Minister gets down to business in Mid Wales (Kirsty Williams AM )

Cymraeg
English

Kirsty Williams AM <info@kirstywilliams.org.uk>

Minister gets down to business in Mid Wales

February 8, 2008 3:00 PM

Left - Right: Cllr John Brunt; Tom Davies, Stagecraft UK; Ieuan Wyn Jones Minister for Economy and Transport; Kirsty Williams AM

Kirsty Williams AM today took Ieuan Wyn Jones, Minister for Economy and Transport, to visit the Mid Wales Manufacturing Group. The Minister met with local business representatives at Stagecraft Ltd, a retail display manufacturer, based in Llaithddu near Llandrindod Wells to see the work they are doing and discuss the difficulties they are facing.

Kirsty Williams, Lib Dem spokesperson for Economy and AM for Brecon and Radnorshire commented; "I am pleased that the Minister agreed to come and see the work of this Manufacturing group and the companies it represents.

"It is vital that the Assembly Government is made to recognise and experience first hand the importance of business and entrepreneurialism in rural areas such as this.

"These companies are essential employers within their local communities and contribute significantly to the regional economy, they desperately need support to survive and expand and I hope that the Deputy First Minister will be as impressed as I am by the talent and shear determination that businesses have in Mid Wales. I hope that this visit will show him what can be achieved and convince him to support our rural businesses so that we can maintain these success story's and develop many others.

"The companies made a number of important points to the Minister regarding the poor support and infrastructure that they have to constantly fight against. We need more financial support, more business advice, along with improved transport links and a greater emphasis on training and skilling the workforce. I will continue to push for the Minister to address these concerns through strong and decisive action that encourages our SMEs to flourish rather than beats them into the ground."

The Managing Directors of the companies present expressed a number of important concerns to the Minister, including:

the lack of grant support and the difficulty in applying for the little that exists

the need for greater accessibility to specialist training;

the lack of use of local companies for public and large private contracts

the need for improved East-West as well as North South Transport links

the need to secure the future of manufacturing in Wales

the need to address the skills shortage

Notes:

The 14 year old 'not for profit' organisation is owned by its 180 Mid Wales based member companies , each of which employ 42 staff on average and with 12% employing over 100. The group provides to its members support through information sharing on best practice, networking between companies and encouraging local supply chain development.

Kirsty and the Minister met with representatives of Framewise Limited, Mangar International, Compact Orbital Gears, Clayton Engineering Limited and Stagecraft Ltd the Host Company.