Wales to the European Commission for approval. However, the success of this programme will require a greater input from the Welsh business sector. So say the CBI in their response to the Assembly’s consultation document on the new Convergence funding which is replacing the current Objective 1 programme, stating that “the real effectiveness of these funds will come in the delivery, and in their ability to fully engage the private sector throughout the whole process”. This does not seem to be happening with the current Objective 1 programme . Up to the end of 2006, over £1.34 billion of European grants had been shared out to 1,732 projects across the poorest parts of Wales and whilst the private sector has been recipients of funds from these projects, their actual role in the management of the whole Objective 1 process has been largely minimal. To date, 37.7 per cen...

Last week, I produced a paper on the use of European funds in Wales under the Objective 1 programme. This research – based on the Assembly’s own data - showed that half of the counties in Wales had lost out under the programme and there had been an unfair allocation of funding across the Objective 1 region. It went on to propose that there should a greater focus on ensuring that every county within West Wales and the Valleys gets its fair share of funding to ensure greater prosperity across the whole region rather than in some counties. I had hoped that, having spent a considerable amount of my spare time on this research, that the detailed analysis would trigger a meaningful debate on the use of European funds and, more importantly, would enable policymakers to critically re-examine the approach to the next round of £1.3 billion in raising prosperity within our poorest counties. Instead, the response of the Assembly Government was to dismiss any discussion and to fall back on their sp...

Interesting response by the UK Government to the growing problems of NEETS (highlighted on January 8th). It suggests that the school leaving age should be raised to 18. However, if the right type of vocational courses are not put into place within our schools and colleges, will merely raising the school leaving age solve the problem for the 15 per cent of school leavers who are currently economically inactive?

I have just completed a detailed research study on the distribution of Objective 1 funds in Wales. It shows that instead of ensuring that all parts of West Wales and the Valleys fully benefits from European Structural Funding, the process has been more of a lottery with very little effort to ensure that funds are distributed equitably across the poorest regions of Wales. Whilst £644 million was awarded to local projects across West Wales and the Valleys, the lack of any strategic allocations has meant that the process became one of ‘first come first served’ which did not take into account the differences in relative prosperity or population amongst the fifteen counties qualifying for Objective 1 funding. As a result, some local authority areas have managed to secure a greater share of European funds for activities within their locality. Whilst the whole rationale behind European structural funding is to increase the prosperity of all the parts of Europe, these statistics clearly show t...

A story on the BBC today about yell.com creating ' a potential' 250 call centre jobs in Newport after getting a grant from the Welsh Assembly Government. According to Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies, "The city is a recognised and well established hub of excellence in this sector offering a superb communication infrastructure and a high quality, skilled and adaptable workforce which was one of the deciding factors in Yell's choice of location." If so, why did Yell need a massive grant from the public sector? Yet another example of where the grant system has gone completely wrong in Wales.

Neets is a new economic and social phenomenon that is being discussed by politicians and policymakers and, yes, they are coming to a street near you. No, they are not the latest group of aliens which Doctor Who will have to battle to save the universe. Neets is the term now being given to an increasing number of young people ‘not engaged in education or training nor in employment’ and living on the margins of society. Without help and support, they will end up as a massive burden on the state. For example, a study from the Department for Education and Skills estimates that the current cohort of 16 to 18-year-old Neets in the UK will cost a total a minimum of £15 billion, including more than £8 billion in unemployment benefits. Three-quarters of those appearing in youth courts – mainly for committing burglaries and thefts - are Neets, and 71 per cent of this group have used drugs, with 10 per cent classed as addicts. In Wales, statistics show that approximately 51,000 of those young peo...

Came across this fascinating article last week about part-time entrepreneurs. It would seem that an increasing number of people are becoming involved in starting their own business whilst holding down a full time job. This reflects many the findings of the GEM Wales study which showed that many entrepreneurs are actually employed when starting a new business.

Fascinating article in today's Daily Telegraph about the failure of utilities firms to get electricity, water and telephone lines on time to many companies in the UK The most striking comment was from the National Federation of Buil ders, which – in a survey of contractors across 500 building sites – found 50 per cent of projects were delayed because of utility companies, with 31 per cent of builders reporting financial losses as a result. I wonder what the situation is like in Wales?