When we talk about investment at Cardiff Capital Region, we’re not just talking about transactions. We’re talking about building something longer-term – an economy with the resilience, confidence and infrastructure to support its communities well into the future.
That means we approach investment with a clear focus: not only to support businesses and projects today, but to get returns that can be reinvested in the next opportunity. That’s the model we’ve built, and Zip World at Tower Colliery is a great example of how it works in practice.
The £4.4 million loan we provided was repaid quickly and in full. That repayment, with interest, goes straight back into our investment pot. And that matters. It means we can now back the next ambitious idea, the next high-growth business, the next place-based regeneration project. We call it an evergreen model for a reason – because it’s about creating a continuous cycle of investment and reinvestment, seeding and catalysing propositions for the future.
Zip World Tower Colliery was the right project at the right time. The site itself – rich in history and identity – had huge potential. But potential isn’t enough on its own. What mattered was the match: a responsible, values-driven business with a strong commitment to place, people and planet, and a local authority – Rhondda Cynon Taf – ready to work in partnership to bring the site to life. From our perspective, Zip World’s move towards becoming a certified B Corp made them exactly the kind of company we want to work with.
But our investment in Tower Colliery was never just about one site. It was about supporting a wider vision for what the Northern Valleys can become. This is an area with extraordinary assets and access to others – from the World Heritage landscape around Blaenavon to BikePark Wales, Penderyn Distillery and Big Pit. We want to help knit those assets together, build out the supporting infrastructure, and present a joined-up offer that brings more people into the region and encourages them to stay longer and spend more.
That’s why we’re also working on integrated ticketing models and engaging with hotel operators to build the accommodation base that tourism in the Valleys now demands. Regeneration is never about just one element; it’s about the ecosystem around it. Transport links, digital connectivity, energy infrastructure, skills provision – all of these play a role. So when we make decisions at CCR, we do so with that whole system in mind.
We’re managing a growing portfolio of impact-driven investment funds. These include Innovation Investment Capital, which supports high-growth scale-ups, and our Strategic Premises Fund, which is helping to deliver the development space growing firms need. We’re also active in supporting early-stage businesses, as well as public service innovation – bringing councils and businesses together to find new ways of working that improve productivity and service delivery.
The Northern Valleys Initiative, supported by £50 million, is a key part of our future direction. That fund gives us the flexibility to support both physical infrastructure and new economic opportunities across the Heads of the Valleys area. Digital connectivity, reliable energy supply and coordinated tourism development are all in scope – and all necessary if we’re to achieve our shared goal of inclusive regional growth.
We know that issues like energy supply are now fundamental. It’s no longer an afterthought but a baseline requirement for businesses with capital-intensive operations. That’s why we’ve also invested in large-scale battery storage in Newport and are progressing long-term plans for the former Aberthaw Power Station site. Our aim is to lay the right foundations so that businesses can grow with confidence, and public investments deliver maximum long-term value.
The CCR region is home to ten unitary authorities, each with their own challenges and strengths. But together, we form a functional economic geography. As a corporate legal entity with statutory powers around economic wellbeing, transport and spatial planning, we can take a strategic view – and act at scale. We are not just investing in specific sites or businesses, but in building a stronger, more connected and more confident region.
Projects like Zip World Tower Colliery show what’s possible when the right people, ideas and support come together. And the fact that the funding returns to us, ready to back the next opportunity, is what makes the model work. It’s not about short-term gains. It’s about sustained progress, reinvestment, and making sure that every success becomes the foundation for the next.
Kellie Beirne talks about this and more in the Cardiff Capital Region podcast episode Place-Making and Regeneration. Listen to the podcast here.
