Enterprise Week ‘more important than ever’

18 Nov 2008 11:55 AM

Enterprise Week, which kicked off yesterday ( Monday, November 17) will be more important this year than ever - says Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones.

Mr. Jones, the Assembly Government’s Cabinet Minister for the Economy, said that the Week, designed to encourage and celebrate enterprise, will this year deliver practical help and expert advice to assist Welsh businesses and entrepreneurs fight the recession.

He added:

Successful entrepreneurs possess the talent for spotting new opportunities - and the courage to back their hunch. Globalisation means it’s no longer enough to produce goods than can be made at a fraction of the cost on the other side of the world. We’ve got to devise new, high value products and new processes - often based on research and development by business and universities.

That’s why we want to see entrepreneurial skill combined with our knowledge and science base to produce the world-class economy we need as we emerge from the period of global downturn.

We are also working closely with our country’s business community - with the recently launched Economic Summits generating rapid action to help Welsh-based businesses surmount the challenges we all face.

Enterprise Week features more than 100 separate events all over Wales, organised by schools, local authorities, businesses, voluntary organisations and the Assembly Government.

It celebrates entrepreneurship throughout the UK, with the Assembly Government taking the lead on several themes in Wales - including a series of 'People in Business' seminars at Cardiff, Swansea and St. Asaph.

The seminars bring together wide-ranging audiences of entrepreneurs, company owners, and senior managers to hear advice on improving customer service from Mark Bradley, one of Britain's leading business gurus, whose client list includes the FA Premier League.

Meanwhile a ‘Women Into Enterprise’ event on 19 November in Cardiff will aim to increase the number of female innovators and inventors within Wales.

Held in conjunction with the University of Glamorgan and the Centre for Enterprise: Women’s Entrepreneurship Hub, the event will bring together female entrepreneurs with the Wales Innovation Network and enterprise experts.