Supporting small firms with a big impact on brand Wales
WHAT does brand Wales mean to us? Earlier this year I was very proud to have been appointed as chair of the FSB Wales Policy Unit, and this evening I will be welcoming guests to the FSB Wales Annual Dinner for the first time in my new role.
I am passionate about the opportunity we have to engage smaller businesses on the issues which matter to them and, working with colleagues in the Welsh Government, UK Government, National Assembly, local government and beyond, to turn that into a positive and impactful conversation about how we take the Welsh economy forwards.
I am very fortunate to have taken over this role from Janet Jones, who led this activity for some 10 years and is well known to many within the Welsh business landscape.
It will be my pleasure tonight to recognise Janet’s significant contribution to business in Wales.
Tonight’s theme is “Wales in the World” and we are focusing on the important and increasing role of Wales across the world, recognising the important part smaller businesses play in that activity.
Smaller businesses contribute massively to projecting the Welsh brand and in creating a better awareness of our country, our culture and our economy.
Whether it is through vital export activity – which across our economy increased by almost £2bn last year – or in partnering with academic institutions to generate innovation or simply in creating a network of contacts across the world, these businesses play an important part in promoting not just Wales but the wider United Kingdom.
Welsh businesses that may have never directly traded internationally are also a vital part of ensuring that Welsh products are exported throughout the world, and so often this activity in overlooked.
We know that Airbus wings are manufactured in north Wales and shipped to Toulouse, where they are fitted to airliners that travel the world, but they would not even get out of the gates at the factory in Broughton without the skill and expertise of a small business supply chain supporting them.
It goes without saying that we are at a crossroads. Brexit has obviously instigated a huge debate about not just the role of exports and the need to protect and develop that activity, but what our global relationships will need to be in the future to help grow our economy and create opportunity.
A fifth of Welsh smaller businesses export.
These businesses are highly reliant on EU markets – they represent our closest trading platform and many businesses have used these to “cut their teeth” before moving on to wider global markets.
EU countries accounted for over 60% of Welsh exports last year and we want to see that activity continue in the easiest and least costly way for those businesses.
There are also big opportunities to prospect in new markets around the world.
We have a very strong Great Britain brand led by the UK Government and there is huge potential for Welsh businesses to leverage that brand and that activity to their advantage.
There is much we can do not only to add to the strength of that brand, but also to raise the visibility of Wales’ own brand in the process.
FSB Wales has recommended that the Welsh Government should commit to the development of a Trade and Investment Strategy which would join up all of its functions in this area and task trade and investment activity whether at home or abroad.
Wales’ worldwide brand is something that I am incredibly proud of, and I look forward to spending this evening with politicians, business-owners, journalists and stakeholders from across Welsh public life, celebrating our achievements and beginning the conversation about how we build on our Welsh identity in the years to come.