Great news today!
The Welsh Government today confirmed that I have been asked to join the Entrepreneurship Panel of Wales.
The idea has been on the table for a number of weeks, but I've had to stay mum about it all and wait for the official announcement.
The press release went out to the media today.
Obviously, I am delighted to be playing my part in such a prestigious and innovative venture for the Welsh Government.
I am looking forward to working with my panel colleagues to put entrepreneurship 'front of mind' in Wales.
Here is the official press release -
Some of Wales’ most successful entrepreneurs have been appointed to the Entrepreneurship Panel for Wales – they include James Taylor of SuperStars, Hayley Parsons founder and CEO of GoCompare, academics Professor Paul Hannon and Sue Poole and self-made multi-millionaire Kevin Green.
The new Panel has been set up to provide the Welsh Government with strategic guidance and expertise on the development and delivery of the entrepreneurship agenda in Wales.
Economy Minister Edwina Hart (pictured above) who set up the Panel said:” I am delighted that so many talented individuals have agreed to serve on the Panel. Between them they have an extensive range of entrepreneurial experiences and their expertise and knowledge will be invaluable in providing advice on shaping strategy and policy making.
“We want to instil a culture of entrepreneurship in Wales and create a ‘can do’ attitude throughout society for the ultimate benefit of the economy. Wales has a strong track record of encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation which forms part of the school curriculum and taught from primary school through to higher and further education.
“The Panel will monitor the progress of how we deliver these entrepreneurship programmes including the YES Action Plan.”
The Panel will meet four times a year with their first meeting scheduled for February 5th.
Entrepreneurship Panel members -
James Taylor
James came to Wales to attend university and loved Cardiff so much he decided to stay. He set up his business after graduating with a small personal investment and government support and has achieved national success in a short space of time. James set up SuperStars in 2005 with the simple objective of ‘spreading the benefits and pleasures of sport to as many people as possible'. SuperStars is now a thriving, dynamic and award winning young company that supplies specialist instructors to Primary Schools in the fields of sport, drama, art, design and music. It also runs after schools clubs and holiday courses. Super Stars employs 110 permanent staff and 40 temporary staff and works with over 100 schools and 25,000 children a week.
James is a passionate and dynamic young entrepreneur who has won numerous entrepreneurship awards and is a high profile figure across the business community in Wales. He is a motivated self-starter who is committed to developing his business and displays excellent leadership qualities. He is currently a Welsh Government Role Model and Business Entrepreneurship Champion and was also a member of the former YES Panel.
Hayley Parsons OBE
Hayley is the Founder and CEO of Gocompare.com, a leading financial services price comparison website. The business was founded in 2006 and was the first comparison site to display product features rather than purely price listings.
The business headquarters are in Newport and currently employ around 150 people. In December 2012 Gocompare.com was awarded the prestigious Investors in People (IIP) 'Gold' award.
Hayley was the winner of the Woman in Business Award 2009 (Chamber of Commerce Business Awards), the Welsh Woman in Innovation Award 2008 and in January 2012 she was awarded an OBE for services to the economy.
Professor Paul Hannon
Paul is the Director of LEAD Wales and Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Swansea University.
Paul is a graduate entrepreneur and has helped shape enterprise and entrepreneurship education, support and development in the UK and overseas during the past 35 years.
He is a successful creator and innovator of local support initiatives for enterprise and entrepreneurship stimulation in the private and public sectors; he has won accolades for his innovative approaches to enterprise and entrepreneurship curricula design and delivery in higher education; and he is also an experienced entrepreneur with 10 years as the co-owner/director of a small growing firm in the food industry.
Up to the end of March 2013 Paul was Chief Executive at the UK's National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (formerly NCGE) that supports long-term cultural change in UK universities and colleges. Paul was a member of the former Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES) Panel.
Sue Poole
Sue is the South West Wales Regional Entrepreneurship Hub lead based at Gower College Swansea. In 2012 Sue won a national Enterprise Education award for her work inspiring an entrepreneurial spirit in young people. Sue was also honoured at the National Enterprise Educator Awards ceremony at Coventry Cathedral, an event organised by Enterprise Educators UK (EEUK) and the National Council for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE).
Over the past five years, Sue has worked to develop entrepreneurship among students in the Swansea Bay area, from primary school pupils to college and university students. Last year alone, more than 800 young people were involved in the Enterprise Primary programme that she coordinates from the college.
In addition, Sue was a key player in the setting up the Young Chamber of Commerce, working in partnership with the West Wales Chamber of Commerce. This enabled students to engage with local business leaders and develop networks for their future careers.
Sue is the driving force behind the Entrepreneurship Academy Wales, which is based at the Dylan Thomas centre building in Swansea.
Kevin Green
Kevin Green is a self-made multi-millionaire social entrepreneur and wealth coach. He is one of the UK's largest residential property landlords and a multi-business owner. Homeless in 1984, he turned his life around and bought his first house in late 2000. The rest is history.
He has a wealth of experience in the property investment world and heads a number of successful companies and other non-property related businesses. He is a business coach under his own brand of Kevin Green Wealth (KGW). He has made numerous TV appearances and is in demand internationally as a public speaker.
Kevin loves to educate, motivate and inspire others. He helped launched the new Entrepreneurship Academy Wales for the business leaders of the future.
Kevin, 50, is an ambassador for the Make a Wish foundation, a charity which grants magical wishes to children and young people living with a life-threatening condition.
