PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

According to a report last week from the think-tank Centre for Cities, cities play a significant role in the national economy by being home to home to 56 per cent of businesses, 59 per cent of jobs and 63 per cent of output despite covering only nine per cent of land.  As such, they are attractive to firms, especially those operating in consumer and retail services because of the scale and density of people and businesses located in one place In particular, they play an important role as locations for consumers, with amenities such as shopping centres, theatres and restaurants not only being important to those living and working within these conurbations but also in attracting those living outside to spend their money.  The study shows that not only do cities offer a more diverse set of amenities than other parts of the country, two-thirds of specialist amenities are to be found in cities as their size means they can cater for more niche and expensive markets. For example, 69 ...

Back in November 2014, I was attending the Caerphilly Business Awards at the Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel and Spa complex where the best of the county’s entrepreneurs and businesses were being recognised amongst their peers. It was a brilliant evening hosted by Jamie Owen and one which brought the local business community together in a way that many other events simply fail to do. However, the one thing that kept coming back to me as every award was being announced was the absence of similar awards for Cardiff despite the impact of the city on the Welsh economy. So, the next day, I contacted Grapevine Events Management – which was responsible for organising the Caerphilly Awards – and suggested we should set up the Cardiff Business Awards in 2015 to recognise outstanding achievement in business and celebrate talent, ambition and innovation from across our capital city. One of the distinguishing features of these awards, which many other competitions did not have back in 2015, is...

With the campaign continuing to save Gwdihw, the independent music venue in Cardiff which remains under threat of closure at the end of this month, perhaps it is time for a reminder of the importance of the creative industries sector – which includes music, performing and visual arts – to the UK economy. One in eight UK businesses are creative enterprises in areas that range from advertising to fashion to film to museums. More relevantly, they are together responsible for generating £102 billion of gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy which, believe it or not, is a larger contribution than the automotive, aerospace, life sciences and the oil and gas industries put together. What is remarkable about the continuing success of the sector is that it is driven by entrepreneurial individuals. Not only are the majority of creative enterprises employing less than 10 people (i.e. microbusinesses) but a third of the workforce are self-employed freelancers. And, according to a recen...

Earlier this week, millions of people across the UK poured into towns and cities for the Boxing Day sales although they probably would have paid little attention to their surroundings. Indeed, few would have realised that a significant proportion of the high streets up and down the country have now nearly completed their decade long transformation into clone towns containing the same chain shops, cafes and restaurants. As a result, we have seen a gradual decline in the numbers of independent traders resulting in the loss of any character in many town and city centres although some are, thankfully, fighting back. At the same time, there is concern that in the absence of any civic protection, historic buildings in towns and cities which currently house those remaining independent businesses are not only under threat from developers but are being replaced with soulless blocks of accommodation either for private rent or, increasingly, for students who want to live in the centre of t...

Like many others at the beginning of this year, I had a long look at what had happened in the previous twelve months and decided to make some changes to my life. Apart from the usual health and fitness promises (some of which, believe it or not, are still being kept), one of the real challenges was being able to make the time to spend with people I find interesting, stimulating and can really add something special to my life. Like everyone else, life had just become too busy to take even a few hours off regularly to catch up with those brilliant individuals who encourage and motivate you to better things. So after talking this through with two close friends - Gareth Jones of Town Square and David Williams of the Youth Development Agency – we decided to each identify a small number of people we would like to invite for a regular night out of great food, good wine and brilliant conversations. As a result, we had our first ‘supper club’ at Casanovas in Cardiff in February and s...

With homelessness beginning to become a major issue in towns and cities across the UK, the latest statistics shows that there are 188 individuals sleeping rough on the streets of Wales. This represents a 25 per cent increase on the previous year with over a quarter to be found in Cardiff. Whilst there are fantastic charities such as Shelter Cymru, the Wallich, Llamau and Huggard that are all looking to solving this problem, last week saw the establishment of a new venture by one amazing individual and his daughter which will support the homeless within the capital city. Jeff Smith is a former Cardiff Devils professional ice hockey player who, after the death of his best friend Gary Cloonan (whose nickname was Moose), set up Bigmoose as a non-profit organisation with the clear intention of “doing fun stuff that Since then, Bigmoose has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charities through various activities including Jeff climbing Mount Everest last year and then organisi...

In his latest budget last month, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that the UK Government would be scrapping the Severn bridge tolls by the end of next year. This follows considerable pressure from various business groups and a vote by all political parties in the National Assembly for Wales for backing the abolition of tolls on the crossings between the West of England and South Wales. This will finally bring an end what many businesspeople see as a tax not only on entering Wales but on future opportunities for greater investment and access to key markets by Welsh firms. When the first Severn Bridge was opened on September 8th 1966, the charge for crossing into Wales was set at two shillings and sixpence (or 12.5p in today’s money). Not surprisingly when Government gets a chance to tax the public (and despite the building of a second Severn crossing in 1992), this fee has gradually increased over the last fifty-one years and now stands at £6.70 for cars and £20 fo...

Launched in 2015, the Cardiff Business Awards have recognised outstanding achievement in business and celebrate talent, ambition and innovation from across Wales' capital city. This year’s awards – to be held in Cardiff City Hall on June 23rd 2017 - come at a time when Cardiff is developing an exciting future that will ensure its continued economic growth over the next few years. One of the key influences on this renaissance will the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal. Ratified on St David’s Day, this £1.2 bn of public funding will unlock significant amounts of private sector finance to boost jobs and prosperity not only in Cardiff but across the wider region. It includes funding of £734m for the South Wales Metro  - which will transform the transport infrastructure around Cardiff and the surrounding areas - as well as support for innovation, digital infrastructure and business. But before even a penny of this funding is spent, there are already major property investments...

On the day of the elections to the National Assembly for Wales a number of local authorities in England were casting their vote for a mayor to run their councils. Unfortunately in Wales, voters were not given the same opportunity as no Welsh council has adopted this new model of local governance. Could that be about to change? Back in February, a campaign was launched in Cardiff to give the people of the capital city a voice, via a referendum, as to whether they would want a mayor rather than retaining the current local authority arrangements. It is not an easy task as, under the rules for such a petition in Wales, a minimum of 10% of the population has to sign up for change (as compared to 5% for England) and that has to be done within six months. In other words, 25,000 signatures have to be gathered by November in order to trigger a referendum. The only alternative is that the full council could vote for a referendum for a mayor for Cardiff without having to have the fo...

New businesses are the lifeblood of all growing economies, creating innovation, vitality and, most importantly, jobs in local communities. For example, research from the Kauffman Foundation in the USA shows that start-ups are responsible for almost all new net jobs and have created an average of 1.5 million jobs every year in America during the past three decades. However, many of those who spot the opportunity and take the risks to launch a new product or service are often the unsung heroes of the business community. That is why, in partnership with Liz Brookes of Grapevine Events, I launched the Wales Start-Up Awards this week to finally acknowledge the achievements of these entrepreneurial individuals, their new ventures and their contribution to the Welsh economy. Well, having managed the Wales Fast Growth 50 project for the past 18 years, I realised that in addition to supporting fast growing businesses, there was also a need to specifically recognise those new Welsh bu...

One of the most interesting and rewarding experiences over the last year was my role at chairman of the judging panel for the very first Cardiff Business Awards, organised by local firm Grapevine Events. As far as I am aware, these awards are the only ones where, in addition to the normal application form, the shortlisted companies have to present in front of a panel of independent adjudicators. With nearly fifty firms appearing over two days, it was a highly intensive process especially because, as chair, I had to be present for every business that came before the panel. However, it was thoroughly enjoyable to meet so many great businesspeople and to see how they loved working and living here in Cardiff. Since the first Cardiff Business Awards back in 2015, there have been some interesting economic developments in the city. Probably the most important of these was the agreement for a £1.2bn City Deal for the Cardiff Capital Region. This is expected to create 25,000 new job...

While nearly every other local authority area in Wales has an annual award ceremony to recognise the achievement of local businesses, Cardiff has yet to establish such an event. However, that anomaly is about to end with the recent launch of the inaugural Cardiff Business Awards. Organised by local company Grapevine Event Management, the aim is to bring together the Cardiff business community to celebrate those individuals and businesses that are establishing the city as a great business location. In doing so, the awards have received the backing of the City of Cardiff Council, Cardiff Business Club and the Cardiff Business Council. NatWest Bank, so long a major financial force in the city, are principal supporters for the awards evening and will be highlighting the new commitment they are making to the start-up community through their proposed Entrepreneurial Spark incubator which will be opened early next year. Major players in the business life of the city, including Cardi...

As I didn't realise I was being filmed during the recent evening organised by the Cardiff Civic Society in conjunction with the Institute of Welsh Affairs, to consider the Local Development Plan (LDP) for Cardiff, this is slightly embarrassing! As some of you may know, Cardiff Civic Society has been researching, collecting data, making responses about the development of the city and most specifically its Local Development Plan for nearly five years. This process comes to a conclusion as the City Council Deposits its LDP for the Welsh Government to consider and this meeting was one of the last opportunities to express an opinion on the document and the way forward. Anyway, here is my short contribution to the debate (and yes, no powerpoint slides!). There are also contributions available from Mark Barry , Rhodri Morgan , Kevin Morgan and John Punter .  

Last month, I left the University of Wales after five years to take up a new chair in entrepreneurship and strategy at Bristol Business School. It will be a fascinating challenge but not one that means that I will be leaving the world of business and enterprise in Wales. I will remain as a business columnist for the Western Mail and its sister paper in North Wales, the Daily Post. The Wales Fast Growth 50 – which is in its fifteenth year – goes from strength to strength and we have a full house for the award ceremony in October. I am also continuing to work closely with the Welsh Government to complete the second part of the access to finance review by the end of the year. More importantly, of course, I will still be living in Wales and spending my income in the restaurants and pubs of Cardiff! In fact, having been employed within the Welsh university sector since 1996 when I returned from Ireland to take up my first chair at the University of Glamorgan, a number of friends...

I rather like Russell Goodway. There, I’ve finally said it despite not always seeing eye to eye with the Labour councillor for Ely and, of course, having very different political views to his. Indeed, as I have myself sometimes been described by some as the human equivalent of marmite, I can probably empathise with the perception that some people have of Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for finance, business and local government. And whilst I am not always in agreement with what he has done in the past, there wasn’t much to argue with what he said as he stood in front of the capital city’s business community last Friday morning to launch a consultation to help develop a long-term economic development strategy for Cardiff. Although businesspeople I have spoken to since suggested that more detail on the day would have been useful, Mr Goodway did finally admit that the Council couldn’t do this all on their own and that they need the private sector to step up to the plate with t...

Western Mail Column 10th March 2012 I am sure it will have been a massive disappointment that Cardiff was not chosen as the site for the UK Government’s £3 billion Green Investment Bank. Given the worries by Westminster politicians over the independence vote in Scotland, the choice of Edinburgh as the site of the bank’s new headquarters was not much of a surprise, especially as the Scottish capital is already a major financial centre. However, the real prize for South Wales from the UK Government is still out there, namely securing funding from the Department for Transport funding for the electrification of railways. Already, business cases have been prepared by the Welsh Government and submitted to the Department for Transport. One focuses on the extension of the electrification of the Great Western main Line to Swansea, whilst the other on the entire valley line network, including lines to Ebbw Vale, Maesteg and the Vale of Glamorgan as well as the core valley lines north ...