WalesOnline - The Bottom Line

Live Webchat with Tories' Assembly economic development spokesman David Melding AM

2009-10-01T14:24:58Z

Conservative economic development spokesman David Melding: Live Web Chat

Trade mission flight details of First Minister Rhodri Morgan

2009-09-09T13:53:29Z

LAST month I asked the Welsh Assemby Government to provide details of the trade mission flights of First Minister Rhodri Morgan and Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones since the inception of International Business Wales (the Assembly Government's inward investment and export assist arm).

Here is their official response

FIRST MINISTER

May 2006 - London to Dubai - Business Class.

September 2006 - Bristol - Belfast - Business Class.

September 2006 - Bristol - Brussels - Business Class.

September 2006 - Bristol - Dublin - Economy Class.

September 2006 - Dublin - Manchester - Economy Class.

October 2006 - Cardiff - Amsterdam - Business Class.

February 2007 - Bristol - Brussels - Economy Class.

March 2007 - London - New York - Business Class.

July 2007 - Bristol - Brussels - Premium Economy Class.

September 2007 - Brussels - Bristol - Business Class.

December 2007 - Cardiff - Edinburgh - Economy Class.

February 2008 - Cardiff - Dublin - Economy Class.

February 2008 - Brussels - Bristol - Economy Class

March 2008 - Bristol - Beijing return - Business Class

March 2008 - Beijing - Chongqing return - Business Class applied for (but shows on the e-ticket as first class as there was no distinction between business and first class on the airline)

March 2008 - Cardiff - Edinburgh - Economy Class.

May 2008 - Bristol - Belfast - Economy Class

July 2008 - Cardiff to Paris - Business / Economy

September 2008 - Cardiff - Detroit (via Amsterdam) Premium Economy; Detroit - Kentucky. The internal US flights were Premium Economy.

September 2008 - Louisville - Heathrow - Ryder Cup Team Charter Flight.

October 2008 - Bristol - Geneva - Economy Class.

February 2009 - Paris - Amsterdam - Amsterdam - Cardiff - Business Class.

March 2009 - London - Washington - Business Class

May 2009 - London - Milan return - Business Class.

June 2009 - London - Washington - Premium Economy.

DEPUTY FIRST MINISTER IEUAN WYN JONES

The Deputy First Minister has undertaken a trade and inward investment mission to India (in 2007) which involved internal and international flights. Our records show that all flights were business class.

He has also undertaken an inward investment mission to Japan (in 2008); there was one internal flight from Osaka to Tokyo (economy) for the homeward journey.

The international flights were booked as economy class.

Other:

September 2007 - Brussels to Manchester - Lowest fare applied for.

March 2008 - Heathrow to Manchester - discounted economy

February 2008 - UK to New York - Virgin Business Class

September 2008 - UK to the United States - Business Class; Louisville to Washington, Washington to Louisville and Louisville to Chicago (all economy) and Chicago to Manchester (business class).

September 2008 - Manchester to Edinburgh - Economy.

January 2009 - UK to Barcelona - (euro traveller).

S4C its SDN windfall and my FOI request

2009-06-14T15:02:50Z

A few months back I lodged a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with Welsh language Channel S4C.

It followed the channel's initial decision not to answer questions - I had put into its press office - around the £33m its commercial arm had secured from the sale of the SDN multiplex, in which it had a stake back in 2006.

My FOI was based on these questions:

The total amount received from the sale of SDN (although that was already in the public domain)

Of that amount what has been spent to date in total value; as well as a breakdown on where that money has been spent ... eg Inuk?

What amount was invested with UBS and when?

What is the current valuation of the funds managed by UBS?

Where is the money invested? For example shares, Government bonds?

What fees have been paid to UBS to date for managing the fund?

Has any of the fund been drawn down since investing. For example was the £5m invested in Inuk taken from the fund, or was that money ring-fenced for investment?

Could S4C divest from the fund with immediate effect? Or is it tied up for a period of time? What are those time periods if any? And

Does S4C has any further investment plans, or is the strategy just to keep the fund running in the hope of its value increasing?.

My FOI was considered by secretary to the S4C Authority Phil Williams.

He said the channel was not obliged to provide answers as my questions related to its commercial arm, which is not covered by FOI requests - as would be the case with its publicly funded Welsh language activities.
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But he did provide the following information:

S4C's shareholding in SDN was held by SDML, a wholly owned subsidiary of S4C. SDML's accounts for the year ending 31/12/05 (filed at Companies House) show net consideration received following the sale of SDML's shareholding in SDN as being £32,939,000.

The proceeds of sale of SDN have been invested by SDML in accordance with investment criteria laid down by the S4C Authority.

SDML invested £29.9m in a fund managed by UBS. The decision to invest in a fund managed by UBS was made by SDML, and approved by the S4C Authority, following a tender process.

SDML invested £6m in Inuk Networks (IPTV company based in Abercynon) in consideration for 25.5% of the issued share capital of the company, as shown by the return of allotments filed at Companies House in respect of INUK. £3m of this was obtained from the UBS fund. The other £3m derived from the sale of rights in a TV character (Fireman Sam to Hit Entertainment).

A valuation (which was not given to me) of the managed fund will be included in S4C's Statement of Accounts for 2008 which is to be laid before Parliament in June 2009 and then published.

The accounts will show a signifcant fall in the value of the fund. This was confirmed in an interview I had with the channel's chief executive Iona Jones which can be found by click here.
On my question of where is the money invested, Mr Williams said UBS actively manages the fund by investing the monies in a range of investments which vary from time to time.

On what fees have been paid to UBS to date for managing the fund Mr Williams said that in his opinion the exemption in section 43 of the Act relating to commercial interests was applicable to this question.

However, for similar fund mangement arrangements, fees of 1% and higher are not unusual.

On divesting from the fund,SDM has instant access to the fund.

Would you like to live in Wales?

2009-05-12T11:12:31Z

I often make use of a very useful site, Ask500 People, where you can post straw polls.

A few weeks back I asked users of Ask 500 from all over the world this simple questions: Which of this countries would you rather live, Wales, England, Scotland or Ireland?

Wales was the least favoured. Click here for the findings

Bill Mayne of Cardiff-based MSS Group in video Q&A

2009-04-15T09:47:17Z

Sion Barry

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SA Brain & Co chief executive Scott Waddington

2009-04-09T14:18:35Z

Sion Barry

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Selling Cardiff to the world

2009-03-29T08:53:44Z

THE company charged with promoting Cardiff to the world has just produced a very slick video (see above) highlighting the capital's USPs.

Cardiff & Co has been working hard to position the city as an inward investment, conference, tourism and leisure location, overseen by its managing director Richard Thomas and chair Bill Savage.

What I like about the video is that its upbeat voices are not Welsh, or even British, but people from overseas who have flourished in the capital, like the American chief executive of Admiral, Henry Engeldhardt and Aussies Matt Burge of CommsDirect and Judith Isherwood of the Wales Millennium Centre.

Last week Cardiff & Co launched its ambassador scheme, signing up more than 100 people who will promote the capital in their various networks. I am pleased to say that they asked me to be an ambassador as well.

One of my pitches in selling Cardiff starts with this question: Where in the world can you walk from your home and within 20 minutes see a top flight football, cricket, or rugby international?

Well from my home in Canton it would take me less than 20 to be at the Swalec Stadium (although I don't have a ticket!) to see this summer's Ashes test between England and Australia. For just another five minutes of leg stretching I could be seated for a Wales v New Zealand rugby international at the Millennium Stadium, or at the same venue for a Wales v Brazil football international.

Now if you like sport that's a pretty impressive USP for Cardiff.

But there is, with most cities, a less prettier side to Cardiff, just click here to see

ITV Wales and the future of public service broadcasting

2009-03-10T12:43:47Z

THE decision of ITV to shed 600 jobs will have an impact in Wales, but the real question is not so much future headcount, but its status as a free to air broadcaster.

Announcing disappointing latest end of year results last week, ITV said it planned to make £155m in cost savings this year, rising to £245m by 2011, and described current conditions in the advertising market as the worst seen in more than 30 years.
Last year ITV Wales, based at Culverhouse Cross in Cardiff, cut its workforce by 17 to 113.

The broadcaster's decision to shelve its ITV Local platform, will result in one job loss in Cardiff, although it is creating a public affairs role

And there is also speculation that the role of national (Wales) director Elis Owen could be under threat, as ITV is to review its senior management structure.
ITV Local will be replaced later this year with a new service via ITV.com. However, ITV Wales will has been forced to cull its politics channel, which was only launched in January on ITV Local.

It is understood that Welsh language content provided by S4C for ITV Local will not be affected.

ITV Wales has a licence with the West of England to provide content free of charge via analogue and digital signals - for which is has to provide a set number of hours per week for news and general programming content (public service broadcasting).

Following a recent review by regulator Ofcom, ITV Wales was recently given approval to reduce its public service obligations in Wales with news down from five hours and 20 minutes a week to three hours and 45 minutes. Its requirement for non news programming was also reduced from four hours to one and half hours.

ITV has already has a digital replacement licence, which effectively mirrors the same terms of the analogue licence with Ofcom.

From 2010 the analogue signal will be switched off across Wales

However, the key question is whether ITV decides that it is no longer economically sustainable to have a public service obligation and hand back its license [s].

Each of the ITV regions and nations could opt to go it alone and become solely commercial channels.

They would then have to pay for broadcasting content via the various multiplexes. It confirmed last week that it reviewing its ownership of SDN, a profitable business that owns and rents a number of Freeview channels slots to broadcasters including Five, QVC and Discovery.

But giving up its licence [s] will not necessarily mean ITV has to forgo its cherished No 3 channel status in the electronic programming guide. The current agreement with Ofcom talks of "due prominence" but say nothing about it losing the slot if it gave its licence [s] back.

At the moment there is consensus between ITV, the Government and Ofcom that the a new model will have to be agreed by the end of next year.

That could see a number of scenarios. One could be ITV Wales continuing to provide local news content and general programming, based on a model of shared content with the BBC.

Alternatively ITV Wales could opt to give up its licence - especially if advertising revenue picks, although granted that is a big if.

And will the Government provide funding for public service broadcasting content in Wales and the ITV regions in England? Its Digital Britain review will report back this summer.

Many are pinning their hopes that Government will assign the millions annually given to the BBC for the promotion and development of digital, to underpin a new public service broadcasting model.

But in the current challenging economic climate will the Government have more pressing funding requirements?

And if it does stump up the cash who will provide the content, which wold most likely be put out for competitive tender?

However, the future for ITV, as is the case for regional newspaper companies - including publisher of the Western Mail Trinity Mirror - remains challenging.

Digital spectrum, Cube Interactive and a happy Rhodri Williams

2009-03-03T15:54:20Z

I guess director of Ofcom in Wales, Rhodri Williams, was sweating a bit last week in the hope that someone would bid for its digital spectrum licence for Cardiff - which as it turned out has a far wider reach covering Newport and parts of the South West of England.
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But to the rescue came Cardiff Bay-based Cube Interactive, which was formally granted the licence on Friday.

I spoke to a number of creative industries players before the submission deadline and the consensus seemed to be: "It looks interesting, but how do we commercialise it?"

The focus seemed to be very much on providing a traditional digital television service, delivered to viewers via the freeview platform.

However, founder of Cube Wil Stephens, sees it very much more than that, with the focus on television and digital data through mobile phones.

For just £10,000, - if others had submitted bids it could have sparked a £5,000 a round auction process - he now owns what could prove to be a very lucrative digital territory.

What are Cube going to do with it? Well that is going to be interesting, but they already see the potential for digital content via mobiles as the place to go.

More and more people are using their mobiles phones as their key communication platform, so it is very much a growth market.

If no one had bid for the spectrum , it would not have reflected well on the ambition of the creative industries sector in Wales.
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So well done Cube Interactive and Rhodri Williams for overseeing the licensing process.

Should S4C funding be a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government?

2009-02-24T15:14:27Z

IS the time now right for funding for Welsh language channel S4C to be devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government?

Well presiding officer of the National Assembly Dafydd Elis Thomas believes it needs to be explored.

He made his call while delivering a vote of thanks at Cardiff Business Club on Monday to guest speaker and chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons.
Speaking earlier today on Radio Wales he clarified his comments by stressing that policy was not a matter for him, but that "stimulating "public debate" was.

He also said he believed that S4C, which has its own authority, was not as accountable as BBC with its new Trust model.
So could S4C's budget be moved from the Department of Culture Media and Sport to Cardiff?

Well according to Lord Thomas a transfer of functions order could be completed in a matter of weeks.

I agree with Lord Thomas that the issue of S4C's funding arrangement needs at the very least to be discussed. S4C is a key part of the creative industries landscape of Wales. Thousands of jobs in the wider economy, like those in independent television companies, are reliant on the channel.
As an economic driver it is only right that the Welsh Assembly Government should have a say in its funding.

From a S4C perspective it is probably the last thing it wants. The funding agreement with the DCMS has pretty much been of case of: "Here's your cheque. Now please give us a call if they are any problems, but if not let's get together again next year."

Providing funding was ring fenced the channel should in theory have nothing to fear from a change in its funding arrangement.

And on the subject of devolving budgets, why doesn't WAG have devolved powers for Network Rail spend in Wales?

How much does Network Rail spend per head of population in Wales? I think WAG would like to get an answer on that one, but I suspect if Network Rail finally provides a figure - even if it includes spending in the Marches - it would show a considerable lower investment level than the UK average.

So by all means let's have a debate on S4C's funding and accountability, but let's also look at rail infrastructure spending being devolved to Cardiff, as it is in Scotland.

But back to S4C. The channel has expressed interest in generating its own news content. As part of a deal with BBC Wales it receives 10 hours a week of programming.
Its recent "undisclosed" submission to Ofcom ruffled more than a few feathers at Broadcasting House in Llandaff.

The S4C plan was referred to in a brief paragraph within Ofcom's Second Public Service Broadcasting Review, published last month. Further details of the proposal, which could end the BBC's news output in Welsh after half a century, are not available because S4C has refused to publish its submission to Ofcom.

Are S4C seriously looking to tear up its agreement with BBC Wales for news content and going it alone?

And if they did would it mean more job losses at BBC Wales? Or would the channel have to make up the loss hours with new Welsh language programming? If that was the case would that mean it would have to reduced general English language content?

Is S4C also looking to move into the English language arena, as part of a state funded public service broadcasting remit?

Well whatever S4C is planning it might be a good start if it came clean, perhaps in a public debate with BBC Wales, ITV Wales and other news providers.

And who could chair such a debate? Over to you Lord Thomas.

The English Broadcasting Corporation

2009-02-15T12:53:21Z

Had to pinch myself in the post match television analysis after Wales' victory over England that the venerable BBC had not become the EBC.

John Inverdale started me thinking that I was watching the English Broadcasting Corporation by making the point that England had lost, but had won 2-1 on try count.

Yes that was true John, but then his studio panellists of Jeremy Guscott (who in fairness has been gushing in his praise of the Welsh team of late) and Austin Healey then proceeded to go on and on (and surely they were going to stop and start talking about Wales) and on about England, England and yes you've guessed it England.

Jonathan Davies (yes he is Welsh) was dragged into the provincial like theatrical farce by making some interesting contributions as the English post-mortem examination rambled on.

But he had enough and started laughing only for Austin to add to a growing sense that I was indeed watching the ECB, by assuming he was amused at him and his beloved England
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Well Jonathan was actual (although to be fair I've not actually asked him) amused and a little bit bemused by the fact that the victors were not being mentioned. If it was England v Outer Mongolia, then fair enough, but Wales is part of the UK after all.

And Jonathan was quite right, Wales had just won their eight consecutive RBS 6 Nations' Championship game - and yes they could well be course for a back to back Grand Slam.

I do recall before the Wales v England game at the Millennium Stadium in 2007 Austin chatting in his commentary position and then pulling out a little wooden spoon from his coat pocket - which showed he has a sense of humour in expecting Wales (they won) to lose their last game and pick up the wooden spoon.

Okay so perhaps in the "post" post match analysis, John and the rest of team, might pick up on the fact that their efforts were a little bit too one dimensional - too much about England and not enough Wales.

And perhaps they could go back into the studio and film a new Welsh focused post match inquest. The EBC, sorry I mean the BBC, could then put it up as an alternative on i Player alongside what we were subjected to on Saturday evening.

Yes, if you are English, you are probably thinking what's he moaning about, you got S4C, BBC Wales and your own Assembly... and you get more per head in Government spending!

Okay, but put it this way the next time England beat Wales - which could well happen next year at Twickenham - I'm sure if all the talk afterwards was about Wales this and Wales that, then some English fans might have to pinch themselves for thinking they have tuned into the Welsh Broadcasting Corporation.

Tourism and the recession battleground

2009-01-30T14:03:36Z

I came across some interesting statistics on the Welsh Assembly Government's website this week on tourism numbers.

The upshot was that both UK domestic visits to Wales, and those made by people overseas, decined in 2007 on 2006

The full story can be found here

The Welsh Assembly Government described the falls as "disappointing," but pointed to the fact that poor weather in the summer of 2007 compared to 2006 was a contributing factor.

And they said that for the first eight months of 2008 - full year figures are scheduled to be published in April - there had been an improvement.

But what of 2009? Despite the weakness of the pound against the key currencies of the euro and the US dollar, will recession hit Americans and Europeans visit the UK [and Wales] this year?

And if they do, despite gaining on exchange rates, will they stay here as long and spend as much as before the recession?

Figures published by the International Air Transport Association this week show a sharp fall in passenger and cargo levels amongst airlines globally and the outlook is pretty grim.

For the Welsh tourism industry the lucrative overseas' visitor market is facing further contraction.

And for those that will travel to the UK, it has to fight hard to get a "piece of the action" against its competitors in Scotland and England.

But there is an opportunity for the sector in Wales to drive numbers of visitors from the UK.

The weakening pound is making trips to countries in the eurozone and the US more costly, although there are tourist focused locations, such as Egypt, where the pound has strengthened in recent months.

Coupled with concerns over job security, more people in the UK could opt to stay at home this year - and instead of two weeks in Spain or Florida, could be enticed to spend sometime in Wales.

The Assembly' tourism arm, Visit Wales, seems very much alive to this opportunity, as shown by its current television advertising campaign.

With thousands of jobs in Wales dependent on tourism the stakes are high

A very interesting site which I sometimes use for quick surveys is Ask 500 People. I found this survey on people's holiday intentions this year as a result of the global slow-down.

Could Jaguar Land Rover be UK owned again?

2009-01-06T08:59:50Z

SOME of our Trinity Mirror sister titles have launched a campaign calling on the UK Government to effectively loan, or guarantee finance, to one of the Midlands' key employers Jaguar Land Rover - potentially to the tune of £1bn.

Seems a very reasonable position as so many well paid jobs both directly and in directly in the supply chain are at stake, not just in the Midlands but here in Wales too.

More than 100,000 engines for Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles are made annually at Ford's Bridgend plant. And according to the Welsh Automotive Forum in total 24 firms in Wales are suppliers to JLR.

The campaign stresses it is not calling for a "bail out" but Government backing at a commercially repayable rate - which could be repaid over 18 months.
However, where do you draw the line? JLR today, Corus tomorrow?

But if the financial lifeline from the UK Government fails to materialise, could there be an opportunity here for Midlands Plc?

Tata acquired the company for £1.5bn in the spring of last year, and is now seeking almost as much to keep it financially afloat, until the return of more favourable market conditions.

It has spread it tentacles globally through acquisitions in recent years, so is hardly cash rich.

If it cannot secure the necessary finance, it will need to find a buyer and quickly, or be forced to put the business into administration.

In the current climate who would want to acquire JLR?

Well for the right price - far less than Tata's top of the market acquisition deal - there should be interest. JLR has a great management team and workforce in place, as well as an excellent and predominantly British-based supply chain.

And such a scenario could present a golden opportunity for two iconic British brands returning to UK ownership.

And who knows it could come from a management buy-out.
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With a clean slate (debt free) and an upturn in market conditions, potentially in 2010, such a outcome could be very good news for Midlands Plc and the prestige of UK manufacturing.

Americans on Wales in "England right?"

2009-01-04T15:02:48Z

INTERSTING poll on digital polling site Ask500 on whether people think Wales is part of England or not.

Click here for results

The Cornish to join the Magners League

2009-01-02T15:22:15Z

THERE has been much discussion in Wales about adding a fifth professional rugby region.

The WRU is exploring potentially creating a fifth region in North Wales - although this would be evolutionary rather than revolutionary with the first landmark being a team in the Principality Premiership.

And there has also been talk of reintroducing a professional region for the South Wales Valleys - filling the void left since the demise of the Celtic Warriors.

And there is also the potential for London Welsh being promoted to regional status.

The three unions whose teams compete in Magners League, have been sounded out by the Italian union who are keen to have thier top club sides included.

But why not get the English involved, well the Cornish to be more precise?
They are Celts after all and would be a great addition to the Magners League.

There are over 40 teams affiliated to the Cornish Rugby Football Union, of which a number are also members of the English Rugby Union.

Cornwall's most successful team at present are the Cornish Pirates, who compete in the league below the Guinness Premiership.
However, there are a number of other strong clubs in Cornwall like Bodmin and Redruth.

Could a Cornish regional team - as a proud Celtic nation and with a rich rugby heritage - play against their Celtic cousins in Scotland, Wales and Ireland?

Well of course they could. Yes there would be politics to overcome - and in rugby they can be pretty challenging, but importantly not insurmountable
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The Cornish Pirates might want to continue to ply their trade in England in the hope of promotion to the Guinness Premiership and the lure of Sky television revenues.

However, in terms of rugby talent and a passionate fan base, I really believe that a Cornish region - with the odd overseas signing - could be very competitive both on and off the pitch.