MS Cabinet Minister for
Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy: When I announced
the appointment of Jonathan Lewis as Chair of the Expert Advisory
Panel for the new development agency for Wales on 7 July, I
committed to updating Senedd Members on the full membership of
the advisory panel once it had been confirmed.
Over the past two months, we have spent time targeting and
securing the support of a talented team of business experts, all
bringing their individual diverse experiences, but all with a
shared passion and willingness to support Wales to do business,
to advise us on the design of the new development agency.
Each will bring their own expertise to assist us in developing
the detailed remit and functions of the agency, helping us design
and establish an organisation that swiftly supports the growth of
our nation's economy and becomes a key driver for our national
productivity mission; to halve Wales's productivity gap with the
UK within 10 years.
Improving productivity will have a direct consequence of creating
better jobs for people, thereby putting more money in their
pockets and raising living standards.
Today, I am pleased to announce the appointment of this core
advisory panel, comprising a further 10 members. This
focused core group brings a breadth of experience, diversity of
perspective, Welsh expertise and international challenge.
Our independent panel members and their areas of expertise are
set out below:
Sarah Williams-Gardener OBE (Vice Chair)
Founding member of Starling Bank and Chair of FinTech Wales -
innovation, investment attraction and business ecosystem
development;
John Evans Former CEO of Subsea7 energy
sector and large-scale infrastructure projects;
Gerald Holtham Visiting Professor of Regional
Economy at Cardiff Metropolitan University, and Managing Partner
at Cadwyn Capital LLP regional economics, public policy,
finance and investment, with authoritative insight into Wales's
fiscal and economic landscape;
Beren Kayali Co-founder and CTO of Deploy Tech
engineering-led innovation, commercialising low-carbon
technology and scaling start-ups;
Alison Lea-Wilson MBE Co-founder of Halen Môn
tourism, business start-up, scaling, sales, exporting,
place-based product development and building a successful
international brand;
La-Chun Lindsay OBE Former Managing Director, GE
Aviation Wales leading complex international operations
across industries;
Nigel Morris Co-founder of Capital One and
Managing Partner of QED Investors venture capital and scaling
high-growth technology businesses globally;
Gareth Noyes held a range of senior roles at
Wind River Systems technology strategy, innovation, digital
transformation and scaling high-growth businesses;
Oriel Petry Senior Vice President, Airbus UK
industrial strategy, international investment and advanced
manufacturing; and
Laura Doel - General Secretary for TUC Cymru -
workforce development, skills, social partnership, fair work
and employee perspectives.
Members of the Panel are undertaking the roles in an unpaid
capacity and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them
for their enthusiasm and willingness to support government in
this central endeavour as we strive to make Wales the best place
in the United Kingdom to start, grow and invest in a
business.
We have set out the headline vision. The Panel will help us
deliver that vision, providing advice, recommendations and
challenge about the form and functions of the agency.
The Panel will not operate in isolation; rather, they will engage
widely and be outward looking and collaborative in taking forward
their work. So, in conjunction with the Panel, we are developing
a programme of stakeholder engagement to ensure the input of a
wide range of voices across the Welsh economic development
landscape.
I look forward to updating members early next year, following
receipt of the Panel's interim report.
