To recover from the pandemic Wales’ economy needs to grow.

That means empowering small firms to seize opportunities and supporting the ambition that they have for the future.

Lets have a look at what the political parties have pledged for growing Wales’ smaller firms.

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First up, here’s a reminder of what FSB Wales has called for:

Action to develop Wales’ medium-sized firms
Put the Development Bank of Wales on a statutory footing
Maintain Business Wales brand and develop for the future http://www.fsb.org.uk/wales2020 

Reform have pledged to:
Stimulate the North Wales economy by supporting Wylfa Newydd

Welsh Liberal Democrats have pledged to:
Develop a long-term plan to support businesses and enable small businesses to grow, including establishing an Economic Recovery Council
Pass an Economic Development Bill

Propel have pledged to:
Establish a Stock Exchange Cymru
Create eight co-operative community banks, with a primary focus on investing in existing and new small and medium-sized local businesses

Welsh Labour have pledged to:

Take forward an Economic Resilience and Reconstruction Mission for Wales
£500m Wales Flexible Investment Fund to support economic recovery & expand the Development Bank's funds to provide long-term lending to SMEs, entrepreneurs & start-ups

UKIP have pledged to:
Freeze business rates at zero for at least 12 months to help small businesses recover

Welsh Conservatives have pledged to:
Establish a National Mission to grow the economy, aiming to create 65,000 new jobs with govt, businesses, & entrepreneurs working together
Establish “Innovate Wales” to support new enterprises, and encourage firms to grow & export

Plaid Cymru have pledged to:
Create Prosperity Wales, an arms-length development agency, to focus on growing small and medium-sized Welsh firms
Develop a strategy to scale-up existing businesses with high growth potential.
Establish a SME Investment Strategy

Wales Green Party have pledged to:
Supporting local creatives to gain access to closed and disused shops and premises on high streets, with Universal Basic Income as a basic support for many new creative small businesses.

This is a detailed topic that covers a number of areas – so it’s a tough one to condense into 280 characters!

Take a look at our pinned thread for more detail on what each party is proposing to grow Wales' economy and the businesses that are vital to it.

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