OK, so 2012 won’t be a year of easy money, booming high-street sales and fast-moving construction projects. On average, companies in Wales will bump along. But have you ever met an average Welsh company?
The threats are obvious. Tight corporate, public and consumer spending at home, and trouble in the eurozone, which has provided export markets for many of our companies. But the world is not going to end. There will be opportunities, and here are a few. First, export markets. If Europe looks a bit dicey, try further afield. Our interviewees Paul Strothers and Ian Plummer at Contour Aerospace (p29) are number one in China in their chosen market. All from Cwmbran. So it can be done.
Working with universities and colleges is another opportunity. At our Business and Education conference (p20) I got a sense that academics want to provide advice and solve complex problems. But there was frustration among some companies with a process that can be unfamiliar or too complex. It’s worth pursuing, though.
Then there’s the Olympics. OK, Wales has missed out on most of the big construction and procurement projects. But contracts will be available right up to the Games and beyond. And what about the spin-off benefits for tourism and inward investment? Wales has the nearest decent scenery to London, and great outdoor and stadium sports facilities, and Cardiff offers a cultural alternative to Home Counties blandness.
Devolution should also provide some help. You may not love everything that business minister Edwina Hart does, but she takes advice and acts on it. There’s a new grant fund for growing businesses and Finance Wales has £40m more to invest in smaller companies.
I don’t want to be complacent. Wales is at the bottom of the UK league table for gross value added, and big companies have closed factories or gone bust here over the past couple of years. But I reckon we have taken the pain upfront by losing businesses that would have gone later anyway. The rest of you, hopefully, are stronger, more flexible and able to take up opportunities. Have a happy new year.
Douglas Friedli, editor
Also in: January 2012
-
Interview - Paul Strothers & Ian Plummer
Douglas Friedli travels to Cwmbran to meet the men who run luxury aircraft seat maker Contour Aerospace on the eve of its takeover
-
University Challenge
Wales’ universities have a big effect on the economy. Nicola Porter looks at the challenges they face and at how they will be affected by reform face