Thanks to modern technology, I was able to keep in touch with the modern world and still write articles for the Daily Post and Western mail while sitting next to a pool in the Algarve on a long-overdue family holiday.
Portugal is a wonderful country and is also the UK’s oldest ally, which partly explains the warm welcome we get every time we come here. Having been a regular visitor to the Algarve since 1990, perhaps the biggest improvement I have seen is the motorway that joins the airport at Faro in the east of the Algarve with Lagos in the west.
This road, paid for with Objective One money, has opened up economic opportunities in the west of the country by cutting the journey from three hours to just over one. Certainly, this development has lessons in spades for those who object to North-South road links in Wales, although that is an article for another day.
Just before flying out to Portugal, I organised the annual Wales Fast Growth 50 dinner at the Holland House hotel in Cardiff. With 420 guests, it was possibly one of the biggest Welsh business events of the year, especially as only the FG50 firms and the sponsors of the awards were invited to the dinner. I am certain it will be even bigger and better next year when 10 years of the Wales Fast Growth 50 project will be celebrated.
As would be expected, I was extremely nervous when called to address the gathered throng, so it was no surprise when I made a classic faux pas by accidentally saying how important the public sector is to the Welsh economy!
While this is technically correct, I meant to say the private sector, and I am sure I will be ribbed about this mistake for a while. At least the video evidence is safely locked away.
Perhaps the most intriguing speech of the evening came from Leighton Andrews, the WAG’s deputy economic development minister. Mr Andrews, who brings some much-needed business experience to this portfolio, briefly discussed the role of government and said his door would always be open to any firm that needs support from the Assembly Government.
I certainly hope this is the case and that the businesses present that night will take full advantage of this offer.
Certainly, policy-makers have been very slow to make any use of the Wales Fast Growth 50 project. Indeed, five years ago, I was ready to hand over the management of the project to the business support division of the WDA.
Of course, they prevaricated and ended up doing absolutely nothing with the project. This was a missed opportunity, as many of the firms that have appeared on the list during the past five years could have been given greater support to take them to the next level of growth – as their owners have pointed out to me over the past few weeks.
The door will always be open if the Assembly wants to look again at working with the Fast Growth 50 project and adding real value to this unique initiative. If they want to see evidence of the work we do, especially in terms of learning from successful firms, this can be found on the www.fastgrowth50.com website.
Mr Andrews also said to me after the awards that the Assembly is in the process of delivering a small-business policy that would impress even a hardened cynic like me. I certainly hope so, although the signs have been ominous during the past few months, with support for start-ups either being wound down in favour of greater centralisation or being far too expensive, as we have seen with Finance Wales raising its interest rate to nearly three times that of the base rate.
One of the main lessons that policy-makers in Wales seem to have forgotten over the past couple of years is that the creation of an entrepreneurial economy needs more start-ups. This year’s Fast Growth 50 list has a far higher proportion of firms that have been started in the past five years, and we need a greater focus on this neglected part of economic policy to ensure more people take the step into starting a business.
In particular, there should be a specific focus on supporting women and young people to become more entrepreneurial, as these two groups could make a massive difference, especially as they have been totally under-represented on every Fast Growth 50 list since 1999.
As I said at the awards evening, my dream is to be able, one day, to publish a Wales Fast Growth 500. If we can move towards achieving that challenge, then the future will be bright for the business sector and the Welsh economy as a whole.
Portugal is a wonderful country and is also the UK’s oldest ally, which partly explains the warm welcome we get every time we come here. Having been a regular visitor to the Algarve since 1990, perhaps the biggest improvement I have seen is the motorway that joins the airport at Faro in the east of the Algarve with Lagos in the west.
This road, paid for with Objective One money, has opened up economic opportunities in the west of the country by cutting the journey from three hours to just over one. Certainly, this development has lessons in spades for those who object to North-South road links in Wales, although that is an article for another day.
Just before flying out to Portugal, I organised the annual Wales Fast Growth 50 dinner at the Holland House hotel in Cardiff. With 420 guests, it was possibly one of the biggest Welsh business events of the year, especially as only the FG50 firms and the sponsors of the awards were invited to the dinner. I am certain it will be even bigger and better next year when 10 years of the Wales Fast Growth 50 project will be celebrated.
As would be expected, I was extremely nervous when called to address the gathered throng, so it was no surprise when I made a classic faux pas by accidentally saying how important the public sector is to the Welsh economy!
While this is technically correct, I meant to say the private sector, and I am sure I will be ribbed about this mistake for a while. At least the video evidence is safely locked away.
Perhaps the most intriguing speech of the evening came from Leighton Andrews, the WAG’s deputy economic development minister. Mr Andrews, who brings some much-needed business experience to this portfolio, briefly discussed the role of government and said his door would always be open to any firm that needs support from the Assembly Government.
I certainly hope this is the case and that the businesses present that night will take full advantage of this offer.
Certainly, policy-makers have been very slow to make any use of the Wales Fast Growth 50 project. Indeed, five years ago, I was ready to hand over the management of the project to the business support division of the WDA.
Of course, they prevaricated and ended up doing absolutely nothing with the project. This was a missed opportunity, as many of the firms that have appeared on the list during the past five years could have been given greater support to take them to the next level of growth – as their owners have pointed out to me over the past few weeks.
The door will always be open if the Assembly wants to look again at working with the Fast Growth 50 project and adding real value to this unique initiative. If they want to see evidence of the work we do, especially in terms of learning from successful firms, this can be found on the www.fastgrowth50.com website.
Mr Andrews also said to me after the awards that the Assembly is in the process of delivering a small-business policy that would impress even a hardened cynic like me. I certainly hope so, although the signs have been ominous during the past few months, with support for start-ups either being wound down in favour of greater centralisation or being far too expensive, as we have seen with Finance Wales raising its interest rate to nearly three times that of the base rate.
One of the main lessons that policy-makers in Wales seem to have forgotten over the past couple of years is that the creation of an entrepreneurial economy needs more start-ups. This year’s Fast Growth 50 list has a far higher proportion of firms that have been started in the past five years, and we need a greater focus on this neglected part of economic policy to ensure more people take the step into starting a business.
In particular, there should be a specific focus on supporting women and young people to become more entrepreneurial, as these two groups could make a massive difference, especially as they have been totally under-represented on every Fast Growth 50 list since 1999.
As I said at the awards evening, my dream is to be able, one day, to publish a Wales Fast Growth 500. If we can move towards achieving that challenge, then the future will be bright for the business sector and the Welsh economy as a whole.
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