Last week we hosted our It’s Your Swansea Conference. Let’s have a look back on an incredible day showcasing everything that’s great about Swansea and hearing from the people, organisations and businesses who are making change happen.
Swansea Arena playing host to our It’s Your Swansea Conference, 7th March 2024 (Pic: Innovation Photography)
The conference opened with exciting announcements and updates from key local partners, exploring how Swansea is addressing the challenges of our time and embracing opportunities in 2024.
Cllr Andrea Lewis, Joint Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Service Transformation at Swansea Council, gave an exclusive insight into the schemes that will make Swansea an even better placeto live, work and socialise. She said “Swansea is a real city of opportunity. These are exciting times.”
These opportunities include a major new high tech sustainable office development at 71/72 Kingsway, linked to the “living building” at Picton Yard, one of the greenest buildings in Wales; the transformation of a former BHS store into a new community hub; redeveloping the Civic Centre site for leisure and hospitality; redeveloping old buildings such as the Palace Theatre and Albert Hall; transforming Castle Square to be greener and more welcoming; and much more!
Perhaps the most exciting thing is the £4bn renewable energy project, potentially including a tidal lagoon, a battery farm to store renewable energy generated, a floating solar panel facility, an oceanic and climate change research centre, eco-homes anchored in the water, and a hyperscale data centre.
Cherrie Bija is CEO of Faith in Families, who have been providing skills and opportunities such as free breakfast and sports for kids for the last twenty five years.
Faith in Families have been approached by Amazon with opportunity to run a warehouse which was something they had never done before. They take Amazon’s surplus goods and give them to people, such as shirts for interviews. In fact they can provide pretty much everything you need for a home. Parents aren’t buying things like toothpaste because of cost of living crisis, so Faith in Families can provide them with dignity.
They have launched Cwtch Mawr, Wales’ first multibank, which aims to identify and help forty thousand familes this year. Giving them brand new items says to them “You’re worth it, we believe in you”. Forty thousand items were given out on two days over Christmas. They put coats out and said “Please take a coat because we need the space”. It was several days before people were actually taking them, but they gave out fifty coats, as well as thingslike brand new football boots for children. They can provide all the things that turn houses into homes.
Serena Jones is Executive Director of Operations at Coastal Housing Group, who provide safe, affordable, quality homes that meet sustainability targets. She said they are “working hard to address the deepest housing crisis I’ve seen in thirty years. The systemic challenges are real and biting, but it’s good the Welsh Government understand link between housing and climate change.” She believes “Sustainability is also about people.”
Coastal Housing have installed hybrid heating systems in their properties leading to a 70% reduction in energy bills, volumetric water cylinders resulting in a 38% energy decrease (which can be overriden for hot water if needed), solar PV with sensors to see their impact, and apps to monitor carbon monoxide and general indoor air quality.
Professor Ian Walsh, is Provost (Swansea & Cardiff) at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, which is currently ranked as the top university in the UK for active graduate businesses. It was a fascinating update. Did you know work at the university has transformed the way we repair windscreens on cars? UWTSD”s latest building, the Innovation Matrix, will be as close as possible to net zero, but can’t get there completely because of the computers. It already has about a 70% occupancy and will be opening in June, providing an ecosystem where businesses can thrive.
We heard from young people who are seizing the opportunities on offer here in Swansea, and inspiring others to do the same.
Amy Tanker has volunteered with a number of organisations. As a Psychology & Criminology Student at Swansea University, she was particularly keen to volunteer with Families and Friends of Prisoners Swansea. Not all prisons have family services like this, so volunteering with them meant she had social policy research opportunities and was able to get an internship.
Saadia Abubaker, Founder of Saadia Speaks, wants to empower the next generation of leaders. Born in Sudan, she moved to Swansea age two. Growing up, she experienced a lot of racism, but seized all the opportunities she could. She joined the Youth Sports Trust to encourage more girls like her to do sports, and now uses the same approach to build her brand. She said “People are not always supportive of my ideas, but if one organisation says no to me another will say yes.” She asked “Will you join me in inspiring the next generation of leaders?”
Fatima Lopes said “I grown up here my whole life. In school I couldn’t wait to leave because I didn’t know the opportunities that were here.” She said working as Student Union President at Gower College Swansea has made her aware of of those opportunities, and she will be going to Swansea University.
She said “During Covid, I was in year 10 and 11, and this is when I’d normally do work experience, so I didn’t get this. Students are now more hesistant to embrace opportunities because of lockdown.”
She’d like a sector wide approach on business and schools linking together, similar to Cardiff Commitment. She said students are very passionate and this can be harnessed with clubs and societies. She’d like something similar for people in work. This should be combined with mental health support for people in work and education.
She chose to go down an academic route, but if she’d done an apprenticeship, believes she would have faced stigma and a lack of knowledge, and this needs to change.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we also welcomed four women to share their stories of overcoming challenges and embracing opportunities in Swansea.
In school Alison Vickers, Managing Partner at Bevan Buckland, knew she wanted to be an accountant (or a detective). In 1986 she got a three month trial with Bevan Buckland, earning less than £400 a month. She rose up through the company and in 1996 joined the board of what was still a very traditional practice. One of her first acts was to end the ban on women wearing trousers! Bevan Buckland now employs a hundred and twenty people and are the biggest independent accountants in Wales. Alison said being based in Swansea hasn’t held them back. She’s learnt everything new is an opportunity, prepare well, and enjoy it!
Joy Ogeh-Hutfield, a Transformation Coach and Leadership Consultant, sees opportunity everywhere. She said “Sight is seeing things as they are, but vision is seeing how things should be. Having a vision means the city has something to give back to you. Gain more clarity by thinking about how your vision can bring change. My greatest joy helping clients understand their true authentic self. Invest in you, because if your cup is empty you have nothing to give. Enhance what you are and what you do.” She added “Teachers open the doors but you must enter by yourself.”
Eight years ago Amy Price, Director at The Social Butterfly Marketing, was a job jumper with bad mental health. She’d never learnt about self employment in school and was in in-work poverty. She said it was very strange attending her first networking event while still working in a call centre, it was “lonely being the youngest business woman in the room, but I’ve grown and I pick up awards in front of those people.” She feels she now lives a good life and doesn’t want to sacrifice more.
Her advice is “Stay in your own lane. Life is full of unique challenges, some days are harder than others, but just try your best.” She believes women are more resilient and risk adverse than men, and have a lot of side hustles but don’t see this as business. She said “I still have imposter syndrome and accept anxiety is a part of me. This year I finally felt I run proper business. I say yes to any opportunity Swansea presents to me and know this helps my mental health.”
Everything Kim Mamhende, Chief Officer of The CAE, does is about empowering people. For her it’s about change in the community, and underpinning that is equity and ensuring everyone has opportunity to do what they want.
She believes everyone has right to live their dreams, and the Welsh dream is achieving what you want without having to move, which is also being about equity and opportunity. She said “Opportunity is about creating. You can’t wait for a seat at the table sometimes you need to create your own table. Entrepreneurship is about adding value, creating your own opportunities and enacting positive change. It’s not always an easy journey.”
This year, we’re exploring even more of the region where we’ll be welcoming everyone to the following It’s Your… Events, so make sure to save the dates!
Cartref Creative held its first event on Wednesday the 24th of January at the Urban Kitchen in Swansea. Cartref Creative is a new network for creatives that was born out of conversations at the 4theRegion conference in 2023.
The network is a home for creatives that aims to create spaces – both digital and physical – where creatives across the region can meet, socialise, learn and collaborate. It was founded by digital creator James Dovey, graphic designer Alice Jones, writer and producer Roger Williams, filmmaker James Owen of Stori, creative problem solver Lee Bazalgette and director of Waters Creative, Rachael Wheatley.
The team have wrestled with how a network for creatives across west Wales should operate and have designed Cartref Creative to be a movement that will evolve to meet the needs and desires of the creative community over time.
Cartref Creative is run by creatives. This is one of the principles that makes Cartref Creative different. Creatives will set the agenda and realise the initiatives. Live events will happen in different locations across west Wales and across creative disciplines.
The digital platform will offer a place for individuals to promote their work and there will be a library of resources to inspire and educate.
At the Urban Kitchen event, three creative leaders from west Wales spoke about their experience of running a creative initiative. Richard Davies of Parthian Books, Brigid Loizou of art gallery Studio Cennen in Llandeilo, and Alun Jones of the digital agency Libera, shared the story of how they started and grew their operations and spoke of the challenges and opportunities of running their businesses in west Wales.
The event was sponsored by Sky Ad Smart, and Peter Roberts and Huw Potter spoke of how their operation works and how creatives might be able to work in partnership with them to create content for advertisers.
The Cartref Creative team invite creatives living in south-west Wales to sign up to the mailing list by going to www.cartrefcreative.cymru and would like to invite individuals interested in becoming an organiser of events to get in touch.
Rhwydwaith i bobl greadigol sy’n byw yn ne orllewin Cymru yw Cartref Creative. Bydd y grwp yn creu gofodau – digidol a go iawn – ar gyfer crewyr sydd eisiau cyfarfod, cymdeithasu, dysgu a chydweithio. Bydd y platfform digidol yn safle we sy’n hyrwyddo gwaith yr aelodau ac yn cyhoeddi adnoddau addysgol ac ysbrydoledig.
Yn y digwyddiad byw cyntaf yn Abertawe ym mis Ionawr buodd y cyhoeddwr Richard Davies o Parthian Books, Brigid Loizou o Studio Cennen yn Llandeilo ac Alun Jones o’r asiantaeth ddigidol Libera yn trafod eu busnesau a’r heriau sy’n eu hwynebu nhw. Noddwyd y digwyddiad gan Sky Ad Smart.
Mae Cartref Creative yn awyddus i drefnu digwyddiadau yn y Gymraeg. Os hoffech ymuno â ni yn y daith ewch at www.cartrefcreative.cymru
Blue Gem Wind is developing plans for Wales’ floating wind farm, called Erebus. It would be the third floating offshore wind farm in the UK, but the estimated 100MW generated is more than double the other projects. It will house seven 14MW turbines on floating platforms and provide enough low carbon energy to power ninety three thousand homes (Pic: Blue Gem)
While traditional offshore wind turbines are built into the seabed with fixed foundations, floating turbines sit on large floating steel structures which are then tethered to the seabed. This allows the turbines to be placed further out at sea in locations with higher winds, such as Pembrokeshire.
The Crown Estate has announced details of leasing opportunities that are expected to be the first round of developing floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea. They will work to catalyse and accelerate the UK’s energy transition, and de-risk developments to speed up their deployment. Three Project Development Areas (PDAs) of roughly equal size are being proposed, each with a potential capacity of 1.5GW. This means the overall capacity for the leasing round will be 4.5GW, an increase from a possible 4GW from the four PDAs of varying sizes originally proposed. Overall this will generate enough clean energy capacity to power over four million homes.
The Crown Estate says the leasing round will be used to drive broader social and economic value. This includes requiring developers to set out specific commitments to ports, as well as establishing binding commitments on wider issues such as enhancing skills, addressing environmental impacts, and delivering community benefits.
Ultimately the Crown Estate believes there is the potential to generate 20GW of energy from floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
Marine renewables are crucial in combatting climate change and achieving a diverse and reliable energy mix for current and future generations. And the Welsh Government has said floating offshore wind farms will create thousands of high quality, long-term jobs. It is quickly becoming a proven technology with the potential to deliver sustainable sources of energy and enable us to make the transition to net zero. It generates more power per megawatt than any other renewable source, and the UK’s unique wind resource and shallow seas mean it has been the central technology in plans to end our reliance on fossil fuels.
There were bids for onshore solar, wind and geothermal schemes as well as tidal however these generate on a lower scale to giant offshore wind farms.
Blue Gem Wind is developing plans for Wales’ floating wind farm, called Erebus, which they say would create ten thousand jobs. It did not bid for a contract because they said the government was not providing enough support through its “contracts for difference” scheme in which it steps in if the market price for electricity falls below the agreed level.
Erebus, due to be commissioned in 2026 and built twenty five miles off the coast of Pembrokeshire, would have seen the region kickstart the floating offshore wind industry. It would be the third floating offshore wind farm in the UK, but the estimated 100MW generated is more than double the other projects. It will house seven 14MW turbines on floating platforms and provide enough low carbon energy to power ninety three thousand homes. The project will provide jobs for biologists, ornithologists, ecologists, geologists, skippers, boat crew, port staff, crane operators, divers, engineers, welders, electricians, technicians, logisticians, administrators and project managers.
And of course, Erebus isn’t the only floating offshore wind projects planned for the region.
Floventis Energy’s Llŷr 1 and 2 developments will power about two hundred thousand homes with 200MW of clean energy once operational by 2027-28. With an operational life of twenty five years, each of the Llŷr projects will have six to eight turbines, all of which will produce over 12MW.
And Gwynt Glas (a joint venture between EDF Renewables UK and DP Energy), RWE, and a collaboration between Hiraeth Energy and Magnora are all aiming to secure at least 1GW of installed capacity, to be developed throughout the 2020s.
A key aspect of Hiraeth Energy and Magnora’s initial project, Môr Glas, is community ownership. The aim is to establish a wealth fund providing returns for Welsh communities. This is inspired by fossil fuel funds in oil rich countries, such as the £1tn fund from oil and gas revenues generating returns of nearly 6% a year for the people of Norway.
Ports are expected to play a key role in the manufacture and storage of the numerous components needed for floating offshore wind farms, including foundation assembly, cabling and placing the turbines on top of the floating foundations. The ports must be relatively close to project sites so that the turbines can be floated out to their final locations.
The massive turbines float on a thirty metre high base the size of a football pitch. On top of that is a turbine over three hundred metres tall, that’s as tall as the Eiffel Tower! Because they’ll require a lot of materials, Port Talbot is seen as a perfect location because it’s next to the steelworks.
Milford Haven is likely to be a centre for early phase testing, fabricating anchors and anchor chains for floating wind platforms, high speed transfer vehicles and robotics.
Port Talbot and Milford Haven are part of the Celtic Freeport, which will help create tens of thousands of new, high quality jobs in the green industries of the future. The Welsh Government hopes freeports will focus on low carbon technologies, such as floating offshore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture, utilisation, and storage and biofuels.
Of course we don’t always know when the wind will be blowing, but the tides are always predictable!
Tidal stream generators draw energy from water currents in much the same way as wind turbines draw energy from air currents.
Tidal lagoons are power stations that generates electricity from the natural rise and fall of the tides.
A large volume of water is captured behind a fabricated structure which is then released to drive turbines. Tidal lagoons are a more efficient way of producing energy than traditional offshore wind farms, and their operating life is estimated to be about four times longer.
A tidal lagoon could also form part of the £4bn Swansea Port Development Project, formerly Blue Eden, in SA1. The plans, which will encompass the best in sustainable technology, could also include floating and onshore solar facilities, a hyperscale data centre powered by renewable energy, an oceanic and climate change research centre, eco-homes anchored in the water, a district heating system, a green energy transport hub with a hydrogen manufacturing station, and a facility manufacturing batteries to store renewable energy for worldwide distribution. It would also act as a catalyst for further innovation in renewable technology.
Tomorrow we’re hosting a major regional conference and exhibition, bringing together projects, businesses, organisations and key stakeholders in South West Wales’ green economy, together with people of all ages and from all walks of life, for an unmissable day of connecting, showcasing and knowledge sharing, with the goal of getting everyone working together for a resilient, sustainable future for the region. Book your FREE tickets here.
Businesses in Wales are being advised to prepare for the new requirements under the Welsh Government’s new Workplace Recycling Wales laws, which come into force in April 2024.
Recycling experts discussed the upcoming changes in one of a series of roundtable discussions being held online in the run-up to the Green Economy Conference and Exhibition, which will take place at Swansea Arena on November 22.
Explaining the laws, Andy Rees from the Welsh Government said they will impact all non-domestic premises in Wales, requiring them to separate out their waste recyclables. Unsold items such as electrical equipment and textiles also have to be separated out so that they do not go to incineration or landfill. All wood waste will also be banned from landfill.
He added that as circular economy thinking increases, many businesses need to reconsider what they make and sell, and the lifecycle of those products.
“Recycling is good, but there’s a lot of other things we need to do to try and reduce the amount of resources that we use,” he said. “The planet only has a finite amount of resources, so we need to be a lot more clever about how we design products, goods and services and where we derive our happiness from: is it through buying lots of stuff, or is it through doing something else, for example enjoying services?
“Businesses need to really think about the sort of product that they’re selling – whether they can lease it, hire it, or rent it. It’s important that we keep products and materials in productive use for as long as possible.”
Sean Gallagher, managing director at Carmarthen-based Cwm Environmental, welcomed the incoming laws.
“We’re well underway on gearing up for the new collections,” he said. We’re speaking to lots of businesses; advising customers is key.”
Andrew Wright, commercial director at Griffiths Group, described the new laws as “a positive change”, adding that there is still time for unprepared businesses to get ready for them.
“Although the changes are big, in the cases of what the individual businesses are going to have to do, they’re not that significant,” he said. “It’s just a case of pre-planning, and getting the right waste contractors in place to ensure that they’re compliant for you as a customer. Over time this is going to make a big difference to the Welsh circular economy.”
He also highlighted the need to improve the waste recycling infrastructure in Wales, welcoming the news that Jayplas, a leader in plastics recycling, is to establish a facility at Gorseinon processing at least 100,000 tonnes of flexible and rigid plastics a year, doubling Wales’ plastics recycling capacity.
“It’s a hugely welcome addition to the Welsh infrastructure,” he said. “It’s something that’s desperately needed. When you look at the waste streams which businesses are now going to have to segregate, I think a large proportion of it will be reused or be able to be reprocessed in Wales. Continual investment is needed in order to reuse these materials in Wales, and particularly to reprocess them.”
The conference aims to bring together businesses and organisations to discuss the growth of the green economy in South West Wales. It is organised by 4theRegion, a membership alliance working to bring about positive change in the region. 4theRegion also organises the Swansea Conference, which took place at Swansea Arena earlier this year. The Green Economy Conference and Exhibition will follow a similar format, with panel discussions, networking opportunities and an exhibition hall.
The roundtables held in the run-up to the conference aim to begin key discussions that will continue at the conference. The Materials Roundtable addressed the potential impact of the Workplace Recycling laws, featuring key players from the sector: Sean Gallagher; Andy Rees, head of waste strategy for the Welsh Government; Andrew Wright, commercial director at Griffiths Group; Gareth Thomas, head of marketing at Griffiths Group; Owain Griffiths, director at Circular Resource Specialists; and Diane Thomas, waste strategy and policy officer for Carmarthenshire Council.
Dawn Lyle, chair of 4theRegion, added:
“It’s clear that the Welsh Government is not shying away from making some difficult decisions that prioritise the well-being of future generations, which is of course what this is all about. I hope that discussions such as this one will inspire people to consider how all of us can encourage more circular economy thinking across our organisations and across our communities.
“The community sector is also leading the way with lots of plastic-free initiatives and small community-based innovations around circular economy thinking and community-based reuse, repairing and recycling. It’s an exciting sector with lots happening, so come along to the Green Economy Conference on November 22 to talk about all this and more. We’ll be joined by CEIC, the Circular Economies Innovation Communities project and can expect lots of interesting and inspiring discussions.”
The next pre-conference roundtable is the Food Roundtable on November 7.
The first Green Economy Conference and Exhibition at the Swansea Arena was an incredible opportunity for businesses and organisations to share knowledge and make connections, with the aim of co-creating a resilient future.
Be sure to save the date for the next Green Economy Conference, taking place again in the Swansea Arena on the 19th November 2024.
In the run-up to our Regional Green Economy Conference & Exhibition, we brought together experts for a series of roundtables based around the conference themes.
Hannah Monaghan, from Serco’s Restart Scheme Employer Engagement Team in Wales, and Campbell Hutchison, People Partner for One Stop, a retail convenience store chain and subsidiary of Tesco, with over 900 shops in the UK, have been working together to solve One Stop’s recruitment challenges since the late summer of 2022.
Campbell Hutchison and Hannah Monaghan (Pic: Serco UK)
One Stop were facing a number of challenges, especially in South Wales, where there were a significant number of vacancies in the market, but they were unable to attract and retain good job candidates. One Stop were also struggling with staff engagement and a higher than usual turnover of staff due to the on-going recruitment struggles taking up resources.
Hannah stepped in to support on behalf of Serco’s Restart Scheme and has successfully placed 10 people into Customer Assistant roles for One Stop in Wales, with the individuals settling in well to the business.
Serco are in a unique position with the Restart Scheme as the programme’s purpose is to help those in long-term unemployment to develop their skills and confidence to find long-term, meaningful employment. Serco has been chosen by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to deliver the fully funded Restart Scheme in Wales, meaning local businesses can benefit too by having access to a pool of fully supported candidates at no cost.
Campbell Hutchinson said:
“People that we recruited via the Restart Scheme have been better engaged as they have built a relationship with the restart Scheme team and are more likely to stay. We have more faith in the process than direct applications.
Working with Serco and the Restart Scheme has been brilliant. Before I contacted them, I had a Store Manager who was taken out of his current role to focus on recruitment. The process wasn’t working and had become disjointed. The Store Managers had become stuck on a hamster wheel of recruiting and recruiting and then they weren’t engaging with the new starters. There was no candidate care, and they were taking on anyone and these individuals weren’t committed to the roles. We started having to close stores due to a lack of staff as we don’t allow lone working in shops.
What Hannah and the Restart Scheme brought is stability and structure to the recruitment process. And the financial gain was that we managed to keep more people in stores, more of the time. When we look at our absences, we reduced absences from 6.5% in South Wales to 3.5%, even as low as 2% at one point. We both learned by working together as the candidate might tell Hannah one story and tell us another, so having the good relationship between us, helps us to get the whole story!”
Hannah Monaghan said:
“Campbell and I have built a good working relationship where we catch up weekly. We talk about the applicants that have applied that week and the progress they are making. We also use the opportunity to talk about the candidates that are in work and if there are any problems to tackle, we discuss it and agree a course of action if required. We both know the people who are in the roles and by having regular catch ups, we continue a streamlined process with One Stop.
Attending a managers’ meeting where I met 28 members of staff was really useful as it was good for them to know more about the Restart Scheme and that we are here to help. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that employers don’t necessarily know what we do. So, it was informative for them to get an insight into how we promote their vacancies, pre-screen their candidates, how we make sure the qualifying criteria is ticked off before candidates even get to the application stage. What we have achieved so far is just a sign of the good things to come with One Stop over years to come.”
When asked what Campbell would say to any business thinking about using the Restart Scheme, he said:
“Go to the Restart Scheme as early as possible. Invite their staff to your company team meetings so they can put a face to a name and your team can understand what the Restart Scheme is and what the process will be.
Candidates don’t grow on trees, and we are continuously recruiting and have new stores opening in South Wales. Hannah highlighted to us that the biggest challenges for recruitment for one of the new stores is accessibility as it’s not served by public transport very well. There’s no parking which we hadn’t thought of so we are currently working through how we can resolve this. This was invaluable advice. I would recommend using the Restart Scheme. We feel like we are working with experts, and they can bring a different skillset to the recruitment process. Let’s keep working the way we do and thank you for all of your help”.
To know more about the employers and businesses that have benefitted from fully funded support from the Serco Restart Scheme, and to find out what recruitment support is available to you, email EEWales@serco.com or visit https://www.serco-ese.com/restart-scheme/employers
