Perspectives 2019

How has the programme developed from its beginnings? We’ve come a long way since 2017. This year, our team moved to Tredomen, near Caerphilly, so we are now much more centrally positioned to help businesses, communities and universities shape and influence the City Deal. Plans for the South Wales Metro are in full swing, and we’ve recently launched both our Economic and Industrial Growth Plan and the CCR Graduate Scheme. Metro Plus is a sustainable transport scheme that is beginning to bring benefits to every local authority area in the region, and work has already started with partners to shape a “Public Services Testbed” as well as a Housing Investment Fund. Our investment in Wales’ first Compound Semiconductor Cluster is also reaping rewards, creating a material used to support emerging high-performance technologies such as 3D sensor systems. Last but not least, we have represented our region at the annual MIPIM in Cannes, which is one of the world’s largest property exhibitions and draws thousands of investors, developers and journalists from across the globe. To attract more investment, we must make sure we balance risk- reward, remain focused on the big societal and industrial challenges of the day, and return investment in social, economic and financial terms. We also need to encourage “evergreen” projects to bid into our investment framework, which will additionally help lever co-investment. What particular challenges does the region face, and what’s the best way to address them? Post EU exit, the loss of EU structural funds and wider fiscal uncertainty are likely to impact Wales disproportionately. To succeed, we need to be resilient and competitive, demonstrating that our economy has the maturity and confidence to secure resources. To prepare for this, we have launched our Investment and Intervention Framework and established three focused investment funds to which businesses, public services and community sectors can submit ideas, concepts and proposals. With these funds, we aim to build business ecosystems that are economically resilient while additionally developing scalable infrastructure, knowledge growth and intellectual property assets. We are also investing in strengthening and up-skilling our workforce. We believe that South East Wales should be a prime destination for talented graduates, so we have opened a Graduate Programme to link graduates with leading businesses from all sectors in the region. The programme is working with local universities to create intelligent labour markets, reverse the brain drain, and link talent development to our core regional advantages. What successes have you enjoyed so far? Within the compound semiconductor sector, our first major investment was the CSC mega-Foundry in Newport, an example of evergreen investment that’s already showing promising results. The project has attracted up to £500m in private investment and will eventually create 550 new high- skill, high-order jobs. The intended Compound Semiconductor Cluster has the potential to create up to 5,000-6,000 jobs in total, and would demonstrate the kind of high-end manufacturing capability for which the region can be globally renowned. We are currently in the final stages of completing our consortia bid to the UK government’s Strength in Places fund, which we hope will deliver on the investment to create the world’s first such cluster. Finally, what are your particular aims and priorities for the future? Our core priority is to build a connected, collaborative and resilient region. We have to be able to withstand future shocks, position ourselves to build the industries of the future, and ensure we create the kind of inclusive “good growth” that benefits the whole region – not just parts of it. One of our main priorities is to improve the region’s connections, both physical and digital. South East Wales has a lot to offer in terms of location – from beautiful beaches and the South Wales Valleys, to the buzz of the capital – so it’s important to make sure it is all accessible, and that the 1.5 million people living here can travel easily and sustainably within the region. The climate crisis must also become a core focus: we must be able to develop our economy without compromising planetary life support systems. In fact, “clean growth” could be a real USP for our region – and schemes such as Metro Plus are a perfect example of how investment in physical infrastructure can bring benefits like digital connectivity, electric vehicle charging and behavioural change. One of our main priorities is to improve the region’s connections, both physical and digital. CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 09 IN CONVERSATION