Press release

Secretary of State brands small business owners as “the drivers of economic revival”

Stephen Crabb hails achievements of Fast Growth 50 businesses at awards ceremony

Fast Growth 50

Fast Growth 50

The Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb will use a landmark awards ceremony tonight to hail Wales’ small business owners as “the drivers of the Welsh economic revival”.

Stephen Crabb is speaking at the Wales Fast Growth 50 dinner in Cardiff. Organised by the Western Mail, the competition – now in its 17th year* – recognises the achievements of the most dynamic companies in the country.

Finalists this year include a Snowdonia company that makes technology to chill vaccines without power in the hottest climates; a price comparison website which has just created 70 jobs and the architects’ practice behind one of the first buildings planned for the Central Square regeneration.

The Secretary of State will describe Welsh small business owners as “the risk takers and entrepreneurs who seize the opportunity to follow their dreams, build a business from scratch and reap the rewards as they watch it grow.”

Innovative and exciting companies like those in the Fast Growth 50 are a showcase for world-class Welsh business talent. Let’s use the vision and flair of our entrepreneurs to go all out for the goal of a thriving enterprise economy.

Mr Crabb will tell the awards dinner that the Government is creating the right climate for businesses to grow through measures like the overhaul of the railway network, the roll-out of high speed broadband and the Cardiff City Deal.

The emergence of the Northern Powerhouse will also boost employment in Wales, the Secretary of State will say, as Welsh businesses “build on the strength of the already long-established links across the border. By backing the Northern Powerhouse, we will stand to create more jobs in a country that is already going to work in record numbers.

Notes to editors

  • You can read about the background to the event by visiting Wales Online
  • *The Fast Growth 50 was devised by Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Bristol Business School
Published 6 November 2015