Glyndŵr University hosts conference on Facing the Recession

A heavyweight taskforce of influential businessmen and government figures is meeting with university experts to thrash out a plan to ensure that North Wales rides out the credit crunch as best it can.

More than 50 figures from the business world and local government are expected to attend a conference being hosted by Glyndŵr University in Wrexham on Wednesday 14 January.

The event will be opened by Professor Michael Scott, vice-chancellor of Glyndŵr University. Speakers include Adrian Piper, the Bank of England’s representative for Wales, Dr Janet Wademan, managing director of business development firm Van Helsing, and Professor Neil Garrod, the university’s executive director for enterprise and civic engagement. Chris Burgoyne, of Swedish bank Handelsbanken, which operates more than 50 branches in the UK, will also speak at the conference.

Professor Garrod said: “We’ve already seen that the North Wales economy is experiencing – and will continue to face - significant problems, with weakening company performance and increasing unemployment.

“Glyndŵr University has an important role to play in helping shape and support economic recovery. Working together with the public and private sectors we aim to offer guidance, support and solutions to ease North Wales through, and out of, recession.

“Listening to the doom sayers and worrying about increasing costs and job losses is perfectly understandable but not very helpful. We want to help ensure that constructive action is taken. The government has its own solution for the UK but the conference will be specifically about North Wales and what we can be doing in the region to help the economy through troubled times.”

Findings from the conference are set to be published in a report at the beginning of February.

“From the moment when we first mooted the idea for the conference there’s been a tremendous amount of interest from across industry and local government,” added Prof Garrod.

“We’ll be discussing ideas at the conference, then the report will be formed and sent to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff along with every MP in Wales.”

“Our work won’t stop there, though. We want to act as a think tank to help the North Wales economy and we’ll continue to develop a strategy even after the report is published.”