Agenda item

Alwen Williams (Portfolio Director) to present the report.

To approve the detailed Investment Strategy comprising both the principles and plan, accepting that realising aspects of its implementation are subject to funding being secured.

The report was submitted by the Portfolio Director.

RESOLVED

          To approve the detailed Investment Strategy comprising both the principles and plan, accepting that realising aspects of its implementation are subject to funding being secured.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

The investment strategy and plan build on assurance that our collective ambition to deliver the £1bn Growth Deal for North Wales can be achieved.

DISCUSSION

Members were reminded that this was the first investment strategy to be developed for the north Wales area. It was explained that the strategy was essential for the future as it set the framework to attract investors to the area.

An update was provided on the North Wales Ambition Investment Strategy, reminding Members that the Investment Strategy was expected to attract £1bn into the North Wales economy. The members were guided through the report that planned how this target would be met. It was elaborated that the Growth Deal Project included 23 projects across five programmes and an analysis was provided of how those projects fed into the target of attracting £1bn of investment in the region.

It was reported that Ambition North Wales had commissioned the Saville consultation company to provide advice on the Investment Strategy. It was elaborated that they had carried out research with stakeholders in 2023 to ensure strong development of the Strategy. It was recognised that this research had identified several barriers for investment in north Wales, which included:

·       Scale and value

·       Risk and uncertainty

·       Gaps in information and knowledge

·       Specialist nature of some opportunities

·       Cohesion across the public sector

·       ⁠Speed of response

·       Public investment.

            It was confirmed that several investment principles had been developed in response to these barriers and they were approved by the Ambition Board in December 2023. Members were reminded that the principles included: 'collaboration', 'visibility to unlock investment', 'strategic development', 'building on strength and scale of opportunities', 'promoting magnet sites as foundations for regional growth' and 'promoting our town centres'. It was explained that these principles had been used to develop the Objectives of the Investment Strategy. It was ensured that the objectives had been developed to ensure rational and careful development for investment when meeting requirements and targets in a timely manner.

            It was explained that the first objective - research analysis, had now been completed following Savilles' work. It was elaborated that the principles discussed had been noted as the strategy's objectives, confirming that they were considered continuously when making decisions.

            Reference was made to the other five objectives that would be implemented in future. It was explained that some would be funded from the current budget but it was recognised that the support of stakeholders would be required to realise some of the objectives. Details were provided on the objectives, noting:

·       Establish a Private-Public sector Stakeholders' Investment Group: It was hoped to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that successful investments were submitted. It was explained that the initial steps to realise this objective was to identify suitable stakeholders for the group.

·       Communication and Engagement: It was emphasised that there were opportunities to strengthen communication and engagement systems with the investment market, including promoting advertising opportunities with suitable companies.

·       Communication and Marketing: The desire to extend communication methods in the marketing field was shared in order to share awareness of the opportunities available in north Wales.

·       Investment support package: It was explained that it was hoped to develop an equipment information database to assist with the investment process.

·       Investment framework: It was noted that it was wished to develop an investment framework for north Wales to help prospective investors to make informed decisions based on the investment opportunities that are available in the region.

            The desire of the Business Delivery Board was expressed to draw the attention of the Welsh Government to available opportunities in north Wales, noting that it was timely to do so with the appointment of the new First Minister and Government Ministers.