British American Business 2009 | UK Regions | Wales

Wales

Focus: Wales

With its commitment to innovation and excellence, as well as a supportive, affordable business environment, companies from across the globe are making Wales their home – and International Business Wales is there to assist every step of the way

For more than a quarter of a century, International Business Wales (IBW) and its predecessors have been assisting companies that choose Wales as the natural gateway to the UK and the European markets.

Businesses come to Wales because they want access to the UK and easy entrance to Europe and the rest of the world. They stay because of the Welsh commitment to innovation and excellence, the solid, creative academic infrastructure, the friendly and open business environment – and because Wales is a wonderful place to live. Perhaps the best proof of how well you are doing is repeat customers. Wales is expert at holding on to its friends – 60% of the companies that locate in Wales reinvest there. It is a record we are proud of and intend to preserve.

International Business Wales is the economic development and trade development arm of The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). IBW knows how important access to the right person and speed of decisionmaking is when dealing with real life business decisions. Our agency and WAG are modern, flexible and completely aligned with real business needs.

We call our approach “Team Wales” and believe in long-term relationships that help companies establish, grow and then reinvest in Wales. IBW acts as a single point of contact, embracing local authorities, educational institutions, the private sector and WAG.

Specialist Support

With this “one-stop” approach, a company moving into Wales can find a solution to its needs, whether that means finding the right commercial property or securing government funding – which is the best in Europe with the maximum assistance levels available in the UK.

IBW operates through its specialist teams, which will:

• Help companies locating in Wales to quickly incorporate themselves and to find local legal, accounting and financial firms to service them.
• Find the right site for a company in a comprehensive database of useful property in Wales.
• Deliver the site and if appropriate provide a turnkey solution, complete from procurement, design, project management and construction.
• Assist in locating suitable local talent.
• Supply contacts at local industry trade groups and names of potential local suppliers of goods and services.
• Foster and enhance links between industry and academic institutions, matching investors with developers of new products and processes.

Our unique Welcome to Wales service assists your people and their families to find the right housing, gain access to Wales’ excellent education system, obtain work permits, and anything else that makes sure they move quickly into their new homes, taking the stress out of relocating and allowing your staff to focus on establishing and growing your business.

Businesses find that Wales is affordable. Land costs less. Salaries for skilled software developers in Wales can be 30% lower than other parts of the UK. Staff retention levels are among the highest in the UK, too, and costs are 20% lower. Still, Cardiff is less than two hours from London by train and less than two hours from Heathrow. Wrexham in North Wales is less than 40 minutes from Manchester and just over an hour from Birmingham. Cardiff Airport has direct flights throughout the UK and to the continent.

Incubators and business clusters

A countrywide network of business incubators under the umbrella name of Technium unites academic researchers, small and large businesses and government support personnel to develop new ideas and assist young companies to grow into successful businesses. The network includes the original Technium in Swansea, the nearby Technium II, which houses companies that have outgrown their space in the original building, and other incubators in fields including sustainable technologies, optoelectronics, creative media, digital technology, performance engineering, and earth sciences. (Visit www.technium.co.uk for more information on Technium.)

Incubators and trade groups such as MediWales, The Welsh Optoelectronics Forum, ITWales and others build the sense of community that helps businesses flourish. Let’s examine the opportunities for business in Wales in established markets (information technology, aerospace and defense, life sciences,) and emerging sectors (solar, wind, water) – the renewable energies and sustainable technologies of the 21st century.

Massive Markets

Demand for software, computer services and telecommunications in the UK and Europe is huge. The European Union’s appetite for information and telecommunications technology is voracious – almost $823bn – and the UK devours $250bn of that. Wales is the gateway to those markets. The nerve center of the UK’s electronics technology industry is the M4 Corridor, a superhighway that runs from London to the west coast of Wales. One quarter of the UK’s fast growth companies are on or near the M4. Almost 700 IT companies employ 11,000 people in Wales. They work on everything from software for the travel industry, to monitoring gas station sales to tracking telecommunication networks to providing IT services. IBM, Logica, EDS and International Rectifier are familiar roadside logos.

To sustain and grow those companies, Wales’ highly ranked universities are completely focused on graduating talented and well-trained people. The Institute of Advanced Telecommunications (IAT) at Swansea University in the south of Wales is developing applications and new technologies for medicine, transport, entertainment and construction and other industries. IBM and Motorola are just two of the international software giants who are collaborating with IAT.

Since it won a $2bn contract in 2001 to supply the UK Ministry of Defence with a next generation secure communications system, General Dynamics (GD) has expanded its operations in Wales several times. It established its only Edge research center outside the US in Wales, and is now one of the leading UK exporters of defense systems. GD works closely with Cardiff University to develop educational programs to support its efforts, and to involve small and medium sized companies in its projects. EADS and QinetiQ form a cluster of defense aerospace companies with GD in Wales, nurturing smaller companies and fed by university technology graduates.

Staying Healthy

Wales is well situated to go after the international defense market, and the ever-growing demand for healthcare products and services. The UK healthcare market exceeds $160bn and the exports are more than $20bn. The National Health Service’s budget is set to increase by 4% per year until 2010-11, taking it from $130bn (£90bn) in 2007-08 to $160bn (£110bn) by 2010-11.

Welsh universities are first rate. Sir Martin Evans, a Nobel Prize winner in 2007 for his stem cell research, is on the faculty of Cardiff University. A new high performance computing center is used in advanced cancer research and analyzing the structure and operations of the human brain. The School of Medicine at Cardiff University is one of the largest in the UK, employing nearly 500 academic and 300 support staff. Over 1,000 undergraduate and 1,100 postgraduate students are currently enrolled on medical and science courses. Swansea University houses an IBM supercomputer at its Life Sciences Institute, one of the largest, if not the largest, computer of its kind dedicated solely to healthcare research. In north Wales, Bangor University is a recognized center for research in biochip (lab-on-a-chip) and biodielectrics.

Lighting up the World

The world energy crisis has driven home the need for all countries to develop energy efficient technologies in order to preserve the environment. Wales is home to two of the UK’s three manufacturers of photovoltaic devices – Sharp Manufacturing and ICP Solar. “There is such a strong optoelectronics industry in North Wales, allowing us to capitalize on the huge growth in demand for solar energy products,” says Gordon Butler, General Manager of Sharp’s Wrexham plant.

The American company G24i successfully launched a plant in 2007 in Cardiff to manufacture flexible photovoltaic power packs for cellular and other portable devices. G24i has raised $100m to finance its operations and has won contracts with cellular operators in emerging markets. The company’s Cardiff facility is the UK’s first zero-carbon production plant. G24i is a big step towards delivering the government’s pledge to make Wales a center for renewable energy. “We found a very good site for the factory in Wales, the level of bureaucracy limited and the turnaround time on the site very quick,” said J Clemens Betzel, President, G24i Innovations Limited.

Situated on Britain’s Atlantic coast, Wales is a natural site for wind energy. There are currently 25 offshore and onshore wind farms operating in Wales. Eight more projects have been approved and another 19 are planned. For instance, npower renewables, one of the largest utilities in the UK, has received approval to build the largest wind farm in Europe off the north coast of Wales. Its maximum electrical output could supply electricity for almost 500,000 homes. Other major utility companies such as E.On and Falck Renewables are running wind farms in Wales now, and planning more.

Water too

npower renewables has formed a new partnership, SeaGenWales, to develop a tidal power plant off the north Wales coast that could be powering up to 6,000 homes by 2011. A young company, Wave Dragon, moved its headquarters from Denmark to south Wales to test its system for producing energy from tidal currents. The biggest project of all would be the $15bn plus Severn Barrage in southern Wales. If approved, it could provide 5% of the electricity for all of the UK. Welsh Universities are active in supporting the search for new forms of energy. The engineering department at Cardiff University includes specialists in integrating low-carbon energy technologies in decentralized systems, and exploring strategic planning and management.

G24i collaborates with the University’s Centre for Energy, Waste and the Environment to evaluate new products and alternative solar film cell materials. Swan Turbines, founded by a Swansea University professor, developed an ocean-based system for generating electricity using underwater turbines. Researchers at North East Wales Institute’s Centre for Solar Energy Research specialize in bioorganic and materials chemistry. Bangor University’s chemistry department has expertise in advanced materials such as dye-sensitized titania solar cells, which are used to build low-cost solar panels.

In a nutshell

The government, educational and business communities of Wales are committed to building the country’s economy through cooperation and collaboration. Support for new investors is available from the first day they arrive, throughout the time they are in Wales. That attitude makes Wales a great place to work and live.

For more information, contact:
International Business Wales
Wales International Center
21st Floor
The Chrysler Building
405 Lexington Avenue
New York
NY 10174
Tel: 646 792 8915
E-mail: ibwales@wales.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.ibwales.com