Calls for a growth deal in mid Wales from NationalAssembly

LAST week, the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee of the National Assembly for Wales called for a growth deal for mid Wales.

This would be in addition to the deals currently being negotiated for the Cardiff Capital Region, Swansea Bay and north Wales.

The committee’s report, City Deals and the Regional Economies of Wales, calls for a growth deal for mid Wales given the dependence of the region on agriculture, dispersed population, historically low rates of productivity and the high proportion of SMEs in the region.

The committee notes that there is a strong sense in mid Wales that other regions are getting an unfair boost to their regional economic development.

FSB Wales supports the call for mid Wales to have a growth deal and this is something that FSB Wales has been trying to work towards for some time.

Mid Wales is home to a dynamic SME community – as a businessowner in Talgarth, this is something that I am proud to be a part of.

FSB Wales’ recent report Going Solo: Understanding Self-Employment in Wales shows that mid Wales has the highest proportion of the workforce in self-employment of anywhere in Wales.

While the Wales average for the proportion of people in self-employment is 13%, the proportion of people who are self-employed in Powys is 23%, and in Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire it is 19%.

We have been very clear that, as the Cardiff, Swansea and north Wales deals are negotiated, SMEs (which make up 99.4% of Welsh businesses) should be given as much access as possible to the benefits accruing from any deal. The high levels of self-employment in mid Wales show just how important it is to ensure that this becomes a reality.

FSB members in mid Wales tell us that any growth deal would have to include establishing and improving upon the building blocks of a growing economy. Transport infrastructure and digital connectivity are just two of the issues raised by our members time and time again. We must be able to move towards having good and consistent Wi-Fi and mobile phone coverage in mid Wales, as well as ensuring that transport infrastructure is upgraded so that this area of Wales is further unlocked for small businesses who seek to travel around mid Wales.

A growth deal for mid Wales must also look at how we continue to support medium-sized businesses to grow and develop.

A recent FSB report, Wales’ Missing Middle, found that policy support for medium-sized firms – those that hire between 50 and 250 members of staff – was underdeveloped by the Welsh Government.

Growing sustainable, indigenous businesses across Wales should be a key priority of the Welsh Government in the upcoming economic development plan, and this agenda should be carried through to the priorities for a deal designed to grow the mid Wales economy.

Earlier this year, FSB Wales called for a Rural Taskforce which would manage a Rural Challenge Fund.

This fund would be aimed at supporting local projects designed to help rural businesses diversify and expand. This could be a key component of a growth deal.

We welcome the call for a mid Wales growth deal.

The job now is to work with local stakeholders – local authorities, businesses, the Growing Mid Wales partnership – to ensure that we can work together to make the idea of a mid Wales growth deal a reality for businesses.

This deal has potential to be the first of its kind to be centred on SMEs from the outset, and poses a host of opportunities for small businesses in mid Wales.

Janet Jones is chair of the FSB Wales’ policy unit.