One of my favourite academic books of the last two decades must be the “Rise of the Creative Classes” by Professor Richard Florida. This was one of the first detailed studies of the growing group of individuals who use their creativity and mental labour to earn a living and not only included those in arts and entertainment, but also people working in science and technology as well as knowledge-based professions such as healthcare, law, business, and finance. Fast forward to 2022 and Professor Florida has written an updated report on the creative classes although he and his team now identify a different type of individual who is taking full advantage of the growth in digital platforms, social media, and online marketplaces. Such ‘creators’ are defined as those who use digital technology to make and publish unique creative content, whether in the form of video, film, art, music, design, text, games, or any other media that audiences can access and respond to. They ...
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Sandy Mewies: Yes, on techniums. Professor Board was here last week, and he is one of the people who came up with the original technium idea. While he and the others on the Gibson group felt that they were successful in part, there was also some concern that they could not access data, because the data did not seem to be there. A review is under way, I understand. However, the original concept of the techniums seems to have gone slightly awry, in that, instead of being a stream, it has become more of a property base. Do you have any thoughts on that, Deputy First Minister, and are you reviewing it at the moment?
The Deputy First Minister: Yes, that is the case. First, it is necessary for us to establish that the concept of techniums is sound. There are some examples of excellent working, and some that are perhaps not so good. It is a bit of a mixed picture, and we accept that, which is why I think it necessary for us to have a review. I have visited most of the techniums, and so I know that some excellent work is being done by some of them. I will ask Gareth to elaborate on some of the detail of the review, but one area that we need to look at is the idea that companies that come out of universities establish themselves in a technium and then move on. The question then is how do they move on? We have not quite been successful enough in moving on with the investment in the business. That is clearly one area that we need to look at. However, there is some excellent work going on. Gareth, do you want to talk about the way that the department wants to see the review taken forward?
Mr Hall: It was me, Professor Ken Board and Professor Marc Clement who dreamed up the idea of techniums back in 2000. As the Deputy First Minister said, the original concept holds true, but there are aspects of it that have perhaps taken a back seat and need to be brought to the fore. We set up the techniums as a hothouse environment in which people could come with their good ideas, and as a place where they could grow and prosper. The techniums occupy top-class accommodation, and I think that Professor Board is right to say that the emphasis was on the accommodation. Companies will tell you that they have got into the supply chain only because of the quality of the premises—when you have big companies coming to see you, that first impression means a lot.
The Deputy First Minister: As some have, of course.
Mr Hall: Yes, and we have spoken to the ones that have. Enfis Ltd, for example, said that it was great to have that kind of accommodation in Swansea, but the best business support that we gave to it was expert tuition on presenting to the City to attract money. When a small company goes to the City, it gets just a quarter of an hour to pitch its case, so that kind of support was nothing to do with facilities or the quality of the accommodation. We need to gear our business support towards making a difference to those businesses. There is a cultural issue, and that came to the fore in the recommendations of the ministerial advisory group. How do we get these companies aspiring to be the next generation of medium-sized businesses? Are they looking outside the box, as David mentioned? A lot of these people get into a comfort zone, and then they do not look for opportunities beyond their traditional boundaries.
Gareth Hall: The other big point is that venture capital needs to be introduced. When we originally thought up the concept, we wanted a technium venture capital fund. There is a filtering process that makes those sorts of businesses attractive to venture capitalists, but the work that we are doing with the European Investment Bank, and with Finance Wales, aims to get money into small businesses particularly by making these companies’ ideas presentable, so that they can attract finance. That is where a lot of the energy must go for the future.
The Deputy First Minister: Just to add to that, Gareth mentioned persuading companies currently employing 10 staff to grow to employ 100 staff. We currently have 89 companies housed in technium buildings with 750 people working for them, so imagine the potential for growth in some of those. It is absolutely enormous, and the review will need to give a lot of impetus to that.
Mr Hall: As an example, companies graduated from Technium 1 in Swansea to Technium 2, and three of those companies are now going into a new building opposite the original site, which has attracted European funding. However, they have also invested their own money in the expansion of the premises. We have just agreed the terms of reference of the economic research advisory panel, which will conduct a thorough review and benchmarking exercise on the technium concept. I do not know when that is going out to tender.
Mr Price: Probably in the next six months.
Mr Hall: So, that report will be concluded in six months.
Note that back in June 2010, no decision had been reached on the Techniums in the ERP and yet another review was ordered. If I were Gareth Jones, I would be dragging James price and Gareth hall back before the committee to know why they have presided over such a disaster.