Millennium Stadium A Business Beacon for Wales?
Hugh James Exchange
02 I 10 I 09
Celebrating its 10th
Anniversary,
the Millennium Stadium has
become
an icon in Wales. The Hugh James
Exchange last night (1 October) asked a panel of experts and an
audience of nearly 200 key business men and women from across south
Wales: is it a Business Beacon for Wales?
The
high level, interactive business event held at the Millennium
Stadium invited the audience to answer this question using an
electronic polling system, which demonstrated a resounding ‘yes’,
with 94% agreeing that is has become a key business beacon for
Wales since coming to Cardiff in 1999.
In
leading the debate on this highly topical subject keynote speaker
Roger Lewis, Group Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Union, warned
that Wales has traditionally suffered from a lack of confidence in
supporting its rich sporting culture; while the Stadium could
indeed be classed as a business beacon for Wales, financial support
will be essential if we are to maintain the pedigree of events for
years to come and safeguard the stadium’s future:
“The
Millennium Stadium is a business beacon for Wales. It has and
continues to burn brightly. The Welsh Rugby Union has stoked its
fire for ten years and will continue to do so. Many have benefited
from its glow and warmth. But for the WRU better a little fire to
warm us than a great one to burn us“
Mr
Lewis was joined by a panel of three key figures at the heart of
generating major sporting events and stadia in Wales along with
Bill Savage, Chairman of Cardiff and Co which has the task of
marketing Cardiff to the world. The panel was asked to
consider key issues surrounding public investment into the
Millennium Stadium and other sports stadia across Wales, asking:
what has been the economic impact of public investment? Has the
funding for sport been fairly distributed across Wales, and what
impact will the London 2012 Olympics have on the Welsh
economy?*.
Roger
Lewis argued that despite the fact the Stadium would host 4
football matches during the Olympics, London would be the
overwhelming beneficiary of the games, with other areas of the UK
gaining very little from the event economically because of the
considerable drain on public finances. Bill Savage on the other
hand felt Cardiff could afford to be a little more patient with the
outcome of a number of Olympic bids and tenders yet to be
decided. 62% of the audience believed the Olympics would make
‘little difference’ to the Welsh economy with 12% believing the
games in London would actually have a ‘negative effect’.
The
panelists were also asked to consider whether public investment in
sport was allocated adequately and fairly across Wales. Mike Hall
was particularly forthright with his view that as a country we lag
behind our European neighbours and sporting superpowers such as
Australia in ensuring all areas of the country have first rate
sporting facilities. Paul Russell agreed, citing the increase in
childhood obesity and antisocial behaviour as key indicators of
inadequate investment. Rob Holt however was able to give an insight
into how the Ryder Cup had planned in, from the outset, initiatives
across Wales such as £2million fund for more public golf facilities
to encourage a higher number of new golfers. The audience
however was almost united in their opinion though with 69% of
people believing public investment in sport in Wales was not
sufficient.
Panellists were:
Mike Hall, Director of PMG Developments
Bill Savage, Chairman of Cardiff & Co
Rob Holt, Chief Executive of Ryder Cup
Wales
Paul Russell, Chairman of
Glamorgan Cricket
Digital voting
During the recent
Exchange panelists and delegates were given the opportunity to cast
their votes on issues and questions surrounding sport and
investment of such in Wales.
The Hugh James Exchange asked the following
questions:
1) The Millennium Stadium has been a major
driving force in the Welsh economy since 1999
2) Should major public investment in sporting
venues “follow the money” and invest in areas with existing
relative affluence (and higher populations) or should it be used to
“create money” and kick start investment in areas of relative
deprivation?
3) Will the new Cardiff City/Blues stadium be
a commercial success?
4) In terms of the impact of the staging of
the London Olympics in 2012 on the Welsh economy which of these
statements would you agree with most?
5) Has investment in sport been distributed
fairly across Wales?
6) Have we lost another Cardiff USP (unique
selling point) by moving regional rugby from Cardiff Arms Park to
the Cardiff City Stadium?”
To see the response results to these questions please visit
our voting results page
Additonal information
- This event marked the seventh Hugh James
Exchange, which is a high level business event designed to
stimulate debate and discussion from both the audience and our
panel of experts.
- Compere for the evening was Noreen Bray,
Chair of Good Relations Wales.
- Hugh James is the largest firm of solicitors
based in Wales with 40 partners and 500 staff offering a
comprehensive range of legal services.
For further information contact:
Joe Purcell, Business Development Manager,
E joe.purcell@hughjames.com
T 029 2039 1061
Visit the Exchange information
page
