Investment opportunities at Welsh Enterprise Zones promoted at International Festival for Business

Investment opportunities and the unique business benefits available at the eight Enterprise Zones in Wales will be promoted to a global audience this week at the International Festival for Business in Liverpool.

Enterprise Zones are top of the agenda at the International Property Forum – Enterprise Britain event on Wednesday 22 June when the Welsh Government will be promoting the sector specific Zones around Wales.

Economy and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Ken Skates, who attended the opening of the Festival earlier this month, said:

“This is a great opportunity to promote the unique offer we have in Wales to an international audience and to highlight the benefits of locating in one of the Welsh Enterprise Zones.

“We are a pro-business government and our Enterprise Zones reflect this with a range of benefits and support on offer that is specifically designed to help companies grow their businesses. The International Festival is set to attract more than 30,000 delegates from 100 countries and provides a great platform to get our message across that our Welsh Enterprise Zones are creating new opportunities for investors and businesses.”

Chris Sutton, lead Director at JLL Cardiff and Chairman of  Central Cardiff Enterprise Zone who is representing all the Welsh Enterprise Zones as a panellist at the Forum, said the event would promote and showcase the attractive business environment being created in the Zones across Wales.

He said:

“Within the Welsh Enterprise Zones we are creating attractive  business environments   – regional hot-spots – which are smarter, more dynamic and more responsive than competing locations, whether in England or in Wales.

“Each Enterprise Zone provides a focal point for investment and employment through the removal of barriers and the provision of incentives to encourage investment.

“Each zone in Wales offers very different characteristics but, together, they create a balanced portfolio of locations to satisfy a wide range of enquiries from both inward investors and businesses already located in Wales.

“The Zones have become a real focus for business investment and projects such as Aston Martin in St Athan, the proposed Egnedol energy project in the Haven and Raytheon and Calbee in Deeside are just some of the headline acts in the industrial sector. In Central Cardiff Enterprise Zone we have also seen major investment decisions in the financial and professional services sector by Deloitte, MotoNovo Finance and Alert Logic.

“Work continues on potential ‘step-change’ projects in other Zones with the Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station proposed by Horizon on Anglesey and interest in Small Modular Reactor technology  at Trawsfynydd,  together with Llanbedr continuing to be promoted as a potential location for a UK Spaceport, within Snowdonia Enterprise Zone”