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Cardiff mulls VC fund
Cardiff Council is drawing up plans to establish a venture capital fund for early stage companies. The fund would help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into profitable businesses, and is likely to invest particularly in the creative sector, which the council believes is underfunded. The council hopes to invest alongside the public and private sectors in an investment fund that would take equity stakes. Neil McEvoy, the council’s executive member for economic development, said: “I want Cardiff to adopt this exciting approach, leading the way to show other local authorities how they can derive the same success. It will involve risk, but a calculated risk that could have much wider benefits in the medium to long term for the local economy.”
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Mint could be sold
The UK government is considering selling off the Royal Mint, which makes coins in Llantrisant. The Mint is one of a number of agencies, also including the Met Office and the Ordnance Survey, which could be privatised to help offset the ballooning national debt. The Mint was earmarked for privatisation in 1999 but those plans were shelved in case the UK joined the Euro, which would have involved a big investment in production. 
Backing for social business
Social enterprises in west Wales and the Valleys can tap into a £7m growth scheme aimed at supporting 150 existing organisations and 50 new enterprises over five years. The Social Enterprise Support Project is backed by £3.6m from the European Union’s Convergence programme and £3.6m match funding from the Welsh Assembly Government. The project, unveiled this week by regeneration minister Leighton Andrews, will be delivered by the Wales Co-operative Centre and aims to create 300 jobs. Social enterprises include co-operatives and companies with altruistic objectives.
Assembly makes holiday plans
Heritage minister Alun Ffred Jones will outline the Welsh Assembly Government’s tourism strategy at a conference in north Wales on 15 December. The summit follows a meeting in Cardiff this week where the minister and Jonathan Jones, director of tourism and marketing at visitor agency Visit Wales, looked into how Wales could be marketed. The principality has struggled to hold its share of the tourist market in recent years but could benefit from the weaker pound and more expensive flights prompting UK tourists to holiday here.
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Regeneration time for Amlwch
Anglesey Council will tomorrow reveal ambitious plans to regenerate the historic mining town of Amlwch. The scheme includes building a “civic hub” at Amlwch Port Square, redeveloping the quayside area and developing a cycle and walking route that will link the town with Parys Mountain, which was the source of its copper mining wealth. The proposals will be unveiled tomorrow with a consultation period running until 12 December.
Broadband plan unveiled
Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones will unveil details of the Assembly’s £30m FibreSpeed broadband service for north Wales today. The project, the first of its kind in the UK, will involve more than 200 miles of fibre optic cabling and switches being linked to 14 business parks by network provider Geo. The business parks to benefit include Parc Cybi on Anglesey; Parc Menai, Parc Bryn Cegin and Victoria Dock in Gwynedd; Llandudno Junction, Parc Caer Seion and North Wales Business Park in Conwy; St Asaph Business Park in Denbighshire; St David's Park, Deeside Industrial Park, Hawarden Business Park and Warren Hall in Flintshire; and Wrexham Industrial Estate and Wrexham Technology Park.
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Prince Charles to be upgraded
Willmott Dixon, the construction company, is starting work on a £28m contract with Cwm Taf NHS Trust to refurbish Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil. The project will run for three-and-a-half years and will include refurbishing and modernising the 12 original hospital wards and replacing windows. Brian Drysdale, managing director of Willmott Dixon, said the firm was seeking further hospital work in Wales.
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FSA advises on inclusion
The Financial Services Authority and Welsh Assembly Government held talks this week on how they can help savers and borrowers understand and control their finances. The discussion will feed into the Assembly’s first Financial Inclusion Strategy, which will be published for consultation in early 2009. Social justice minister Brian Gibbons wants more affordable credit and savings, wider access to mainstream financial services and improved access to financial and debt advice.
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