Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Assembly Member Angela Burns invited the new Minister for Business Edwina Hart to visit companies within the constituency in order to hear what Mrs Burns, and the companies believe the Welsh Government could be doing to help stimulate the local economy.
Their first port of call was to Jenkins and Davies Engineering of Pembroke Dock, a major supplier of steel and pipe work to the petrochemical industry and a leader in apprenticeship schemes and skills training, followed by a working lunch with 20 businesses organised by the Narberth Chamber of Trade. Topics discussed included the planning and rating systems, banking practices, tourism and the lack of broadband.
Mrs Hart ended her trip with a visit to life sciences company Magstim based in Whitland and a recent winner of the Queens Awards for Enterprise for their work in manufacturing and distributing clinical and research instruments for neuroscientists.
Angela Burns commented, “I asked the Minister to visit the constituency because the variety of businesses in the constituency is huge and I want the Government to ensure that both traditional manufacturing and retail companies as well as high tech companies such as Magstim have the environment they need to flourish in order to strengthen our local economy, boost job opportunities and ensure skills and apprenticeship training. There are some real game changing opportunities available to businesses in West Wales over the next few years such as the Atlantic Array and I am very determined that we should get a fair chance of winning contracts that would benefit the local economy.
I also wanted the Minister to understand how the smaller companies are faring because she has the opportunity to directly influence issues such as the deployment of broadband and the levels of business rates”.
The Minister, Mrs Edwina Hart, said “I found the sessions very useful and it has been a pleasure to be able to hear first hand of the challenges and concerns that face local business of all sizes and I have asked my officials to investigate a number of matters for me so I can progress them positively. There are many opportunities ahead and I want to ensure that Wales is poised to take advantage of them”.
