Skip to main content

Interview with Sion Barry on Fast Growth 50



This week, we celebrated ten years of the Fast Growth 50. Here is a video interview which I undertook with Sion Barry to discuss the origins and success of the project.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Dylan - some left wing blogger called Amlwch to Magor has decided to have a go at your fast 50. Obviously is one of that group of people who do little for Wales but who take great delight in attacking those who do. The Fast 50 is a great initiative which celebrates the best of welsh business and you should proud of what you have achieved.
Anonymous said…
There seems to be a "get Dylan" campaign by some Labour-Nat trolls - no doubt the usual suspect researchers within WAG - which shows how effective you are, especially compared to the rest of your party in Wales. Keep up the good work - you are rattling their empty cages.
I have looked at these posts and it is the usual sad political backbiting by people who clearly believe that they are helping Wales by spreading malicious gossip and lies.

As stated, the piece quoted was written by Sion Barry, business editor of the Western Mail, and I didn't have anything to do with it. Of course, I was naturally flattered by what he said, as Sion normally does not take prisoners.

However, what saddens me is the attempt to belittle the fast growth 50 project, and everything it does for the firms who take part.

The project is apolitical and focuses on the success of indigenous businesses.

It is their comments and those of the business sector which are important.

Let me share two with you which I have received in the last couple of days alone:

“Just wanted to thank you for all your sterling efforts in organizing Friday’s event, and everything that preceded it. My colleague and our wives thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and even though we didn’t win an award found the whole thing engaging and really quite exciting. You have somehow managed to turn a cynic into an enthusiast – I’d like to be able to attend again”.

“This just a note to thank you for the Fast Growth 50 gala dinner on Friday. I really enjoyed being there and that you for making that possible. I thought your setting of the scene speech was absolutely terrific. Apart from setting a very positive atmosphere for the rest of the evening, it reminded me and I’m sure most of us, of the important contribution these companies are making. No message could be more important at this difficult time."

I think that says it all.

Popular posts from this blog

THE CRACHACH

Unlike me, do you consider yourself part of 'the establishment' here in Wales?  As thousands gather for the Eisteddfod in Mold this morning, they will, according to some social commentators, not be participating in the greatest cultural festivals of Europe. Instead, they will merely be bit-part players in one of the annual gatherings of the great and good of Wales.  Unkindly, this set of the movers and shakers in Welsh society is known as 'the crachach' , and constitute a social class all of their own, dominating the educational, cultural and media sectors of Wales and allegedly looking down upon any outsider with new ideas, reinforcing mediocrity and failing to see beyond the limits of their own narrow experience.  They are said to live in a comfort zone that awaits the expected invitation to the next glass of chilled chardonnay and canapés, forgetting that due to their lack of leadership and drive, Wales remains firmly rooted to the bottom of the UK prosperity league ...

THE FUTURE FOR SILICON VALLEY

During the last twenty years, there have been many academics, politicians and policymakers (including yours truly) who have looked over to the innovation developed in Silicon Valley, California and wondered if we could ever emulate that success here in Wales. Whilst the former First Minister Rhodri Morgan proposed only last week that South Wales could become the “UK’s answer to Silicon Valley”, he is not alone in the world with such a suggestion for his local area. With imitation often being the sincerest form of flattery, many others regions across the globe have tried to emulate the ‘secret sauce’ that has led to this small valley to the South East of San Francisco becoming the seedbed for world-leading companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Google. But after fifty years of success, can it maintain its position as the premier location for innovation in the World? This is a question that its own business community has recently been asking itself. This has culminated in a...

Turn the Welsh Blogosphere Blue

It's not often I will criticise my party in public but we have really got to pull our finger out over our presence on the web, especially as it is estimated that we only have four active bloggers (and I am one of those!). This despite having a significant presence by individual Welsh conservatives on networking sites such as Facebook . It is disappointing that only Nick Bourne has a blog presence amongst our AMs and that Glyn Davies (who started his blog when down in Cardiff Bay) is the sole parliamentary candidate with an active blog. As far as I know, not one of our councillors is currently blogging. Many will say that they don't have the time to do this but we are all busy people and one of our hardest working shadow ministers, David Jones MP, makes the effort to blog nearly every day. Others will say that there is nothing to write about, so why do I get at least ten press releases every day from the Welsh party? Some have told me that it is a waste of time because the ...