WIREDGOV

Welsh Government Finance Minister, Jane Hutt, will today visit North Wales to meet with business entrepreneurs who have been helped by EU-backed projects.

Following the First Minister’s announcement last week of a new £40 million EU and Welsh Government investment to help boost entrepreneurship, the Finance Minister will visit a climbing activities centre in Queensferry that was set up by two friends in 2013 and has since become the largest facility of its kind in Wales.

The Boardroom Climbing Wall offers over 1000m² of climbing activities for thrill-seekers, climbing enthusiasts and mixed groups, and is the creation of Lee Browning and Dave Thomas.

After many years of working in the activities industry, Lee and Dave were keen to set up their own climbing venue and received support to turn their ideas into reality through the Welsh Government’s EU-funded Business Wales – New Start-Ups scheme.

The scheme provided support with their business plan and ideas and helped them attract investment from HSBC and the Wales Economic Growth Fund enabling the venue to open its doors to the public in October 2013, creating 19 new jobs in the process.

Welsh Government Finance Minister, Jane Hutt, said: 

"The Boardroom Climbing Wall is an excellent example of how EU funds are adding value to Welsh Government initiatives to help create a positive climate that stimulates investments for business growth.

"Billions of pounds of EU funds are also helping businesses through access to finance, ICT, research and innovation opportunities, and increasing skills, in turn raising productivity and ensuring that Wales is fully equipped for the challenges of global competition."

Lee Browning, co-founder of the Boardroom Climbing Wall, said:

"The start-up phase of any business is always difficult and the support we received throughout this was invaluable. These schemes are helping businesses in Wales to succeed."

The new £40 million Entrepreneurship Support scheme is the successor to the Business Wales – New Start-Ups scheme which helped thousands of businesses and created thousands of jobs across Wales.  

Building on this success, over the next five years the new scheme will support the creation of 10,000 new businesses and 17,000 new (gross) jobs across Wales.

Tailored and one-to-one business support will be provided to some 200,000 people including business leaders, entrepreneurs and people looking to achieve commercial success.