A credible pro-growth agenda must start with the real economy, shaped by the people building it every day, and informed by a serious partnership between government and business. This report draws on evidence from Prosper UK’s first business roundtable in Cardiff in February 2026, centred around the theme, ‘Unlocking Growth across the UK’. The roundtable brought together a diverse cross-section of Welsh businesses, highlighting the considerable potential for its manufacturing, defence, fintech, tourism, construction and professional services industries. However, delays in planning, gaps in apprenticeships and upskilling, limited access to growth capital, and poor public sector responsiveness are constraining investment and expansion. Businesses called for a more practical, pro-enterprise approach: one that backs innovation, improves support for firms seeking to scale, strengthens skills and infrastructure, reduces administrative burdens, and creates a more competitive tax and investment framework for Wales.

Recommendations from Welsh Businesses

• Cultivate a more investment-friendly environment for innovative businesses attempting, to scale and operate from within the UK, rather than forcing them to look overseas.

• Improve Welsh Government coordination with manufacturers to strengthen local defence supply chains and remove the regulations holding the industry back.

• Shift skills policy towards AI capability and practical up-skilling, with curriculum development that keeps pace with technological change and the needs of employers.

• Create clearer routes for the existing workforce to upskill as the workplace evolves

• Invest in Level 7 apprenticeships in Wales and across more sectors, including the legal sector.

• Reform the approach of the public sector towards startups so it is less risk-averse and less process-driven.

• Reinstate the Welsh Development Agency to facilitate opportunities for small businesses and communities across the region.

• Ensure the Welsh Government listens to the needs of the tourism industry, rather than adding to their administrative burden.

• Speed up planning and infrastructure delivery, given concerns about delays and viability issues in construction and property development.

• Pursue a more competitive tax framework for Wales, including greater rebalancing of fiscal powers towards devolved authorities.

• Expand the Freeport initiative across Wales and into new sectors.

Read the full report below.