Welsh Development Agency
The Welsh Development Agency (WDA) was a QUANGO and later an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB) established in 1976 to encourage business development and investment in Wales, to clear derelict land and to encourage growth of local businesses. In April 2006 the WDA was abolished and its functions were transferred into the Welsh Government.
The WDA had four objectives: furthering the economic development of Wales, promoting industrial efficiency and international competitiveness, developing employment and improving the environment.[1] The organisation worked to secure entrepreneurial growth in Wales by increasing the number of startup businesses and by persuading multinational companies to relocate or open subsidiary facilities in Wales. Finance Wales is a public limited company set up by the WDA and still providing funding to Welsh businesses.
Employing several hundred workers, the WDA was one of Wales's highest-profile employers[citation needed] with a network of offices worldwide and their headquarters in the former Bank of Wales building in Cardiff. In its 30-year history the WDA was credited[citation needed] with helping to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and securing billions of pounds in investment. It even enjoyed the praise of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who claimed it was doing a marvellous job.[2]
The WDA ceased to exist on 1 April 2006, when it and two other ASPBs - the Wales Tourist Board and ELWa - were merged into the Welsh Government. The current Welsh Government Minister for Business, Enterprise and Technology is Edwina Hart, replacing Ieuan W Jones who was the Minister for the Economy and Transport at the time of the merger.
[edit] Controversy
In the 1990s the WDA attracted controversy when its chairman, Gwyn Jones, a businessman was appointed by the then Welsh Secretary, Peter Walker after meeting him at a Conservative Party fundraising lunch.. He later resigned from the post ahead of a Commons Public Accounts Committee report that condemned the agency for: giving out illegal redundancy payments, allowing free private motoring for board members, appointing a discharged bankrupt as a marketing director who was later jailed, and flying directors on Concorde.[3]
In May 2011, a businessman and former executive of International Business Wales (IBW), Christopher David, incorporated a new company under the Welsh name "Mae Awdurdod Datblygu Cymru Ltd" This as a result of taking advice, that incorporating ADC establishes the right to trade under the English translation of the name- The Welsh Development Agency under Welsh bilingual policy in the same way that the WDA previously operated under the Welsh translation of the name "Awdurdod Datblygu Cymru". David Claims that this company has explored a strategy for a private sector led approach to inward investment[citation needed].
Nevertheless the trademarks "WDA" and "The Welsh Development Agency", and its distinctive logo are owned by the Welsh Government, and are not due for renewal with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) until 2014. In January 2012 the WG threatened David with prosecution for use of its mark in the name of his company[citation needed].
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008
- ^ BBC NEWS | Wales | Questions over quango replacement
- ^ The Independent on Sunday - 13 March 1994 - Quangowatch: No 5
