The Cardiff Business Partnership has today written to the Secretary of State for Wales The Rt. Hon. Cheryl Gillan MP PC. The Cardiff Business Partnership believes that investment in the UK’s core infrastructure is an important policy priority rightly highlighted recently in the UK Comprehensive Spending Review. Adrian Clark the Chairman of Cardiff Business Partnership said “ We are concerned that the capital investment decisions announced since the CSR will not support economic growth across the whole of the UK. In particular, the planned £1 billion electrification of the Great Western Main Line (GWML) from London to Swansea may not... Continue reading

Rhys Jones a vastly experienced international surveyor and local Bala man confirmed that he wishes to purchase of the Vyrnwy estate as a long term investment. The 23,000-acre (93 sq km) site featuring conservation areas and a nature reserve is being sold by a utility firm Severn Trent .Mr Jones and a local Team confirmed that they are keen to invest. Mr Jones has assembled a local experienced team .Mr Jones said “I am fully aware of the importance of this site to Wales and particularly local concerns about the future investment- that is why I thought long and hard... Continue reading

I enjoyed listening to the Bank of England’s chief economist Spencer Dale tonight. Speaking at the Cardiff Business School this evening Mr Dale said that while inflation in the last 41 out of 50 months had overshot the Bank’s consumer prices index inflation target of 2%, he stressed that it was important not to forget that the current level of 3.1% was a “long, long way from the high and volatile inflation of the 1970s and 80s”. Mr Dale, who studied economics as an undergraduate at Cardiff University said: “One of the cornerstones of our economy’s stable and consistent growth... Continue reading

The newly dedicated "Guardian" sculpture that has been built on the site of the old Six Bells Colliery at Abertillery in South Wales is astonishing.I visited it on Saturday.My Father worked for 40 years for the Coal Board and gave his life to the industry.It is designed to commemorate the disaster that occurred in the colliery 50 years ago on June 28th 1960, when a gas explosion ripped through the colliery killing 45 of the 48 men working. Designed by artist Sebastien Boyesen, it stands 20 meters tall, the statue being 12.6m in height, and the plinth 7.4m. Boyesen, who... Continue reading

Race on the lookout for business buddies Aug 10 2010 by Graham Henry Media Wales THE world of business will be well represented at the annual Cardiff 10k run as the number of corporate teams pledging to take part has surged. Businesses are being urged to take part in the run, which is run to raise money for Kidney Wales. This year the race – which is sponsored by banking giant HSBC – will feature more than 4,000 runners and the number of corporate teams pledging to take part has reached 72, and organisers expect to have around 110 teams... Continue reading

When forefathers/mothers promoted ysgolion meithrin in Cardiff and comprehensive schools “Hywel Teifi like” across Wales in the 70′s they were despised and considered ” immigrants “from West or North Wales or “odd” with very little social awareness – “that to get on you spoke English ” in whatever class circles. Apparently, 83 languages with “global” influence are spoken and written by 80 percent of the world population. Most of the others face extinction at a rate, the researchers say, that exceeds that of birds, mammals, fish and plants. Not welsh as Wales stands for a deeper heritage. Real Wales values... Continue reading

Business has always discussed the indigenous versus the inward investment needs of the economy.The naive say that Wales cannot rely on inward investment .In a minute we might only have indigenous to rely upon.That would be a disaster.The answer is that Wales needs both.The SME sector feeds off the larger investors Bosch, Visteon, Hoover, Linemar,Indesit are all brands we have lost in recent times.Investment sticks for a while and key inputs are developed in the economy. The continued denial that figures on the economy are not important reminds us of rugby teams who think that performance is more important than... Continue reading

Good News and Bad News in the Economy UK business investment jumps most since 1987 in first quarter Investment by UK businesses increased at the fastest pace in more than 20 years in the first quarter of 2010, boosted by the services and construction sectors. Welsh exports for the four quarters up to and including quarter 1 2010 were down 16.8 per cent on the previous four quarters (sum of the devolved countries and English regions down 5.2 per cent). Figures for quarter 1 2010 in isolation were down on the same quarter of 2009 and the previous quarter. All... Continue reading

The Twitter Interview May 26 2010 by Sion Barry,Business Editor- Western Mail National Newspaper of Wales Siôn Barry talks to director of the Cardiff Business Partnership and the Public Trust Partnership, Roy Thomas, via Twitter where responses are limited to 140 characters @SionBarry: How would you rate Cardiff in entrepreneurial terms? @RoyJThomas: High. As I meet people every week in business small to big who have built businesses of great value – we do not lack talent. @SionBarry: Is Cardiff well served by WAG in terms of business support and infrastructure investment into the capital ? @RoyJThomas: Without a capital... Continue reading

Milan and Cardiff will be different places today. Why do some teams succeed? Why does sport especially football play such a big part in these Cities and to the lives of the fans? Cardiff lost to Blackpool in what was known as the the most profitable soccer match worth £1 million pounds a minute and Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League Cup Final to win the most prestigious competition in Europe. The unfortunate fact for Bayern Munich and Cardiff was that the teams they faced were on a streak of success. Blackpool had each time come back... Continue reading

Wales rightly can get passionate about rugby football and the welsh language. The world's languages are disappearing at the rate of one a fortnight. The National Assembly Commission which runs the National Assembly has been warned it could face legal action if it abandons written translations of debates from English into Welsh. The recommendation by an independent panel that a fully-translated record of proceedings should no longer be published yesterday has promoted debate. In view of public expenditure cuts this is sensible but surely there are bigger issues like the activities of S4C and preservation of its budget. I will... Continue reading

What's trust got to do with it? What’s Trust Got To Do With It? – a Briefing Paper examining public trust in and expectations of politicians and Parliament draws on the latest academic research about public trust, politics and Parliament and is based on working group discussions conducted by the Hansard Society, the Political Studies Association (PSA) and the Centre for Citizenship, Globalization and Governance (C2G2) at the University of Southampton. Politicians have rarely been trusted, and the expenses scandal did not therefore lead to a collapse in trust in politics and politicians because levels of trust were already so... Continue reading

The High Commissioner of India visited Cardiff today and addressed a packed audience at the Cardiff Business Club. H.E. Mr. Nalin Surie stated “India is playing a progressively larger role in the global economy. But, we are not in competition with any other economy. We are not mercantilist in our approach. Our basic growth paradigm remains anchored in domestic demand and meeting the growing social welfare needs of our population. He added “We seek access to technology, cooperation in R&D, development of urban centres, up gradation and expansion of our educational sector and increase in productivity in agriculture and food... Continue reading

According to a Guardian Survey Britons online are a discriminating bunch who trust specialist advice sites and their friends' social content more than the views of celebrity bloggers or tweeters, according to a survey conducted by ICM on behalf of the Guardian and first direct. The survey, of a random sample of 752 adults, asked Britons from a nationally representative online panel for their opinions on trust in the digital age. (You can see the full results in graphical format here). The over-riding conclusion is that we're a cautiously trusting bunch - 56% of respondents thought that "most people can... Continue reading

Since we live in an urban age more than half our World population have lived in cities which increases the need to get City Planning right.This year the World Health Organisation World Health Day 7 of April focus on urbanisation and health. It is the right message.We must live in our Cities and not be governed by local authorities intent on telling citizens on what to participate in.Cities needs need to be lived in and be healthy. Worldwide, virtually all population growth over the next 30 years will be in urban areas, with the most explosive growth taking place in... Continue reading

" It's time for our business and political leaders to help redefine morality beyond sex, drugs, and rock and roll to include lying, hypocrisy, and callous indifference to those in need." Arianna Huffington As we face the next 30 days of electioneering - public services are facing their biggest challenge for at least a generation. But will we have a real discussion. Capital and revenue spending in the public sector.We understand both are under pressure. Real life is clearer when walking on mountains.We need more shepherds and not managers in politics.Walking on the mountains of Wales over Easter demonstrated what... Continue reading

Britain’s 100 Biggest Brands Trusted brands and value for money became more important than ever before according to the annual Britain’s 100 Biggest Brands report compiled by The Nielsen Company and published in trade magazine, The Grocer, the report ranks the 100 best selling grocery brands in Great Britain. The 2009 sales value of the top 100 brands accounted for £16.7 billion (12.9%) of the total £130 billion grocery market, an increase of 4.5% Year on Year. The growth was ahead of total market growths which were 3.8% for the year. Topping the table again this year is Coca Cola,... Continue reading

Political parties are positioning obviously for the UK Election. Political leaders know they have to find something more inspiring than an offer of years of austerity and disillusion. It is a tough call. The economy shrank by 5% last year, the biggest fall since the Great Depression. The contraction over the six quarters of the recession was 6.2%. That peak-to-trough decline was less severe than in Japan, Germany and Italy, but the recession lasted longer in the UK than in any other G7 economy. The Treasury’s projection of 1.25% growth this year seems reasonable. But its prediction of 3.25% in... Continue reading

TIME TO START TAKING THE INTERNET SERIOUSLY By David Gelernter "In short: it's time to think about the Internet instead of just letting it happen." Introduction: Our Algorithmic Culture By John Brockman Edge was in Munich in January for DLD 2010 and an Edge/DLD event entitled "Informavore" — a discussion featuring Frank Schirrmacher, Editor of the Feuilleton and Co-Publisher of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Andrian Kreye, Feuilleton Editor of Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich; and Yale computer science visionary David Gelernter, who, in his 1991 book Mirror Worlds presented what's now called "cloud computing." The intent of the panel was to discuss —... Continue reading

An article by Assembly Member David Melding in Wales Home reminded me of the great work undertaken by faith and cultural groups in Cardiff. A comment on the article clearly believes that communities only exist outside the Capital.Cardiff is a community of communities. Our Spiritual Capital report http://www.spiritualcapital.org.uk/docs/spiritual-capital-cardiff-report-final.pdf seems to have been lost in the many reports written of faith works in this secular world.It is clearly too real for our secular authorities and agencies. It provides a narrative to the Gweini Report, ‘Faith in Wales - Counting for Communities’ which estimated that the economic value of the contribution of... Continue reading

Research on propery in South East Wales demonstrates that the demand for employment property in Wales is driven by four key sectors: Business Services; Manufacturing; High Technology; Sales and Distribution.Not only is the number of companies requiring manufacturing accommodation falling, but the type of accommodation is also changing. The extent of accommodation required by manufacturing firms is diminishing and the majority of manufacturing demand is for modern, flexible units of between 2,000 sq ft and 3,000 sq ft. The manufacturing industry is experiencing a decline nationally in the United Kingdom and the south east Wales property market has been heavily... Continue reading

Today on World Kidney Day 12 of March 2010 - Kidney Wales Foundation announces the launch of a new " Kidney Wales Research Fund" in Wales. Kidney Wales will kick start the fund with £100,000 and invite expressions of interest from researchers who wish to prevent renal disease and alleviate the cause of kidney failure. Bids to the Fund are being sought from researchers across Wales and interest has been shown from overseas and particularly the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative MedicineWinston-Salem in the United States. The mission of World Kidney Day is to raise awareness of the importance of... Continue reading