Senior business leaders across the sector agree that there needs to be cohesive strategic guidance governing the Celtic Sea's expansive resources.
The offshore floating wind opportunity in the Celtic Sea presents itself as a tangled network of individual initiatives, lacking a unified vision and requiring top-tier, hands-on strategic leadership.
Wales's most significant potential reindustrialisation opportunity for decades hit a point of consolidation last week. It was announced that no developer bid for a license to develop offshore floating wind in the Celtic Sea.
While the majority of major stakeholders and partners within the sector are collaborating with renewed vigour, what is now required is the guidance of a single, strategic, and hands-on leader who could seamlessly bring together a myriad of elements in what currently appears to be a highly complex Venn diagram of efforts and initiatives.
This critical industry observation comes at a time when FLOW desperately seeks a grand strategy that taps into the Celtic Sea's potential as a linchpin for the large-scale reindustrialisation of South Wales.
At a crossroads where ‘reset' is now on the agenda, Business News Wales, in partnership with various partners, is launching a Celtic Sea-focused editorial board to capture the voices of industry within this transformational sector every month.
Mark Powney, Managing Director of Business News Wales, commented:
“The current scenario with FLOW in the Celtic Sea requires a new revigorated strategy that builds a united front with all stakeholders. While this renewed collaboration is now underway, ensuring the ongoing narrative is consistently made available to the wider business community, senior civil servants, and our politicians is not. This is a contribution we can make here at Business News Wales.”
“Creating an editorial advisory board of industry experts will add a layer of accountability and consensus to Business News Wales' reporting. When the business community has a hand in crafting the narrative, it's less likely that critical issues will be lost, misunderstood, or misrepresented.
The new editorial board will formally launch in October and will be hosted by former first minister Carwyn Jones.
Last week, Carwyn hosted a discussion on the future of FLOW in the Celtic Sea and was joined by Tom Sawyer, Chief Executive at the Port of Milford Haven, Manon Kynaston, Assistant Director of RenewableUK Cymru and Cian Conroy, Head of Development at Floventis to discuss the next steps for this potentially game-changing industry.
