Making the case for investing in Western Gateway

I was delighted to host the City of London Lord Mayor this month at the ICC Wales in Newport on behalf of the Western Gateway.

I was joined by our Partnership’s Vice Chair and Leader of Newport City Council, Cllr Jane Mudd, its Director, Jo Dally, and leaders from industry and our investment and innovation communities.

We were there as a partnership to demonstrate the world leading work going on across our area and make the case for more investment.

 

Who is the Lord Mayor?

Alderman Vincent Keaveny is the 693rd Lord Mayor of the City of London and a global Ambassador for the UK's financial and professional services sector.

Together, financial and professional services employ 2.3m people across the UK, with two thirds of these jobs outside of London. 

Companies in our area have joined previous Lord Mayors’ overseas delegations to raise their profile and take advantage of investment and commercial opportunities around the globe.

 

What was discussed?

Everyone in the room spoke to the area’s success stories and commitment to investing in talented people and businesses.

Representatives from Thales UK (one of the biggest cyber firms in the country), the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult, SETSquared (the global no. 1 business incubator and enterprise partnership), FinTech Wales, Tramshed (fastest growing business incubator in Wales), Wesley Clover, DST Innovation and TechSPARK Wales joined us to make our case.

We all committed to shout ‘loudly and proudly’ about the vibrant and dynamic start-ups and scale-ups across our area as we deliver our Partnership’s mission to add a further £34 billion to the UK economy whilst powering our transition to Net Zero.

 

We know that we have real strengths here. 

Western Gateway has a proven track record in creating clusters of strength.

55% of the World’s Compound Semiconductors (which power all modern mobile phones) are manufactured in our area.  We have Europe’s most advanced cyber cluster, are home to two of the UK’s financial tech clusters and have globally leading strengths in creative industries within our borders.

On top of all of this, we are a wonderful place in which to live, work and play.

But there is more to be done.

Our talented people and companies need better access to sources of investment around the world.. And we need to continue to work together to invest in creating a talented and diverse workforce of the future.

 

What next?

By the end of the session, the Lord Mayor was impressed by the “great stories” our area had to tell.  It was great to hear him state his support for “strengthen[ing] the future of the Western Gateway and the great partnerships” we have here.

Like everyone in the room, we are ready to help him share success stories on the global stage and are committed to working together to attract the national and international investment our talented people and businesses need to thrive.

Follow Western Gateway as we work to build a greener, fairer future for all.