SEARCH BEGINS FOR WALES FAST GROWTH 50 2011

Today, the Western Mail, in association with the University of Wales, begins its annual search for the fastest growing Welsh companies.

Established in 1999, the Wales Fast Growth 50 aims to identify the fifty fastest growing firms in Wales. Now in its thirteenth year, it has become firmly established as one of the main barometers of entrepreneurship in the Welsh economy and the list of business success that companies across Wales aspire to.

Last year, the 50 fastest growing firms in Wales created 1,400 new jobs and increased their sales by an incredible £305m in the middle of the worse recession since the 1920s .

The 2010 fastest growing firm in Wales was recruitment company Smart Solutions, which achieved an incredible growth rate of 3400 per cent between 2007 and 2009. Operating in a highly competitive marketplace, the company became successful by investing heavily in its infrastructure, always putting its staff first, and developing innovative ideas and strategy in a stale market.

Led by its chief executive Nathan Bowles, Smart Solutions is continuing to grow its share in its niche market whilst increasing its presence outside of Wales. On receiving the award last year, he praised the company’s staff for driving the company’s rapid expansion. "It was great for us to get the award and it was a great achievement for the staff after all their hard work and dedication," he said.

The 2011 list of the fastest growing firms in Wales will appear in a special supplement, which will be published by the Western Mail on Wednesday 21st September, in association with the University of Wales.

There will also be a special gala dinner, which will take place at the Holland House Hotel in Cardiff on Friday September 16th 2011. This exclusive event, sponsored by Capital Law, Santander Bank, Hays Recruitment, Venture Wales, Media Wales and Logicalis, has become one of the most prestigious in the Welsh business calendar and, yet again, promises to be a showcase of the best of Welsh enterprise for all attending.

HOW TO GET ONTO THE 2011 FAST GROWTH 50.

To qualify for the Fast Growth 50 2011 competition, firms should:

- Be independent and privately held (not a subsidiary or branch plant of another company)
- Had sales of at least £250,000 in 2008
- Be based in Wales

Rankings will be based on percentage growth of revenues from 2008 to 2010

The closing date for entries is June 17th 2011.

An entry form for this year's competition can be requested by contacting fastgrowth50@wales.ac.uk or by visiting the website http://www.fastgrowth50.com/

PROACT AND ITS LIMITED EFFECT IN NORTH WEST WALES

Daily Post column, May 2nd 2011

During this election campaign, we have had the unedifying row between Labour and Plaid Cymru over which party was responsible for developing the Pro-Act scheme.

As you may recall, this Welsh Assembly Government programme was put into place to help companies during the recession by encouraging them to avoid redundancies through supporting workers to train instead.  It was available to businesses that had introduced short time working and faced the threat of redundancies.  It offered £2000 per individual towards training costs and a further wage subsidy of £2000 per worker whilst this training was being undertaken.

Across Wales, it can be argued that the scheme did its job, safeguarding 10,635 jobs in 250 firms at a cost of £27 million, although there has been some dispute as to how many of the jobs were actually under threat of redundancy at the time. Yet, whilst the political wrangling has gone on between the two parties that made up the last Assembly Government as to who was responsible for its development, no-one seems to have asked whether the every part of Wales has benefited fairly and equally from the funding made available through the Pro-Act scheme.

Well, according to a report written by Assembly Members’ Research Service, it would seem that funding has been geographically concentrated.

Not surprisingly, two thirds of the Pro-Act funding has gone to businesses based in South Wales, with only 15 per cent going to firms located in North Wales. The county that received the largest amount of funding was Neath Port Talbot, with £3.2 million going to 18 companies, safeguarding around 1700 jobs, although it is to be noted that Tata Steel received a third of this funding to support a thousand employees at its main Welsh plant. This contrasts with Ceredigion, where one firm received £31,680 to support eight of its workers.

In fact, it would seem that rural areas such as North West Wales have again lost out when it comes to receiving support from major Assembly initiatives. In Conwy, Anglesey and Gwynedd, only sixteen companies were supported by Pro-Act and the amount they received came to only 2 per cent of the total funding given out by the Welsh Assembly Government under this initiative. Contrast that with individual counties such as Rhondda Cynon Taff, which received 10 per cent of the Pro-Act budget and Swansea, which received 8 per cent.

I cannot believe that businesses across North West Wales, which were facing the same difficult economic conditions as those in South Wales, would not have applied for financial support from this programme. Why has so little been done to support businesses in these three counties, especially compared to other parts of Wales?

With Anglesey being the poorest county in the whole of the UK, you would have thought that it would have been an economic imperative for the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure that businesses across the island were made aware of the financial support available through Pro-Act. Yet only five businesses were supported on Anglesey during the worst recession for generations.

During the last two years, Labour and Plaid Cymru have constantly described the Pro-Act scheme as being their solution for the economic recession that hit many Welsh businesses. Yet, these statistics show that it has had little effect on some parts of our economy. Certainly, the next Assembly Government needs to ensure that any large scale business support programme needs to be focused not only on those old industrial areas in South Wales but also on the more rural areas such as North West Wales where businesses face many similar challenges.