Wales's biggest business group has called for significant
strengthening of business support to unlock the full potential of
Wales's SMEs. With two thirds of small businesses looking
to grow their business and half wanting to
become more productive, these ambitions demonstrate the
key role SMEs can play in achieving the Welsh Government's growth
aspirations.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in Wales has today
(17th June) published a report,Cultivating Small Business
Growth, which found high recognition levels for business
support institutions across Wales. The report concludes that
Wales's approach of developing a ‘one stop shop' approach to
business support via Business Wales represents a significant
strategic and competitive advantage by simplifying access for
businesses. Notably, over half of businesses accessing
support via Business Wales reported a positive
experience.
The report does however reveal a concerning decline in
funding allocated to business support since the UK left the
European Union and proposes a series of recommendations
to address this shortfall in order to fully leverage the benefits
of the system.
FSB's analysis of the business support process in Wales has also
identified key opportunities for improvement,
specifically centred around enhancing the user
journey with increased access to expert advice,
strengthening of accountability across the system, and dedicated
resource to provide specialised, intensive support for SMEs
demonstrating clear ambition and the potential to scale.
John Hurst, FSB Wales Chair, said:
“Effective business support, including access to advice,
training, and funding opportunities, plays a crucial role in
empowering individuals to start and scale their businesses,
generating prosperity across the nation.
“FSB's research shows that where support works, businesses
thrive. However, to fully unlock Wales's growth potential, the
Welsh Government must restore funding levels to those in place
before the UK left the EU and drive improvements through the
system.
“By strengthening oversight, improving the accessibility and
consistency of services provided, and introducing vouchers to
enable small businesses to access private expertise, we can
improve delivery of business support in Wales.
“The new local growth funding which will replace the Shared
Prosperity Fund, as announced during the Spending Review 2025,
will be vital to help businesses chart a course towards stable
economic recovery. This investment must be strategically pledged
and deployed within a unified system, reinforcing our business
support institutions and placing them firmly on a growth footing.
“Ultimately, to grow our economy, we must empower our
entrepreneurs to be the engine of that growth.”
Jane Wallace-Jones, Founder and CEO of Something
Different Wholesale, said:
“Business Wales's Accelerated Growth Programme and the
Development Bank of Wales have played a key role in our journey
at Something Different Wholesale. The expert guidance and
financial support we have accessed have allowed us to navigate
growth challenges, make meaningful sustainability investments,
and positively impact our community.
“FSB Wales's report rightly highlights the critical importance of
access to expertise that truly understands local market and
specific needs, with a welcome emphasis on creating a system that
offers more accessible, consistent, and targeted support to a
wider range of entrepreneurs.
“Ultimately, it's about fostering a system that allows Welsh
business owners to do what we do best; innovate, develop and
grow, and show what Wales has to offer.”
Key Recommendations include:
-
A properly resourced system: The Welsh
Government should restore funding levels for business support
in Wales in real terms to those in place before leaving the EU,
and commit to multi-year budgets, utilising new local growth
funding as announced during the Spending Review 2025.
-
Improving the user journey: Business support
organisations can improve the experience of those accessing
their services by increasing face-to-face engagement, setting
targets for how quickly queries receive a response, and
implementing a ‘case officer' approach with a named point of
contact for substantive support.
-
Enabling access to expertise: The Welsh
Government should work with Business Wales to develop a voucher
system that enables small businesses to access specialist
expertise via the private sector.
-
Strengthening accountability: The Welsh
Government should establish a Business Growth Board to convene
stakeholders from across the business support landscape,
including service users, to assess delivery against key
performance targets, to understand the effectiveness of
outreach to groups traditionally underrepresented in business
support, and to ensure that services remain dynamic and
responsive to evolving future needs.
-
Addressing the missing middle: Additional
resource should be targeted at an account management function
to provide specialised and intensive support – such as tailored
mentorship, access to growth finance, and innovation and
technology adaptation support – to SMEs with a clear ambition
and potential to scale up their business in order to foster the
growth of more medium-sized firms in Wales.
