Latest news with #GilesThorley
Business News Wales
28-05-2025
- Business
- Business News Wales
£152 Million Helps 502 Businesses to Create and Safeguard 6,185 Jobs in Wales
Sally Bridgeland, Chair, Development Bank of Wales; Giles Thorley, Chief Executive, Development Bank of Wales Debt and equity funding totalling £152 million from the Development Bank of Wales helped 502 businesses to create and safeguard 6,185 jobs across Wales during 2024/25. 82% of these businesses were classed as micro. The record figures have been released by the Development Bank of Wales for the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. It brings the total amount invested in SME businesses and property developers by the Development Bank since its launch in 2017 to £958 million. With core objectives to facilitate an entrepreneurial culture, support financial inclusion and prioritise social impact, the Development Bank has £2 billion in funds under management and a portfolio of more than 3,600 small business customers. Highlights of 2024/25 include: Private sector co-investment increasing from £50.1 million in 2023/24 to £64 million in 2024/25 A 26% increase in funding for the property sector to £48 million in 2024/25 Five successful exits in 2024/25 totalling £7.4 million Deals ranging from loans of £2,000 to £17.5 million with the average deal size growing from £255,000 in 2023/24 to £272,000 in 2024/25 28 businesses benefited from £7.9 million from the British Business Bank's Investment Fund for Wales that is managed by FW Capital, leveraging £1.1 million private sector co-investment and creating or safeguarding 577 jobs. As a public finance institution owned by the Welsh Government, the Development Bank provides loans and equity for Welsh businesses, people and communities in support of the Government's wider policy objectives including the transition to a low-carbon economy and the development of new homes and commercial property. Rebecca Evans, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning said: 'The Development Bank is a unique resource for Wales – promoting innovation, increasing prosperity, and supporting the transition to a sustainable economy. 'These impressive results show that the Development Bank is delivering for the economy of Wales by making it easier for businesses to get the finance needed to start up, strengthen and grow.' Sally Bridgeland FIA took over as the new Chair of the Development Bank of Wales in September 2024. She said: 'Boosting growth and unlocking investment by increasing the supply of debt and equity finance for SMEs is what underpins the long-term sustainability of any economy. 'The Development Bank is an organisation delivering long-lasting, positive change. Together, we're proud of what has been achieved in the last year and all that we're doing to support the aspirations of the Welsh Government and the people of Wales, creating opportunity, providing value for money for public funds and collaborating with others to increase investment in Wales.' Giles Thorley is Chief Executive of the Development Bank. He said: '2024/25 has been a positive year with more funding for more businesses than ever before. Indeed, we've seen strong demand for both debt and equity funding throughout Wales and the Investment Fund for Wales has performed particularly well, helping to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses. We are grateful for the continued support of the Welsh Government and the British Business Bank to make this level of investment possible. 'With teams based on the ground in communities throughout Wales, we're working across a broad range of sectors including those that offer the highest growth opportunities. From tourism and hospitality to life-sciences and defence, it's all about making sure that businesses based in Wales or relocating here can access the funding that they need to start-up, scale-up, adopt new technologies and create employment opportunities.' A detailed analysis of the financial statements for the Development Bank of Wales will be published in the 2024/25 annual report later this year.
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Wetherspoons pub set to undergo changes
A 'FAILED EXPERIMENT' of investing public money in risky biotech-style businesses cost Welsh taxpayers at least £28m but achieved all of its original objectives, a committee heard. Giles Thorley, who heads the Development Bank of Wales, largely blamed external factors for the poor performance of the now-closed Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund. And the chief executive told the Senedd's public accounts committee the venture could be repeated in future provided the lessons are learned. His report detailed how the Welsh Government-owned development bank lost £28.2m investing into 'very high risk', unprofitable life sciences businesses. According to the paper published this week, the fund, which was managed by Arix Bioscience plc, paid £7.7m in fees or 15% of the initial £50m invested. Mr Thorley revealed the fund contract set no limits on the fees charged by the manager. He claimed the fund, which ran for the decade to 2023, met all of its initial four aims: to increase access to finance, attract businesses, grow the sector and boost research. The fund also had an ambition to raise another £50m, bringing the total to £100m, but Arix invested £5m in 2016 – with only £21.8m returned to the public purse to date. Managers ordinarily limit the investment into any one business to 10% but 40% of the fund was invested in only two businesses: Rutherford Health and ReNeuron. Each received £10m from the fund and both later went under, returning nothing and raising concerns that the portfolio was 'overly concentrated' in a handful of businesses. Mr Thorley wrote: 'Normally the maximum investment from a fund into a single business is limited to 10%. This mitigates the impact to the fund should some of the investments fail.' The fund held investments in only nine companies, with three exceeding 10% each and totalling nearly 60% of all investments held. By comparison, International Biotechnology Trust – a listed life sciences fund – holds dozens of investments to reduce risk, with none making up more than 5% according to its accounts. That fund has returned roughly 60% to investors over the past decade compared with a -56% return for taxpayers from the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund (WLSIF). Mr Thorley said the failed investment strategy assumed the further £50m would be raised, which resulted in less diversification, increased risk and limited follow-on funding. He also pointed to the pandemic, a big factor in Rutherford's failure, and the high-profile collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund – a co-investor in some WLSIF businesses. Mr Thorley said disappointing clinical trial results were the main factor for businesses like ReNeuron, which relaunched as a private company in March after a year in administration. He said: 'The nine investee businesses represented a broad portfolio, … from lower risk established businesses with revenue streams to very high risk (potentially very high return) pre-revenue businesses where future returns were wholly dependent on successful trials. 'To that extent, the portfolio was considered balanced.' Mr Thorley pointed to Simbec-Orion, the fund's only success story, which provided a £19.7m (2.24x) return on an £8.75m investment. He wrote: 'The fund did achieve all four of its objectives and it may have taken just one more portfolio company to succeed for the fund to have returned the full investment or profit. 'For that reason, provided all the lessons learnt from this fund are considered, the final lesson learnt is not to write off any future considerations for using a specialist fund manager with a dedicated fund as part of a wider approach to supporting growth in a business sector.' But Senedd Members seemed less keen as they briefly discussed the paper on May 3. Arix Bioscience blamed a two-year Wales Audit Office review of the fund as a major reason the extra £50m could not be raised. Adrian Crompton, the auditor general for Wales who sits on the public accounts committee, said: 'At a high level, the lessons learned report indicates that, the assessment is that all of the objectives of the fund were met and you, I'm sure, will have some observations on that.' Auditor General Adrian Crompton Describing the fund as a failure, Plaid Cymru's Adam Price said: 'I would suggest on the basis of this that we shouldn't replicate this experiment. 'It's fine to experiment but if an experiment fails and you say 'oh well, it's OK for us to try again', I think there are some more basic questions.' The public accounts committee, chaired by the Conservatives' Mark Isherwood, decided to discuss the matter in more detail behind closed doors, excluding the public and press.
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Former Llanteg garden centre set to be redeveloped
A 'FAILED EXPERIMENT' of investing public money in risky biotech-style businesses cost Welsh taxpayers at least £28m but achieved all of its original objectives, a committee heard. Giles Thorley, who heads the Development Bank of Wales, largely blamed external factors for the poor performance of the now-closed Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund. And the chief executive told the Senedd's public accounts committee the venture could be repeated in future provided the lessons are learned. His report detailed how the Welsh Government-owned development bank lost £28.2m investing into 'very high risk', unprofitable life sciences businesses. According to the paper published this week, the fund, which was managed by Arix Bioscience plc, paid £7.7m in fees or 15% of the initial £50m invested. Mr Thorley revealed the fund contract set no limits on the fees charged by the manager. He claimed the fund, which ran for the decade to 2023, met all of its initial four aims: to increase access to finance, attract businesses, grow the sector and boost research. The fund also had an ambition to raise another £50m, bringing the total to £100m, but Arix invested £5m in 2016 – with only £21.8m returned to the public purse to date. Managers ordinarily limit the investment into any one business to 10% but 40% of the fund was invested in only two businesses: Rutherford Health and ReNeuron. Each received £10m from the fund and both later went under, returning nothing and raising concerns that the portfolio was 'overly concentrated' in a handful of businesses. Mr Thorley wrote: 'Normally the maximum investment from a fund into a single business is limited to 10%. This mitigates the impact to the fund should some of the investments fail.' The fund held investments in only nine companies, with three exceeding 10% each and totalling nearly 60% of all investments held. By comparison, International Biotechnology Trust – a listed life sciences fund – holds dozens of investments to reduce risk, with none making up more than 5% according to its accounts. That fund has returned roughly 60% to investors over the past decade compared with a -56% return for taxpayers from the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund (WLSIF). Mr Thorley said the failed investment strategy assumed the further £50m would be raised, which resulted in less diversification, increased risk and limited follow-on funding. He also pointed to the pandemic, a big factor in Rutherford's failure, and the high-profile collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund – a co-investor in some WLSIF businesses. Mr Thorley said disappointing clinical trial results were the main factor for businesses like ReNeuron, which relaunched as a private company in March after a year in administration. He said: 'The nine investee businesses represented a broad portfolio, … from lower risk established businesses with revenue streams to very high risk (potentially very high return) pre-revenue businesses where future returns were wholly dependent on successful trials. 'To that extent, the portfolio was considered balanced.' Mr Thorley pointed to Simbec-Orion, the fund's only success story, which provided a £19.7m (2.24x) return on an £8.75m investment. He wrote: 'The fund did achieve all four of its objectives and it may have taken just one more portfolio company to succeed for the fund to have returned the full investment or profit. 'For that reason, provided all the lessons learnt from this fund are considered, the final lesson learnt is not to write off any future considerations for using a specialist fund manager with a dedicated fund as part of a wider approach to supporting growth in a business sector.' But Senedd Members seemed less keen as they briefly discussed the paper on May 3. Arix Bioscience blamed a two-year Wales Audit Office review of the fund as a major reason the extra £50m could not be raised. Adrian Crompton, the auditor general for Wales who sits on the public accounts committee, said: 'At a high level, the lessons learned report indicates that, the assessment is that all of the objectives of the fund were met and you, I'm sure, will have some observations on that.' Auditor General Adrian Crompton Describing the fund as a failure, Plaid Cymru's Adam Price said: 'I would suggest on the basis of this that we shouldn't replicate this experiment. 'It's fine to experiment but if an experiment fails and you say 'oh well, it's OK for us to try again', I think there are some more basic questions.' The public accounts committee, chaired by the Conservatives' Mark Isherwood, decided to discuss the matter in more detail behind closed doors, excluding the public and press.
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Ministers' botched £50m life sciences fund ‘achieved all its aims'
A 'FAILED EXPERIMENT' of investing public money in risky biotech-style businesses cost Welsh taxpayers at least £28m but achieved all of its original objectives, a committee heard. Giles Thorley, who heads the Development Bank of Wales, largely blamed external factors for the poor performance of the now-closed Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund. And the chief executive told the Senedd's public accounts committee the venture could be repeated in future provided the lessons are learned. His report detailed how the Welsh Government-owned development bank lost £28.2m investing into 'very high risk', unprofitable life sciences businesses. According to the paper published this week, the fund, which was managed by Arix Bioscience plc, paid £7.7m in fees or 15% of the initial £50m invested. Mr Thorley revealed the fund contract set no limits on the fees charged by the manager. He claimed the fund, which ran for the decade to 2023, met all of its initial four aims: to increase access to finance, attract businesses, grow the sector and boost research. The fund also had an ambition to raise another £50m, bringing the total to £100m, but Arix invested £5m in 2016 – with only £21.8m returned to the public purse to date. Managers ordinarily limit the investment into any one business to 10% but 40% of the fund was invested in only two businesses: Rutherford Health and ReNeuron. Each received £10m from the fund and both later went under, returning nothing and raising concerns that the portfolio was 'overly concentrated' in a handful of businesses. Mr Thorley wrote: 'Normally the maximum investment from a fund into a single business is limited to 10%. This mitigates the impact to the fund should some of the investments fail.' The fund held investments in only nine companies, with three exceeding 10% each and totalling nearly 60% of all investments held. By comparison, International Biotechnology Trust – a listed life sciences fund – holds dozens of investments to reduce risk, with none making up more than 5% according to its accounts. That fund has returned roughly 60% to investors over the past decade compared with a -56% return for taxpayers from the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund (WLSIF). Mr Thorley said the failed investment strategy assumed the further £50m would be raised, which resulted in less diversification, increased risk and limited follow-on funding. He also pointed to the pandemic, a big factor in Rutherford's failure, and the high-profile collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund – a co-investor in some WLSIF businesses. Mr Thorley said disappointing clinical trial results were the main factor for businesses like ReNeuron, which relaunched as a private company in March after a year in administration. He said: 'The nine investee businesses represented a broad portfolio, … from lower risk established businesses with revenue streams to very high risk (potentially very high return) pre-revenue businesses where future returns were wholly dependent on successful trials. 'To that extent, the portfolio was considered balanced.' Mr Thorley pointed to Simbec-Orion, the fund's only success story, which provided a £19.7m (2.24x) return on an £8.75m investment. He wrote: 'The fund did achieve all four of its objectives and it may have taken just one more portfolio company to succeed for the fund to have returned the full investment or profit. 'For that reason, provided all the lessons learnt from this fund are considered, the final lesson learnt is not to write off any future considerations for using a specialist fund manager with a dedicated fund as part of a wider approach to supporting growth in a business sector.' But Senedd Members seemed less keen as they briefly discussed the paper on May 3. Arix Bioscience blamed a two-year Wales Audit Office review of the fund as a major reason the extra £50m could not be raised. Adrian Crompton, the auditor general for Wales who sits on the public accounts committee, said: 'At a high level, the lessons learned report indicates that, the assessment is that all of the objectives of the fund were met and you, I'm sure, will have some observations on that.' Auditor General Adrian Crompton Describing the fund as a failure, Plaid Cymru's Adam Price said: 'I would suggest on the basis of this that we shouldn't replicate this experiment. 'It's fine to experiment but if an experiment fails and you say 'oh well, it's OK for us to try again', I think there are some more basic questions.' The public accounts committee, chaired by the Conservatives' Mark Isherwood, decided to discuss the matter in more detail behind closed doors, excluding the public and press.
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Bluestone wins King's Award for Sustainable Development
A 'FAILED EXPERIMENT' of investing public money in risky biotech-style businesses cost Welsh taxpayers at least £28m but achieved all of its original objectives, a committee heard. Giles Thorley, who heads the Development Bank of Wales, largely blamed external factors for the poor performance of the now-closed Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund. And the chief executive told the Senedd's public accounts committee the venture could be repeated in future provided the lessons are learned. His report detailed how the Welsh Government-owned development bank lost £28.2m investing into 'very high risk', unprofitable life sciences businesses. According to the paper published this week, the fund, which was managed by Arix Bioscience plc, paid £7.7m in fees or 15% of the initial £50m invested. Mr Thorley revealed the fund contract set no limits on the fees charged by the manager. He claimed the fund, which ran for the decade to 2023, met all of its initial four aims: to increase access to finance, attract businesses, grow the sector and boost research. The fund also had an ambition to raise another £50m, bringing the total to £100m, but Arix invested £5m in 2016 – with only £21.8m returned to the public purse to date. Managers ordinarily limit the investment into any one business to 10% but 40% of the fund was invested in only two businesses: Rutherford Health and ReNeuron. Each received £10m from the fund and both later went under, returning nothing and raising concerns that the portfolio was 'overly concentrated' in a handful of businesses. Mr Thorley wrote: 'Normally the maximum investment from a fund into a single business is limited to 10%. This mitigates the impact to the fund should some of the investments fail.' The fund held investments in only nine companies, with three exceeding 10% each and totalling nearly 60% of all investments held. By comparison, International Biotechnology Trust – a listed life sciences fund – holds dozens of investments to reduce risk, with none making up more than 5% according to its accounts. That fund has returned roughly 60% to investors over the past decade compared with a -56% return for taxpayers from the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund (WLSIF). Mr Thorley said the failed investment strategy assumed the further £50m would be raised, which resulted in less diversification, increased risk and limited follow-on funding. He also pointed to the pandemic, a big factor in Rutherford's failure, and the high-profile collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund – a co-investor in some WLSIF businesses. Mr Thorley said disappointing clinical trial results were the main factor for businesses like ReNeuron, which relaunched as a private company in March after a year in administration. He said: 'The nine investee businesses represented a broad portfolio, … from lower risk established businesses with revenue streams to very high risk (potentially very high return) pre-revenue businesses where future returns were wholly dependent on successful trials. 'To that extent, the portfolio was considered balanced.' Mr Thorley pointed to Simbec-Orion, the fund's only success story, which provided a £19.7m (2.24x) return on an £8.75m investment. He wrote: 'The fund did achieve all four of its objectives and it may have taken just one more portfolio company to succeed for the fund to have returned the full investment or profit. 'For that reason, provided all the lessons learnt from this fund are considered, the final lesson learnt is not to write off any future considerations for using a specialist fund manager with a dedicated fund as part of a wider approach to supporting growth in a business sector.' But Senedd Members seemed less keen as they briefly discussed the paper on May 3. Arix Bioscience blamed a two-year Wales Audit Office review of the fund as a major reason the extra £50m could not be raised. Adrian Crompton, the auditor general for Wales who sits on the public accounts committee, said: 'At a high level, the lessons learned report indicates that, the assessment is that all of the objectives of the fund were met and you, I'm sure, will have some observations on that.' Auditor General Adrian Crompton Describing the fund as a failure, Plaid Cymru's Adam Price said: 'I would suggest on the basis of this that we shouldn't replicate this experiment. 'It's fine to experiment but if an experiment fails and you say 'oh well, it's OK for us to try again', I think there are some more basic questions.' The public accounts committee, chaired by the Conservatives' Mark Isherwood, decided to discuss the matter in more detail behind closed doors, excluding the public and press.
