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THE PERFORMANCE OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS WALES


Finally, I have managed to track down the latest performance data for International Business Wales (IBW).

However, I had to go directly to UKTI for this information as it was not forthcoming from the Welsh Assembly Government.

For the record, this is the performance for IBW for the year 2009-2010.
  • 65 new projects
  • 3,431 new jobs
  • 3,931 safeguarded jobs
This gives a total of 7,362 jobs created or safeguarded by IBW, which is a higher number than the other devolved regions of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

More importantly, IBW has been responsible for 7.8 per cent of all inward investment related jobs in the UK, well above what is expected for Wales.

Therefore, congratulations can finally be offered to the team at IBW that have done their nation proud against their regional rivals and, more importantly, have generated nearly 3,500 new jobs at a time when we have lost nearly 50,000 in the private sector as a result of the recession.

What is shameful about this whole episode is that WAG has been sitting on this data for about ten days but have steadfastly refused to publicise the success of IBW because of the Minister's decision to abolish the body as part of his new economic strategy for Wales.

I would have thought that the creation of 3,500 new jobs and beating most of your regional rivals would have been a cause for celebration but political imperatives were far more important than demonstrating that the Welsh economy finally has a good news story.

I just hope the Minister, his advisers and senior managers have been suitably embarrassed by IBW's excellent performance at a time when has been little else to celebrate during the last two years.

I know they won't change their mind over their decision to close down the division - when was the last time you saw a politician apologise for making a mistake - but at least IBW staff can hold their heads up high knowing they have done a great job for Wales PLC.

Well done to every single one of you. You have done Wales proud.

Comments

Unknown said…
Wales PLC has a good ring to it, must use it more.
Anonymous said…
well done for getting hold of the figures Dylan, keep up the good work.
Anonymous said…
The fact that IBW is going is not relevant. What is relevant is that WAG has made a massive error of judgement. These job figures do not include the IBM investment of 800 jobs which WAG is keeping quiet but which was approved just after the end of March. Again, well done IBW.
Anonymous said…
COP makes a good point on her blog- do they have a duty to keep us informed?
Anon - I have heard something similar and it just shows the work that has been done by IBW, despite being under intense scrutiny internally.

Of interest is the fact that the charge of misuse of travel expenses was headline news - the fact that a very expensive KPMG audit has now cleared IBW of this charge has never been released by WAG. Yet another shameful control of information by WAG.

VM - the accountability of Ministers within WAG has declined considerably since the demise of the WDA. In those days, the Minister, WDA chairman and its chief executive would have to appear every six months to explain themselves.

This never happens anymore so when do AMs get a chance to scrutinise IWJ and his department in detail. So much for democratic accountability?

I also have it on good authority that the Western Mail will be running a piece next week on IBW, so hopefully a lot of this will come out then.
Anonymous said…
As someone who still works for what was IBW, can I take this opportunity to thank you for posting up this information. We had not been informed officially of what our performance for last was.

Keep up the good work.
Anonymous said…
I'm immensely grateful and humbled by your kind words Dylan. We have had absolutely no thanks from senior civil servants or the Minister.

It would also have been nice if the Minister had the good grace to also release - in the same level of detail as the original accusations - the findings of the investigation of our expenses which have exonorated IBW of any systematic wrongdoing. Publishing this report would do much to restore staff reputation and more importantly - in terms of the Welsh economy - our morale. It's not a nice feeling to see headlines calling us "unscrupulous civil servants claiming dodgy expenses" and having no right of reply.

Of course once you have been labelled a bunch of crooks by the media few people will stand up for IBW. Thank you for your courage in doing just that.
Anonymous said…
I had the honour to manage this department before it was amalgamated into WAG. It was then and still is, staffed by a team of professional and dedicated individuals. They gave freely of their personal time and always fought tooth and nail to get every project they could often in the teeth of fierce competition from other, often better resourced regions. Sadly it waas always the expenses and international travel aspect of their work that was focused upon rather than their achievements. Good professional sales teams are not easy to manage. They are frequently percieved ans the troublesome wild child and I fear that removing the hassle of managing such a team is a greater motivation for the closure than any economic consideration. A balanced economy needs a mixture of home grown business and foreign investors. the latter do not simply turn up. They have to be fought for in an extremely competitive environment. The arrogance in assuming that investment will simply just happen is astonishing. A sad loss to the Welsh economy but other regions in England, Scotland and the rest of Europe are celebrating. A significant competitor has been removed from the market place by it's own parent company.
Anonymous said…
If IBW has attracted around 3,500 new jobs through inward investment this year alone and I would assume that these will be recruited over the next 12 months, this makes Oxford Economics' forecasts for new jobs by 2015 slightly ridiculous unless it is assuming that no other jobs will be created by inward investors after IBW's closure.

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