Cabinet Minister for Enterprise Adam Price will tell the Plaid conference this will create conditions for more Welsh FTSE 100 companies
The Welsh Government has set a new economic target for Wales to have 500 high-growth companies driving productivity and creating new jobs over the next decade, as well as two FTSE 100 companies.
Speaking at the Plaid Cymru conference in Llandudno today, Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price will confirm a new programme, Sbardun, to support Welsh companies with ambitions to expand and compete globally.
Mr Price has set a target of reducing the productivity gap in Welsh workplaces to half the UK average. The latest figures from the ONS show that output per head in Wales is around 85% of the UK level.
The minister said the creation of a pool of 500 high-growth companies would create a requirement for a second Welsh-headquartered company to feature in the FTSE 100 index of the largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange by market capitalisation.
The only Welsh company currently in the index is car insurance for loan group Admiral, with a market capitalization of just over £11bn. The second largest company in Welsh is Flintshire-based price comparison company Moneysupermarket. While a FTSE 250 company, its current market capitalization is £879m, which is more than £3bn below the level required to enter the FTSE 100.
There is no guarantee that Admiral will still be in the index in ten years. However, if it remains, more Welsh companies listing on the main London Stock Exchange will be needed to increase the chances of other companies joining.
Flintshire housebuilder Redrow was a FTSE 250 company before it was bought by Barratt in 2024. Barratt Redrow is a FTSE 100 company.
Some of the Welsh companies listed in London are mainly on the junior Alternative Investment Market, although the largest market capitalization is the technology company IQE, which wants to join the main exchange.
Not all companies of scale in Wales, even if backed by private equity, will see a listing on the London Stock Exchange as the best route to return on investment.
Plaid was asked what the definition of a high-growth company is and how many businesses currently meet the criteria, Sbardun will start with an initial cohort of 20 companies in April for a two-year program period.
The program will be transferred to the new national development agency when it is operational. The test is whether there are German-style Mittelstands based in Wales and medium-sized companies that can scale. Sbardun will fail if it adopts the traditional “clipboard” approach to business support. You should use external expertise instead of adding real value to the company you support.
Mr Price is expected to tell the Plaid conference: “We should want more Welsh companies to succeed, grow and compete on the world stage.
“Scale is important. We should want more Welsh companies to succeed, grow and compete on the world stage.
“Because success is not just measured by the number of companies that reach the top. It is measured by whether people in every part of Wales can build a good life through good work.
“Our ambition is an economy deep enough, broad enough and deep enough to create opportunities for all, generation after generation.
“In Wales, there are thousands of companies that can help us build that future.”
Sbardun, which means spur or accelerator, will be open for applications this fall for an initial intake of 20 companies. There are currently no details on the budget allocation.
In Sbardun, Mr Price added: “From April, our first 20 Welsh companies with ambition and potential to become medium-sized companies will enter the two-year intensive investment program of the Development Bank of Wales. Entrepreneurs who have made the journey before. A peer group of nineteen others who created it with them. And one joint plan for all those holding the company.
“Twenty is the beginning. We will learn what works. And what works for twenty, the new agency will take the measure. Because the purpose of Sbardun is not to create some companies. It is to change the trajectory of the Welsh economy.
“The target is a promise with these numbers. So this is ours. In ten years, five hundred high-growth companies. That brings us to a level of company density equal to the population of England. If we do that, we will create conditions for additional FTSE 100 companies in Wales.
“It’s not a separate ambition. It’s just one climb. A peak needs a mountain below it.”
A new £10m pilot scheme has also been launched by the Development Bank of Wales to help high-growth companies secure larger rounds of equity investment and scale from a Welsh base.
The Wales Equity Co-Investment Scheme will co-invest with qualifying institutional investors, providing matching equity investments of between £500,000 and £2m in funding rounds of up to £10m.
The scheme has been designed to unlock further third party capital for Welsh SMEs with strong commercial growth potential, with a particular focus on businesses commercializing technology and looking to scale.