With the hub locations announced by Ken Skates AM, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport last Thursday (November 22), UWTSD is pleased to be working in partnership with a range of organisations to host the West Wales hub at Canolfan S4C Yr Egin in Carmarthen. The University is also part of the Mid Wales hub based in Newtown.

The Carmarthen Hub will be based at Canolfan S4C Yr Egin on the University’s Carmarthen campus and will be led by the social enterprise, Business in Focus. In a partnership with Business in Focus; UWTSD; Tramshed Tech; Wales Cooperative Centre and both Carmarthen and Pembrokeshire County Councils, the Hub will provide individuals and companies with room to start and grow their businesses in a stimulating, welcoming community. The Hub will also have a strong link with Bridge Innovation Centre in Pembroke, The Beacon in Llanelli and Coleg Sir Gâr.

The four new regional Hubs are funded by the Welsh Government with the support of European Regional Development Programme, and form part of a £4million investment across Wales.

With a strong emphasis on nurturing new talent and a commitment to supporting start-up and scale-up companies in both the creative and digital sectors, Yr Egin is very well-placed to meet the needs of the needs of the growing business community in South West Wales.

“UWTSD is delighted to host one of the Welsh Government’s Enterprise Hubs at Yr Egin,” said Gwilym Dyfri Jones, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor at UWTSD. “It will enable the University to work closely with key partners to provide students and members of the community with the knowledge, skills and motivation to encourage entrepreneurial success. It will also allow the University to further its links with both the local and regional business communities.”

Canolfan S4C Yr Egin is UWTSD’s new creative and digital centre in Carmarthen. With S4C as the anchor tenant, Yr Egin is home to a range of companies in the creative industries including multi-media publishing and digital technology; digital education; video production and photography; post production; graphic design; translation and sub-titling as well as financial management for the creative industries.

“The themes of bringing people together from the creative and digital industries and encouraging collaborative working to generate ideas and share resources makes Yr Egin the perfect base for our new ‘Enterprise Hub’ as we continue to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs and businesses,” said Jill Walters, Business Contracts Manager at Business in Focus. “It’s fantastic news for us to have secured this three year opportunity and adds further proof to our ability to deliver outstanding results in helping businesses on their journeys to grow and prosper.”

As well as being awarded the contract to deliver the Carmarthen Hub, Business in Focus – again in partnership with UWTSD, Coleg Ceredigion and a number of other organisations – will deliver the Newtown Hub in Powys.

Whilst the hubs in Carmarthen and Newtown will provide a central focus, the Hub programme will further engage with individuals and businesses in the counties of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Powys. Satellite locations will host events and activities and enable local people to join the Hubs’ community.

Carys Ifan, Director of Canolfan S4C Yr Egin is looking forward to seeing the Carmarthen Hub being established at the centre and to playing a key role in engaging with the satellite locations within the region.

“The development of Welsh medium, bilingual and innovative businesses is a vital part of ensuring community viability and developing Yr Egin as a catalyst for establishing new companies and encouraging small and medium sized enterprises to grow is an important aspect of our vision,” said Carys. “The establishment of the Enterprise Centre will ensure that first-rate business support and advice will be available to people in west Wales wishing to develop a business, including Yr Egin’s tenants and those using the co-working space. The Enterprise Centre will also benefit from the digital resources available at Yr Egin and I look forward to engaging with and further developing partnerships with locations across the region.”

For more information, please go to https://www.businessinfocus.co.uk