Jonathan Lewis has been appointed as the chair of an independent advisory panel that will help shape the remit of a new economic development agency for Wales, the Welsh Government has announced.
The Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy, Adam Price, confirmed the appointment. Mr Lewis brings extensive business and leadership experience across major infrastructure and services sectors globally, particularly in energy, engineering, construction, and technology.
Extensive private sector expertise
Mr Lewis currently chairs Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s largest ports operator, and serves as a non-executive director at Adura Energy. He previously held chief executive roles at Capita and Amec Foster Wheeler. Much of his career was spent in the energy sector in the United States and other international markets, where he engaged with various national development agencies around the world.
The new agency will focus on attracting inward investment, supporting Welsh businesses to scale, and driving innovation. It will operate at arm’s length from the Welsh Government. The advisory panel will need to consider the level of private sector expertise required to run the organisation, and it is not yet clear how many, if any, existing civil servants could transfer into the new body.
Agency remit and business support
The agency will take on the current business support functions of the Cardiff Bay administration, delivered through its Business Wales brand in partnership with external partners. The panel will also consider whether the agency should have its own investment remit, allowing it to provide equity to support business growth ambitions.
How the agency aligns with the economic agendas of the four corporate joint committees covering all regions of Wales, as well as local authorities, will also need to be examined. There is potential for the agency to work collaboratively with Transport for Wales (TfW), which is a company of the Welsh Government. TfW could take on its own economic development remit, with land assembly powers, to support commercial developments around key transport hubs. The launch date and initial funding allocations for the agency are yet to be determined.
Productivity goal and quotes
The agency will play a role in helping achieve the Welsh Government’s key economic goal of halving Wales’ current in-work productivity gap with the UK average within a decade.
Mr Price said: "We have already announced the most ambitious economic goal in Wales in two decades - halving Wales’ productivity gap with the UK within 10 years. To meet that challenge, we need a fundamental change in how we approach economic development in Wales. The new agency will be agile, dynamic and built for the Wales of today. Innovation will be at its core - not just new product development, but the spread and adoption of new ideas that make businesses more competitive and improve people’s standard of living."
He added: "I am delighted that Jonathan Lewis has been appointed as chair of the expert advisory panel by the First Minister. The panel’s insight and advice on the operating model of the new agency will be crucial. This agency isn’t about recreating the past. It’s about building something that can stand out globally while connecting effectively with communities and businesses right across Wales. Today marks a key milestone in the journey to making Wales the best place in the United Kingdom to start, grow and invest in a business."
Reaction from business groups
Mr Lewis said: "Improving Wales’ productivity is core to realising our future prosperity as a nation. I am delighted to have been asked by the First Minister to chair a panel of senior advisers charged with advising on how a new innovation and development agency can underpin this objective."
Joshua Miles, head of FSB Wales, commented: "Bringing business support, export promotion and inward investment together under one development agency could help simplify Wales’ fragmented support landscape and make it easier for small firms to get the help they need. We welcome the establishment of the expert group and the appointment of Jonathan Lewis as its chair, but businesses cannot afford years of discussion about structures and processes. The Welsh Government must move quickly from design to delivery, with a clear implementation timeline, clarity on how business support will be strengthened, and a multi-year funding settlement. Small businesses make up the majority of Welsh businesses so their experiences, needs and ambitions must be embedded in the agency from the outset, including through the membership of the expert group. That is the only way it will deliver lasting growth for communities across Wales."
