BusinessIn Wales

Legal

Swansea BID: If it isn’t written down

Swansea BID: If it isn’t written down Swansea BID: If it isn’t written down Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea BID Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  Sometimes when our beloved editor (best to keep them onside) rings me and gives me the theme for the month, I have a sinking feeling when I get off the phone. This month’s theme of legal is one of those months. I thought about writing about the legal hoops we have to jump through with the upcoming Swansea BID fifth-term ballot, but it’s hardly the most exciting subject, and no one likes an anecdote when the punchline is along the lines of “In complete disregard for section 3.8, paragraph 3!” I have never worked in the legal industry, so there is no funny story to base the article on, and luckily for me, my experience of using the industry is limited to a couple of house sales and a rather easy divorce. So, no witty anecdotes there! But then our crime reduction stats landed, and suddenly I had a subject! Swansea BID formed Swansea Against Business Crime (SABC), our crime reduction partnership, several years ago. Its role is to work with the local authority and the police to be the voice of local businesses regarding crime, highlight the issues, and help put measures in place to make the city safer for all. It’s working! Crime in Swansea city centre is going down. In the last two years, reported crime has dropped and positive outcome rates have gone up. You are more likely to be caught if you commit a crime in the city than ever before. People feel safer, so they are more likely to use the city, footfall goes up, businesses prosper, etc., etc. One of the main issues was lack of reporting. It’s still an issue, but it’s getting better. The phrase, “I haven’t reported it as nothing gets done,” was common, and that was the problem. The police can only respond to things they are aware of. If they don’t get told, then nothing will or can be done. So that was SABC’s first task, which was twofold: work with businesses to increase reporting and work with South Wales Police to improve communication. This resulted in an increased police presence in the city centre and the launch of SentrySIS (and more recently the 24-hour crime reporting phone line). Reporting went up, and crime went down. Increased reports led to the police being able to allocate more resources, so results got better. The message got out to businesses that reporting works; they could see the results on SentrySIS, so reporting continued to rise, and results carried on getting better. This has resulted in a near 20% reduction in crime in the city centre in the last two years. By working in partnership with SWP and Swansea Council, SABC has achieved really good results. The main lesson is: if it isn’t recorded, it didn’t happen! Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify Apple Podcasts

Food & Drink

Swansea BID: The demise of the brown tray

Swansea BID: The demise of the brown tray Swansea BID: The demise of the brown tray By Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  Let’s go back in time, back to the early 1980s. Leg warmers, snoods and pixie boots were all the vogue, all of which were deemed to be ‘ruddy silly’ by my Nan. Nan loved a bit of shopping, but she truly loved a cup of tea. I swear we could be visiting the Arctic and she would find somewhere to have a cup of tea. She also used to love to eat anywhere where you slid a brown wood-effect tray up to a till along some aluminium rails. Littlewoods was a particular favourite (now Primark). Nan used to love to do a bit of shopping and then have some lunch and, of course, tea. It was a day out. Forty years later, things have changed. For instance, restaurants with sliding brown trays are few and far between. Food has moved on; Nan, if she were still here, would go spare. City centres are changing. Retail is still an important draw, but it isn’t the only draw these days. Back in Nan’s day, the city centre was about shopping, and the food and beverage (F&B) businesses were there to provide support for the hungry or thirsty shopper. That’s not the case anymore. Swansea reached an important milestone in January 2026. We recorded the 200th business opening in Swansea city centre since that younger (and in those days, I had hair too!) me started collecting the data in January 2020. That alone is worth celebrating. They’re good numbers, especially when you consider that during that period there was the small matter of a global pandemic. The data has also thrown up something else that is very interesting. The makeup of those businesses perfectly highlights how town and city centres are evolving. 48% per cent of those businesses were food and drink-led. Retail makes up around 30% of openings, with the remaining 22% made up of offices and entertainment venues. Retail is still a draw for a city centre, as is the nightlife, but F&B has stepped up and is no longer an industry feeding the customers of others; they are drawing their own customers in. People now come to town (we’ve been a city since 1969, yet the city centre is still called town) to eat and shop just as much as they come to shop and eat. Swansea’s F&B offering is truly amazing. You can literally do a tour of the world’s cuisines. Nearly every continent is represented (excluding Antarctica, although we have several ice cream and frozen yoghurt vendors). Independent-owned establishments offer Welsh, Greek, French, Ethiopian, Turkish, Spanish, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, American, Italian, Brazilian, Mexican, South African, Asian, Middle Eastern and British food, to name but a few. These sit alongside the chains. Wingstop, Nando’s, Wagamama, Slim Chickens, Taco Bell and Popeyes. There’s more coming too. Swansea BID is actively tracking and working with at least 10 new businesses looking to open in the next six months. The future is bright for Swansea city centre and the city itself as a food destination. I’m not sure my waistline is going to survive. If Nan were still here, I’d be targeted with one of her withering stares and told to stop eating out. I’d tell her, “It’s for work, Nan! I must support the businesses in the area,” and then I’d be called a “lying hound!” Miss you, Nan. Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify Apple Podcasts

Commercial Property

What Swansea’s retail turnarounds teach us about property and passion

What Swansea’s retail turnarounds teach us about property and passion What Swansea’s retail turnarounds teach us about property and passion Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  It’s always a worrying time for a BID manager when one of the major retail centres in your patch goes up for sale. Who will get it? Will they invest? Will the current tenants stay? How will it affect city centre trade? Etc.  And in Swansea, it has happened twice during my time in BID. In 2019, Parc Tawe was sold. A company with its roots firmly in the city bought it from a national company. They had plans and a genuine passion for seeing the park function and perform well. On the day they took control, they had a 45% occupancy rate. One of the first things they did was install a management office, and the new site manager moved in.  Suddenly, tenants had face-to-face contact, and potential tenants could view at their convenience, not when someone from London or Cardiff could come down.  They went after retailers, they chased down property managers, they cut deals, and split some of the units in half. Within three years, they were 95% occupied and are now close to becoming 100% occupied. The turnaround has been spectacular, and it goes to show what can be achieved with an approach to renting commercial property that goes beyond the traditional ‘stick a sign on it and wait’ approach.  However, the biggest factor in the development was the passion they brought to the park. They cared; the site manager wanted full units and did what he could to get them.  They didn’t have a whole host of other retail parks that could cover the shortfall in the profits of this one. It was succeed or die, and after a ton of hard work, they succeeded. Four years later, Swansea Quadrant went up for sale, and you can imagine my relief when the same company were the successful buyer. The story begins again.  It’s a great example of what local knowledge and passion can do, but also, it’s about presence, which allows things to proceed quickly, and speed is key. Swansea BID moved offices three years ago and we looked at two offices in the city centre. The first one we really liked, but the agent was based in Cardiff.  It took three weeks to arrange a visit, and six months after that visit we were still waiting for contracts. So, we pulled out and looked at our current office, with a local agent and local owner.  We were in within three months. It was the speed and the ease of the transaction that made the move so much easier, and again that was down to the local knowledge and care. Property is valuable, particularly city centre property, so it gets bought by hedge and pension funds. At that point, it becomes an asset, not a shop.  Its value to the owner is not in its rental income but its market value. Rental income is nice but not essential to their needs.  So it gets farmed out to a national agent who sticks up a sign and waits. The property stagnates, and this causes it to become less attractive for rental. Another success story is Oxford Street, Swansea, where a whole strip of empty shops was sold to a local developer. The developer completely refurbished them and then went hunting for tenants. They will all be full by the end of the summer; three already are or are under offer. In 2025, Swansea opened 47 new businesses in the city centre, 24% higher than in 2024. In the last five years, 194 businesses have opened.  The demand is there, and the above examples go to show what happens when the landlords are present in the market too. Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify Apple Podcasts

Food & Drink

‘May you live in interesting times’

‘May you live in interesting times’ ‘May you live in interesting times’ Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  The phrase “may you live in interesting times” is meant as an insult or a curse. I, on the other hand, take it as a compliment — who wants to live in boring times! For me, the last year has been an interesting time, and it’s been awesome. I started my BID career in January 2020, and in January 2025 I moved into the “big chair” and took over the management of Swansea BID when our CEO of 16 years, Russell Greenslade, left for pastures new as the Welsh Director of the CBI. It’s a tough act to follow. The first thing I had to do was recruit someone to essentially replace me and take on the jobs I wouldn’t have time to do anymore. During the summer of 2024, we provided a three-month work-experience placement to a young man who was completing a master’s degree. He’d proven himself to be excellent and was exactly what I was looking for. So, a quick interview was held, and he started soon afterwards. I have to admit, I was very lucky here; the right person was available at the right time, and without Jacob, the changing of the guard would have been so much harder. It’s not the first time Swansea BID has recruited this way. To my knowledge, at least three of our staff over the last 20 years have come to us via Swansea University’s placement programmes. It’s something that is close to my heart. In 2004, I started work with Gower College Swansea (Swansea College then) as an Employer Liaison Officer on the New Deal 25+ programme. I worked for the college in similar roles for ten years, before leaving to go to the CBSA in Llanelli to do Employer Liaison for the highly successful Symud Ymlaen/Moving Forward programme. I was there for four years before the call of commercial radio dragged me out of the sector. During that time, I must have helped hundreds, maybe more, people find work in a variety of sectors — more or less always through the same method: what I called the “long interview”, essentially a work-experience placement that led to a job. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, but it always gave both the candidate and the employer a chance before any commitment was made. We’re about to do it again. In July 2026, Swansea BID goes to the ballot, and it’s a very busy time. Jacob and I will need a hand, so I am already in conversation with Swansea University about bringing in someone to help with that process. If they do well, they will be considered for any roles we have in the new term. I always impose a caveat, though. The student has to get something from it other than “work experience”. For example, the time with the BID has to be part of a module or project that contributes to their final mark, or they get paid by the university. It has to be a two-way street: they get something they can use to qualify, and I get an extra pair of hands. It seems a fair exchange, and at the end, if all has gone well, we talk about a job. The last year has certainly been interesting. Taking on a new role and having to recruit at the same time was daunting, but I got the right person, and that’s made it so much easier. Whilst I have your undivided attention, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have helped during this interesting year and have made it the blast it’s been. Special mention to the aforementioned Jacob, my board, and so many faces in the local authority. Finally, a big thank you to my fellow columnists, Carolyn and Kevin. Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify Apple Podcasts No Posts Found!

HR & Culture

Driving our city forward through partnership

Driving our city forward through partnership Driving our city forward through partnership Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  It’s a varied job being a BID manager, especially at this time of year. We’re a small team here at Swansea BID — there are two of us full-time — so I have to get stuck into everything. Take Halloween, for instance. The day started at 8:30 with a breakfast meeting to discuss a discount for all our BID members.  Then I was onto ballot consultation meetings, talking with the local authority regarding street cleaning, followed by work on communications to businesses about construction projects, and then a long chat with the local MP’s office regarding crime reduction.  After that, I hit the streets to help coordinate our late-night teams with South Wales Police and the local authority for the Halloween celebrations — the busiest night of the year on Wind Street.  I got home at 4am (Luckily, I have a very understanding wife).  No two days are the same, and I love it. Although I am getting a bit long in the tooth for 19-hour days, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Everything we do at Swansea BID is achieved through working in partnership. We work hand in glove with the council, businesses, and South Wales Police, to name but a few.  There are so many things we do that I’m proud of, but the one I’m most proud of is InvestSwansea.com. This project is probably one of the best examples of partnership working. It all began several years ago, when the BID organised a meeting with the largest property developers in the city and the local authority.  We put them all in the same room and had a frank and open discussion about what they needed to invest more in, to attract more businesses to the city, and to drive our city centre forward.  The meeting highlighted the fact that, while the council had an inward investment team, they couldn’t do it all themselves. Thus, Invest in Swansea was born. Invest in Swansea is a website that acts as a one-stop shop for anyone looking to invest in or bring a business to the city. It showcases the developments that have already taken place and highlights those still to come.  Some sections focus on our key industries and sectors, provide key information on our demographics, and outline all the support and funding available to businesses looking to move or set up here. There is more to come, too! But that’s not the end of it. Invest in Swansea has a LinkedIn profile and uses targeted advertising to ensure the message reaches the relevant people.  Invest in Swansea also attends events across the country to raise awareness of Swansea’s unique offering, the latest being the GRO Retail event in London. It’s a unique example of what can be achieved through partnership working. BID, the council, and developers are working together to drive our city forward, and all that hard work is starting to pay dividends. Unfortunately, I can’t say how just yet, but a lot of commercially sensitive conversations are currently underway. Together, all the partners are greater than the sum of their parts, and I am truly excited about what the future holds for Invest in Swansea. Has it been easy? No. Partnership working isn’t always easy, but that’s what makes it interesting. Each partner has their own challenges, but they also bring different skills and knowledge to the table, and that combined expertise is what makes the whole project a success — and something that I, personally, and I, as BID manager, am extremely proud to be a part of. Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify Apple Podcasts Uncategorised Driving our city forward through partnership Uncategorised

Construction, Construction Special

How Swansea’s regeneration is building more than just new homes

How Swansea’s regeneration is building more than just new homes How Swansea’s regeneration is building more than just new homes Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  This month’s theme is construction. I have to admit, my first thought when I was told this was, “Great, what do I know about construction?” Sure, I could share some amusing anecdotes about my time working in the industry as a materials technician in North Wales about 20 years ago (including one about me in a radioactive van), but that’s about it. So, I poured myself a coffee, leaned back in my chair and started to rack my brain for a suitable thread I could pull to eke out an article. It was then that the fly-through on the Invest in Swansea website caught my eye as it displayed on our office screen, and an idea was born. Swansea is going through major regeneration. Billions are flowing into the city from the City Deal, the council and private investors. If you head to investswansea.com, you can see the fly-through and the amount of work still to come, as well as what’s already been done. Regeneration isn’t all about fancy new arenas and tourist facilities; it’s also about homes. There are over a thousand new homes currently being built around the city, whether new builds or repurposing existing buildings in the city centre. In total, that’s creating thousands of jobs across all aspects of the construction trade, and a lot of our local trades are benefiting from that work. Last week, the Swansea.com Stadium hosted the Welsh Construction Show. I wasn’t able to attend this year, but by all accounts, it was buzzing. There were over 50 exhibitors, and hundreds came through the doors. The importance of the construction industry to the local economy is summed up by that list of exhibitors. There were representatives from industries such as finance, training, legal, motoring, communications, IT, hotels and logistics, all alongside the exhibitors you’d expect at a construction show — Sell2Wales, building suppliers, health and safety consultants and contractors themselves. As business owners, we all know that these shows can be a commitment of resources — the staff on the day, the cost of the freebies and roller banners, along with the cost of the stand in the first place. It’s a testament to the event that a lot of companies have stands year after year, which means they are getting a decent ROI. This event alone shows the strength and importance of the industry in the city. When we see the major projects going on, it’s easy to forget the smaller contributions that the construction industry makes to the city. A house extension here, a rewire there — all these smaller jobs (although to those having their house rewired, it isn’t a small job) add to the economy. The majority of the firms doing these jobs can pivot very quickly from a small house extension to building 30 homes. All they need are skilled people — and with the right people, companies can go far. Over the last few years, for example, I have watched a friend’s company grow from him and two boys in a van to eight vans, 25 sparkies and an office team to manage it all. The vast majority of his work is in Swansea. That’s seven vans bought locally, 25 extra wages heading into our local shops, and all the kit he needs for his jobs is bought from local suppliers. So whilst he may be working on larger national contracts, the financial benefits are seen locally. It can be said that the positive effects of a regeneration project begin long before the doors open — thanks to the construction industry. Anyway, back to me in this radioactive van driving through the centre of London… Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify No Posts Found!

Charities Special

One of the first lessons I learnt about charity was: “Don’t ask for jam jars!”

One of the first lessons I learnt about charity was: “Don’t ask for jam jars!” One of the first lessons I learnt about charity was: “Don’t ask for jam jars!” Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  I spent my happy hours as a child and teenager working with my dad, helping run summer fetes, car boot sales, jumble sales (do they still exist?) and various other events. Dad was a member of the Association of Friends, an organisation that did everything it could to raise funds for the National Children’s Homes (now NCH Action for Children), which operated Killay House Children’s Home and later a respite care unit in Killay. Someone had the bright idea of making jam to sell at one of the events, but we were short of jars. So an appeal was placed in the local paper (it was the 80s) asking for help. Thousands upon thousands of jam jars flooded in — we only needed about 50. Apart from spending time with my dad, which was great, I learnt loads. I had my first experience of dealing with customer complaints. I learnt cash handling, event management, and, without knowing it, began picking up customer service skills. Looking back, it was where this shy kid first started to develop a love of dealing with people. Dad did loads for NCH (and still does under the moniker of The Gower Woodturner — look him up, he’s really good), and I grew up thinking volunteering for a charity was something that everyone did. I’ve done my fair share of charity work over the years. I’ve had my legs waxed so many times I’ve lost count. I’ve shaved my head (the irony isn’t lost on me). I’ve cycled miles, dressed up as an Oompa Loompa, and, most recently, given my time on a Wednesday and Sunday morning to host a radio show (award-winning, I should point out) on hospital radio. Every time I’ve done something, I’ve learnt something — and that’s the key point. Charity work is a chance to try something new, learn a new skill and, if all goes to plan, bring that skill back into your business and drive it forward. For example, radio presenting is all about timing, a skill I now use when I do my weekly update videos. Charity staff and volunteers have a whole raft of skills that can be useful for businesses. Swansea BID is a small team — there are two of us — so in recent years we’ve partnered with the Welsh Air Ambulance for the Castle in the Sky project. Without their team of experienced event organisers and sponsorship managers, we’d never have got the event off the ground (did I mention there are just two of us?). Castle in the Sky was hugely successful, and both BID and WAA gained something. They raised tens of thousands of pounds, and we backed a project that generated footfall and art in our city. A partnership between business and charity needs to be more than just, “This is the charity we’re supporting this year.” There’s so much to be learnt from working together. Charities bring expertise your company may not have — event management, training and specialist knowledge, for example. A good example is Swansea BID’s work with the local branch of the National Autistic Society. They provided us with autism awareness courses for businesses in the BID area, and in return we helped them secure new computer equipment via our contacts in the business world. So, when your business is choosing the charity it will support next year, put some thought into what you can learn from them and what they can learn from you. Of course, it has to be a cause close to your heart, but a charity partnership can be so much more than a donation. Oh, and by the way — if anyone out there still needs jam jars, I’m pretty sure there are some left somewhere. Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify Uncategorised Golley Slater becomes employee-owned after nearly 70 years in business Uncategorised Court orders closure of Lampeter hotel’s bar and cellar after cockroach infestation Food & Drink, Uncategorised Robertson Geo targets new international markets after global growth surge Sustainability & Environment, Technology & Innovation, Uncategorised Template Uncategorised

HR & Culture, Skills & Training

It’s not all about the big gigs

It’s not all about the big gigs It’s not all about the big gigs Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  We all remember our first proper gig. Mine was September 1994, when ‘The Outcast Band’ played the Worcester Student Union, known as “The Dive”. Up until then, my exposure to music gigs had been the cover bands or singers with backing tracks at my local pub. I was hooked. I woke up the next morning wearing the Tour T-shirt, clutching the CD “The Devils Road” (I still have it) with no memory of buying them and, of course, a raging hangover. Since then, I’ve been to numerous gigs and have seen outstanding performances (the memory of Roxette’s Crash, Boom, Bang Tour in Birmingham NEC still gives me goosebumps), and I love listening to live music. But I’m not the fit, slightly feral, enthusiastic, and some would say, devastatingly attractive, young man that I once was. Large gigs in the park or Principality Stadium are great, but after a bit, I just want to sit down and listen. Then the muttering starts, “Excuse me, do you have to stand so close?” alongside “I came to listen to the band sing, not you”, and various other phrases that seem perfectly common in my new life mode as a smiling, grumpy old man. But I do still love live grass roots music, so it’s lucky I live in Swansea. Swansea has a thriving music scene; we are one of the very few cities in the country where an aspiring artist can play a couple of open mic nights to learn their craft, then get support gigs with other bands, before landing their own 50 -150 capacity gigs in music venues such as Hippos and the Elysium. From there, they can upgrade to 300+ capacity at The Bunkhouse, and from there it’s 500+ capacity at Sin City. Next, it’s the Grand Theatre at 1500 seats, before their eyes turn to the Swansea Building Society Arena at 3000 seats, the Swansea.com Stadium at 20,000 seats, and finally Singleton Park, with a capacity of 40,000. All of that potential sits within a 3-mile radius. What must be remembered is that whilst the massive gigs in Cardiff Castle, Principality Stadium, and Singleton Park are great for business, they tend to be a one-shot deal. Our local grassroots venues are there all year, drawing customers into our city centres, and let’s face it, Oasis probably played their first gig in a venue much like The Bunkhouse. Now throw in the various festivals, including the upcoming Swansea Fringe in November, and you can see why the Swansea grassroots music scene is bouncing, with more people than ever buying tickets and going to gigs. However, there is an issue. The model, nationally, is that, generally, venues get bar sales and the band/promoter gets ticket sales. This isn’t a choice by the venue, it’s the way the industry works. But it just doesn’t work anymore. The average spend per head at smaller gigs has dropped from around the £12 mark pre-covid, to £4.50 a head. There are various reasons for this, including beer prices (which is mainly alcohol duty), cost of living, and healthier lifestyles in the younger generation. The grassroots venues get it from all sides. Not only do they have to deal with the issues that come from the touring music industry, but also the issues in the hospitality industry, where NI and Minimum wage increases have had a huge effect. Being smaller venues, the alcohol they buy from the breweries is more expensive per pint than what Wetherspoons, for example, sell to their customers. Let me give you an example. In 2023, the grassroots music venues of South Wales had a collective profit margin of around 1%. In 2024, their business rates went up by 1.5%. The BID have been working with the venues and Swansea council (who have been brilliant) to try and address these issues, and together we are making headway. What’s the solution? Do we raise the profile of the venues to encourage more people to go? Well, numbers are already the highest they’ve been. Raise ticket prices? Venues have no say on ticket prices that come from the band/promoter. Encourage people to drink more? Well, no, you can’t do that. The only real solution is to change the industry model. The Music Venue Trust has recently been to parliament to try and do just that, but these things take time. In the short term, the responsibility falls on us, the punter, to support these venues as best we can. Go to gigs and buy drinks, but as businesspeople, we can do more. We can talk to venues about sponsoring events or even the stage. If we have a corporate event coming up, ask them to get involved and source and supply the band. Anything that supports these businesses, as they are the lifeblood of the musical talent in this city and across the country. Without them, the bands find it harder to gain a foothold in the industry and build their exposure. In 2004, I had the pleasure of going to a gig in the Patti Pavillion to see a band I’d never heard of, and at the time, not many other people had either. That band was Biffy Clyro. Five years later, they were winning awards and topping the charts. They were everywhere. So, that band that you’ve never heard of? They could be the next big thing, so go and support them, help them learn their craft, buy a pint or two, and help the venue in question. Let’s support and build the next generation of stadium-filling artists! Want more from Businessin Wales? 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HR & Culture

I see what you’re doing, but do you?

I see what you’re doing, but do you? I see what you’re doing, but do you? Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  This month, I turned 50. As a child of the ’70s and ’80s, I remember a time before mobile phones, when there were only four channels on the TV, and you had to get up to change them. A time when there was no 24-hour news, and your local news came from the evening paper, your local radio station, or regional TV. In 1994, I went to university and searched the internet for the first time. By the time I finished, internet access at home was becoming the norm. Combined with satellite TV, this brought a barrage of news. Then mobile phones and social media appeared, and the number of news sources seemed to triple overnight. Competition increased, and many smaller companies and news teams were either swallowed up or went out of business. This brings us to the situation we have today. Local news isn’t local anymore. Local newspapers have, more or less, been replaced by regional websites. Local radio stations often have their news piped in from a centralised head office team. Big stories are posted on social media to draw you in and make you read the article. Why are they so keen for you to read their articles? Well, that’s down to advertising. We don’t like to pay for news, but someone must fund the team that puts it together, and that’s where advertising comes in. I don’t have a problem with that; everyone needs to earn a crust. What I do have a problem with is misleading headlines designed to make you click a link. More importantly, I have an issue with articles that target specific towns and cities, feeding off the natural human desire to moan about where we live. You know the type I mean: “The 15 places that aren’t in [Town] anymore” or “Council removes [X] from city park”, deliberately omitting the reason why until the last sentence of the article. Everyone loves a grumble, it’s human nature, but these articles feed off that instinct, amplify it, and spread negativity. Worse still, they can genuinely hurt businesses, and hurt them badly. There’s a quote often (wrongly) attributed to Albert Einstein: “Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” The same principle applies here. If you are constantly highlighting the negatives of a city or town, the world starts to believe them. People stop visiting. More articles get written about the “decline” of that place, which leads to even fewer visitors. Businesses looking to invest will only see the negatives and be put off, and the cycle continues. I’m not arguing that negative stories should be suppressed. But I would like to see an end to articles that are essentially just lists of faults, not actual news, and an increase in positive, constructive reporting. So, what do we do about it? Should we boycott those outlets? Refuse to read their articles? Withdraw advertising? No. I have an issue with cancel culture, too. Everyone’s just trying to feed their families, and I would never recommend trying to take that away from anyone. I’m not 100% sure what the answer is. I’ll leave it with you — to decide how best we can stop the damage being done to our towns and city centres. I’ll sign off with a message to those media outlets guilty of this kind of journalism: “I can see what you’re doing. I understand why. But do you see what you are doing?” Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify Apple Podcasts Audible Uncategorised NFU Cymru President urges PM to rethink Inheritance Tax reform as farmers face ‘distress and torment’ Farming, Finance, Public Sector & Government, Uncategorised Glide secures NatWest funding to accelerate UK broadband expansion Residential Property, Technology & Innovation, Uncategorised Principality Stadium set to host opening ceremony of EURO 2028 Tourism & Travel, Uncategorised Swansea: A city on the up! Finance, Public Sector & Government, Residential Property, Tourism & Travel, Uncategorised

Tourism & Travel, Transport & Infrastructure

Swansea: Let’s be proud of our city

Swansea: Let’s be proud of our city Swansea: Let’s be proud of our city Andrew Douglas – BID Manager, Swansea Thursday mornings are breakfast mornings. Every Thursday, I pop along to a local café and have breakfast with my friend and business partner. We shoot the breeze and sort out any issues we have with the small side business we run. Last week, while waiting for him to arrive, I overheard the café owner talking to a Canadian tourist who was visiting the area. The conversation was essentially about how Canada was better than Swansea — but the one arguing for Canada was the café owner! I’m firmly of the opinion that one of the worst things to happen to this city was the phrase “Pretty, S***** City.” Don’t get me wrong, Twin Town is a great film, and it was fantastic to see our city on the big screen playing itself. Usually, when we see Swansea on screen, it’s masquerading as the backdrop for Doctor Who’s latest escapade (Doctor Who can travel anywhere in time and space — just as long as it looks like South Wales). But that phrase seems to have seeped into the consciousness of the city. You only have to look at social media. Any announcement made by the council or developers regarding new projects in the regeneration of the city is met by a barrage of negativity. Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.  Swansea isn’t perfect, but sometimes we forget how lucky we are. There aren’t many cities in the UK where an office worker in the city centre can walk to the beach for lunch. Swansea Bay itself is beautiful — just head to Altitude 28 if you really want proof — and we have Gower right on our doorstep. The economic impact of tourism in the City and County of Swansea is £658 million, with 1.6 million people staying here, so obviously our visitors love it. Business-wise, we have some amazing companies based here doing incredible things. We have an internationally renowned flag manufacturer, a global vodka brand, investors pouring millions into new buildings and regeneration, one of the best hotels in Wales, a distillery exporting whisky internationally, two sports teams with a global following, a multi-award-winning indoor market, a vibrant and ever-changing city centre, and a queue of national and international brands considering our city as part of their expansion plans. And that’s before we even mention the host of SMEs and sole traders producing outstanding products and services. The business innovation, talent, and ambition in this city are staggering. It’s easy to become blasé about the wonderful things around you. We see the seafront every day, for example, and sometimes we forget to stop, take it all in, and appreciate it. When we stop seeing the things that make our city special, we just start to see the negatives. If we concentrate on those negatives and shout about them for all to hear, we reinforce them and then people don’t return, move here, or invest here. Swansea BID and Swansea Council, amongst others, are working together to encourage investors and visitors to come here. We can attend conferences, trade shows, pay for advertising, and do everything possible to put “Brand Swansea” in front of those we want to attract. But our greatest marketing tool is one we can’t really control: you, the business owner and resident of Swansea. Swansea has money pouring into it thanks to the City Deal, and that is just the start. Together, we can make that money count and attract more by each and every one of us becoming an advocate for our city. So, tonight, once you’ve finished reading this, spend some time looking at the positives of our fair city and begin to love it, like I do. Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials Linkedin X Instagram TikTok Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast YouTube Spotify Apple Podcasts Audible Uncategorised Glide secures NatWest funding to accelerate UK broadband expansion Residential Property, Technology & Innovation, Uncategorised Principality Stadium set to host opening ceremony of EURO 2028 Tourism & Travel, Uncategorised Swansea: A city on the up! Finance, Public Sector & Government, Residential Property, Tourism & Travel, Uncategorised

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