Forum gives small to medium-sized business a voice

Oct 17 2007 by Aled Blake, Western Mail

A FORUM designed to represent the interests of small and medium-sized businesses in Wales has been launched by the CBI.

Leighton Andrews, Deputy Minister for the Economy and Transport, spoke at the inaugural meeting of the CBI’s Enterprise Forum at the Sony Technium in Pencoed, on the issue of business support for entrepreneurship and how the Assembly best enables entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized businesses.

The forum gives SME members of the CBI their first opportunity to come together to help shape the policy of the CBI and give their views on policy activity to the Welsh Assembly Government.

CBI Wales’ SME members are also represented on the UK-wide CBI Enterprise Council but due to the policy environment in Wales becoming increasingly different from England, the new Wales Forum, which will meet three times a year, has been created to allow a Wales-specific focal point.

David Rosser, director of CBI Wales, said the forum had agreed its priorities at the meeting.

The forum will be chaired by Owain S Davies, managing director of SD Engineering and SD Marine Services, which are both part of the Spencer Davies Holdings Group.