Weekend Edition

View as Webpage

When we talk about building a strong regional economy, we have to start with the basics.

Are we giving every entrepreneur, regardless of gender, background or circumstance, a fair chance to succeed? In the Cardiff Capital Region, we are working to ensure that female-led businesses are properly supported.

This isn’t an add-on to our economic strategy. It’s central to it.

The figures remain stark. In Wales, fully female-founded teams received just 2.3% of equity investment in 2024. All-male teams received more than 75%. And just 15% of senior investment decisions are made by women. That’s not just a funding gap. It’s a systemic issue around who has access to the right networks, who is taken seriously, and who gets to define the rules.

If you step back even further, it starts before investment.

If you are a young woman in the region, thinking about your next steps – where are your role models?

Are you encouraged to consider starting a business? Do you see people like you succeeding in those spaces? That’s where we’ve worked hard to make progress.

Through the Women in Innovation Fund, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, we’ve supported women not just with funding, but with training, networking and mentoring. That combination matters. It recognises that access to finance on its own is not enough. If you are excluded from the networks that underpin entrepreneurship, the informal advice, the introductions, the confidence-building, then the playing field is never level.

We’ve seen the difference this approach can make. Businesses like Mazuma and Human Data Sciences are led by women who are not only building successful ventures, but acting as powerful ambassadors for the region. They are showing what is possible, and they are helping disrupt the norms that have kept so many others out.

Female-led businesses bring particular strengths to our local economy. They are more likely to reinvest in their communities, adopt flexible working practices, and make use of local supply chains. These choices matter. They help shape an economy that is more inclusive, more adaptable and ultimately more resilient.

But we must go further. Too many women are still stuck at the start-up stage. Our focus now is helping these businesses grow and scale.

That means thinking carefully about the full pipeline of support, from training and mentoring, to access to larger-scale funding. And it also means being clear that failure is not the end. We want to create a business culture where it is safe to try, to learn, and to go again.

That applies to all entrepreneurs, but particularly those who have been historically under-represented. Women, black and ethnic minority founders, people from non-traditional educational backgrounds, all face structural barriers to accessing capital and networks. These aren’t just statistics. These are people with ideas, ambitions and potential.

That’s why we continue to work with partners, including local authorities, Welsh Government, and the private sector, to build a whole-system approach. It’s not about one scheme or one pot of funding. It’s about changing the environment in which businesses grow.

Ultimately, this is about economic sense. If we want a competitive, modern and inclusive economy in the Cardiff Capital Region, we need everyone at the table. That means creating conditions where diverse businesses can grow and where success doesn’t rely on who you already know.

We don’t want special programmes that last for a year or two. We want lasting change. That means putting women and other under-represented groups at the heart of our strategy, not at the edges. It’s not about creating a new room.

It’s about changing the room itself, so that everyone can walk in, contribute, and thrive.

As we look to reduce emissions across the economy, the decarbonisation of transport remains one of the biggest challenges. It is also one of the biggest opportunities. especially for places like North West Wales.

While electrification has a clear role to play, it is not a catch-all solution. Hydrogen can help fill that gap, particularly for heavy transport, logistics and industrial users.

That’s why we at Menter Môn are developing the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub – a project that we believe can deliver long-term environmental and economic benefits for the region. It’s a partnership with Hynamics, a subsidiary of EDF, and we’re proud to be working together on what will be a 50-50 collaboration.

At its heart, the Hydrogen Hub will use renewable energy from sister project, Morlais tidal energy to power a five megawatt electrolyser, producing around 2,000 kilogrammes of green hydrogen per day. It’s a £25 million capital investment, and we’re already in a strong position, with land acquired, planning consent secured, and early development work made possible thanks to funding from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Welsh Government.

We now have most of the ingredients in place. What we need next is an off-taker – someone to buy the hydrogen, to move the project forward to full investment decision.

Until that’s in place, securing wider benefits we see for the region remain a challenge.

Holyhead is well suited to this kind of development. It’s the UK’s second busiest container port, with high volumes of freight and shipping traffic every day. That presents a clear opportunity to use hydrogen locally, cutting emissions from the very sectors where electrification is least practical. It also means we can maximise the impact of the fuel by linking it directly to where it’s needed, rather than transporting it over long distances.

More broadly, this is part of our effort to build economic relevance for North Wales in future growth sectors. Renewable energy is one of the most dynamic areas of global investment, and we believe that a strong local energy portfolio – including hydrogen, tidal, and solar – can help attract higher-value industries and create new jobs. The hydrogen hub is a small part of that vision, but an important one.

We’re realistic about the challenges ahead. Green hydrogen needs both supply and demand. For that reason, my appeal to Welsh Government is twofold: continue to invest in the fuel, as they already have done, but also look at the wider ecosystem needed to support its use. Government is uniquely placed to do this – for example, enabling local authorities to purchase hydrogen-powered refuse trucks, supported by existing transport grant mechanisms and borrowing powers.

Doing both – investing in supply and supporting demand – creates the conditions for success. It also opens the door to replication elsewhere in Wales, particularly in areas with industrial or transport needs that hydrogen can help meet.

We’ve already seen positive steps. An Outline Business Case has been approved, and we’re progressing towards a Full Business Case. Around £6 million is currently reserved to support the project once we reach final investment decision. I’m confident we will see further support as we move through the next stages, especially given the strength of our partnership with Hynamics and the backing we’ve received to date.

But I would also argue that this is the moment to think more broadly. Government departments need to coordinate across their remits if we’re serious about building regional hydrogen ecosystems. That means thinking not just in vertical silos – transport, energy, economy – but across them. I know there is an appetite to do this, but it will be crucial to getting projects like this off the ground and delivering on their potential.

Our ambition and priority is always to ensure that the benefits of clean energy developments are felt locally through jobs, skills, and new business opportunities.

The Holyhead Hydrogen Hub is designed with that in mind.

And if we get this right, it will serve not just as a single project, but as a catalyst for further investment in North Wales’ low-carbon economy.

Looking back at my own journey through rugby and into business, I’ve often reflected on how closely sport and economic development are linked, in a city like Cardiff.

I’ve been fortunate to witness that relationship from a number of angles. As a player, tournament director, business manager and now secretary of Cardiff Business Club, I’ve seen how sport can influence everything from a city’s global reputation to the confidence of its local business community.

The building of the Millennium Stadium, now the Principality Stadium, was a landmark moment. Designed to host the Rugby World Cup in 1999, it immediately gave Cardiff a new level of visibility on the international stage. What no one could have predicted at the time was that, in the years that followed, it would also become home to the FA Cup Final. That was a game-changer, bringing thousands of new visitors to the city and showcasing Cardiff to a broader audience.

It wasn’t just about what happened inside the stadium. Events of that scale have a ripple effect. Hotels fill up, restaurants and bars are busy, transport networks buzz with activity. And just as importantly, people leave with a lasting impression of Cardiff as a city that can host, that can deliver, that has something to offer.

That same pattern has continued. Whether it’s cricket at Sophia Gardens, concerts at Cardiff Castle, or the upcoming UEFA Euro 2028 games, the city has developed a strong reputation as a go-to location for major events. Friends who hadn’t been to Cardiff before now speak of it in glowing terms, not just as a sporting venue, but as a city in its own right.

This reputation matters for business. It drives footfall, supports hospitality and retail, and underlines Cardiff’s capacity for delivery.

It sends a message that this is a place that can think big and act as a hub, not just for sport, but for culture, commerce and creativity.

At Cardiff Business Club, we’ve seen this reflected in the kinds of conversations we host. Our speakers often talk about how important events are in creating wider economic momentum. We recently welcomed Mark Rhydderch Roberts of Glamorgan Cricket, a former teammate of mine at Swansea University.

He spoke about the wider impacts of the Indian Premier League and the commercial opportunities it presents, not just for cricket, but for the broader economy.

As we look to the future, it’s important that Cardiff continues to build on its strengths. The ability to host major events isn’t just a source of pride — it’s an economic driver, a recruitment tool, and a statement of intent. It shows that Cardiff is open, ambitious, and capable of operating on a global stage.

That matters, not just for sport, but for every part of the city’s business ecosystem.

CONTACT US - features@businessnewswales.com