Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 7 February 2018.
Can I thank the Member for her question and for the keen interest that she has shown in entrepreneurship in her region? The Member will be aware that we've already allocated £1 million for an innovation business hub in Wrexham, which will help to support the development of 100 new businesses and 260 jobs over a two-year period. I'm pleased that we've also been able to announce, subsequent to that, £4 million for other innovation and business hubs across north-west Wales, mid Wales, south-west Wales, the Valleys and the south-east Valleys as well. In total, if those figures could be replicated across each of the hubs, we'd be looking at the establishment of something in the region of 500 new businesses over the course of two years and more than 1,200 new jobs. It would only take one or two of those businesses to become a Google or an Apple for that investment to be paid back tenfold or more. It's an exciting development, and I expect to be able to announce the winning tenders for the additional four hubs before the summer recess. And, of course, dependent on the tender process, I envisage that they'll be able to be operational by the end of this calendar year.