Business support and investment

Carolyn ThomasLabour

27 February 2024, Plenary

Statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change: The Welsh Government’s Response to the North Wales Transport Commission

…it in-house, so there's no funding to back it up and there's been no development funding either for the investment zone for Flintshire and Wrexham. So, it feels to me as if it's just words, there's no funding to back it up, yet the free port has had £200,000 of development funding, which they're…

Tagged for: “investment zone”Official Record

Lee WatersLabour

27 February 2024, Plenary

Statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change: The Welsh Government’s Response to the North Wales Transport Commission

…plans, based on this, I hope, the Burns report, this pipeline of schemes, which will make the Wrexham investment zone tie in with the town of Wrexham and where the people who are living there need to get to, and tie them up to public transport, so that they don't have to have a car. People will…

Tagged for: “investment zone”Official Record

Sam RowlandsConservative

27 February 2024, Plenary

Statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change: The Welsh Government’s Response to the North Wales Transport Commission

…your earlier comments, but it was pleasing to see that the report recognises the importance of the new investment zone for Wrexham and Flintshire as well, which is, I think, a very welcome initiative. The report says that 'An investment zone will benefit people in north Wales in terms of employment…

Tagged for: “investment zone”Official Record

Paul DaviesConservative

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

Your evidence will be very important in our inquiry. A copy of today's transcript will be sent in due course, so if there are any issues with that, then please let us know. But once again, thank you for being with us today.

Tagged from the title of its item or question: “Development Bank of Wales”Official Record

Ben Cottam

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

…this landscape in the UK, which is quite limited. We've not undertaken an assessment more widely of the development bank and similar entities. I know that Professor Dylan Jones-Evans mentioned the Canadian model, which, because of the task and finish group, is the model that we're most familiar…

Tagged for: “development bank”, “Development Bank of Wales”Official Record

Luke FletcherPlaid

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

…there, do you think there are any examples of good practice within comparator organisations that the development bank could learn from and implement themselves?

Tagged for: “development bank”Official Record

Ben Cottam

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

…have only one side of that conversation because we don’t—. We have a more active conversation with the development bank, but they will be unlikely to go into a commercially sensitive individual conversation with us. So, it does give a visibility of trend—that process would give a visibility of trend…

Tagged for: “development bank”Official Record

Samuel KurtzConservative

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

…definitely something that should require more scope and investigation, given the development of the development bank over the years, or its increasing role within Wales's economic footprint.

Tagged for: “development bank”Official Record

Ben Cottam

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

The complaints that we receive, such as they are, tend to be—. Quite often, it is those who have been unsuccessful in a bid for funding. You have to be very cautious about that, in the same way as if it was a high-street bank. It may well be a business is disgruntled, but it might be quite right…

Tagged from the title of its item or question: “Development Bank of Wales”Official Record

Samuel KurtzConservative

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

…Dylan Jones-Evans, he talked about a complaints procedure or concerns around the involvement of the development bank in businesses. Do you think that, or do you have any views on how effectively businesses are able to raise concerns or complaints regarding the development bank?

Tagged for: “development bank”Official Record

Ben Cottam

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

…2015, I couldn't tell you, but I think we do see innovation. I think we do see responsiveness from the development bank to some extent, and the green loans fund is an example of that. How innovative the green loans fund is is another question, but I think it is responsive. Again, we've not taken a…

Tagged for: “development bank”Official Record

Samuel KurtzConservative

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

Sticking with the task and finish group, a suggestion from them was that the bank would develop its own 'innovative approach to provide solutions that directly address the needs of the SME sector.' Now, FSB focus predominantly in the SME sector, but do you think there has been an innovative approach…

Tagged from the title of its item or question: “Development Bank of Wales”Official Record

Ben Cottam

22 February 2024, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

Development Bank of Wales inquiry: Panel 2 - Welsh Business Perspective

Not with funding institutions. What I can speak to is the development bank's proactive engagement with networks such as ourselves and other networks. And I think that that is pretty good, to be fair, the visibility of the brand, but the outward-facing nature of its activity, of its staff, is very…

Tagged for: “development bank”Official Record