How an Independent Wales will do it better 2.
The experience of Technology in Wales.
In How Wales will do it better, it was shown that the Welsh economy, upon which much depends, is lacking in a middle business sector of medium sized enterprise
A high value middle business sector..
Wales also lacked, together with the UK as a whole, the ability to upscale enterprises.
So how will an Independent Wales improve its economic imbalance?
How will an Independent Wales do it better?
High value sustainable enterprise.
The industries of the future.
The industries with high paid skilled jobs.
The industries that will be the core of the Welsh economy.
Having looked at Space science. What’s next?
Life Sciences.
Life Sciences,
Wales is lauded by the Welsh government and its agencies as leading the UK in the life science sector.
Not to put too much of a dampener, the facts don't support that assertion.
On a per capita basis.
The number of companies in Wales does meet the UK average.
The number of employees is below the UK average at 4.2% rather than the 4.6% population share.
The financial turnover of Welsh based life science companies is 2.3% of the UK average, rather than a 4.6% population share.
So not outperforming the UK average.
The Welsh government asserts that there are 280 companies in Wales in the life science sector, employing 12500.
A significant number are very small companies attempting to break into their particular market.
Of the established life science companies based in Wales, almost all are foreign owned, largely by American health tech or investment companies.
Almost all are attracted by Welsh government financial inducements.
There are a number of life science hubs across Wales, mostly centred around Welsh Universities, each successful in innovation, research and development.
That is the attraction for the deep pockets of American companies.
The ownership of these small companies means the ownership of the intellectual property they have developed.
As in the UK, Wales has encouraged, at a cost, Foreign Direct Investment.
This in reality has merely meant the purchase of an already successful company or they are taking over the future of Wales life science technology.
The Welsh government argues that it is ‘ pumping ‘, always emotive descriptions, into the Welsh economy.
What it really means is that present and future profits, together with policy decisions are taken outside Wales.
We are being unfair. The Wales government funded a £100 million Life Science Fund, to aid the development of life sciences in Wales.
It was administered by the Wales Development Bank, who themselves appointed a management company.
So a bit less than £100 million by the time their fees were taken.
The Life Science Fund invested in nine companies.
All but one failed.
All had ownership outside Wales.
The Wales Life Science Fund is now closed.
