0:00:06 > 0:00:08We know Wales is beautiful.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Friendly, of course.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13But are we misunderstood?
0:00:13 > 0:00:16People from other parts of the UK think they are going to get to Wales
0:00:16 > 0:00:19and everybody's going to have a lamp on their heads and black marks under their eyes.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Nothing could be further from the truth.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Are we confident? Do we think big enough?
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Not so sure.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33The Welsh perspective is still inward rather than outward-looking.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37But don't look to the newspapers to get cheered up.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41The figures show we're bottom of too many leagues.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46If we had more private sector creating long-term sustainable jobs,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48we wouldn't have the social problems
0:00:48 > 0:00:51and the devastation that you now see.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53I think it's too easy these days,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56suggest sit down and do nothing rather than get up and do something.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01Industry is reeling, unemployment too high.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04It seems a bit mad, really, that none of us can get a job.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07So what on Earth has happened?
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Where have all the Welsh jobs gone?
0:01:18 > 0:01:21I'm Steve Evans and I'm the BBC's Berlin Correspondent,
0:01:21 > 0:01:23but I'm back in Wales today
0:01:23 > 0:01:26and I'm beginning my journey at my old school,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Brynteg Comprehensive, in Bridgend.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37'My trade is reporting
0:01:37 > 0:01:40'and I've covered two of the world's most successful economies.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44'Germany at the moment and, before that, the US.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47'Why, I wonder, can't we thrive, too?
0:01:47 > 0:01:52'Wales is in my bones and when Wales hurts, it hurts me, too.'
0:01:52 > 0:01:54It is one of the poorest parts of the country,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57with a quarter of young people on the dole.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01So, I'd like to find clues for improvement.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11It's the old cliche, but it's true nonetheless.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13This is the future. These are the people
0:02:13 > 0:02:15who are coming out of schools hoping to get jobs.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18These are the people who will get jobs
0:02:18 > 0:02:20and pay the taxes in the future.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22We need these people.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26But with something like one in four young people out of work,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28what hope have they got?
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Why don't any of you want to do business?
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Why don't you want to go out and make pots of money?
0:02:35 > 0:02:37I think the...the way the economy is at the moment,
0:02:37 > 0:02:39over the recession and everything,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43it seems like a kind of a risky option to take, really.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46But do you feel it in your guts that we are as good as anybody?
0:02:46 > 0:02:48We can do anything that anybody else can do.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I'd say so. I think it's one of the great things about being Welsh,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53is you've got the pride and the ambition there,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56but sometimes, you don't have the resources to follow it through.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58I mean, with America, they've obviously got the money
0:02:58 > 0:03:00and the resources already there.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02And in Wales, we don't have quite as much.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04But I think that we are just as good anyone else.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09Four of you want to go and work pretty well in the public sector, for the government.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11- Why do you think that is? - I think there's a risk involved
0:03:11 > 0:03:14for when you are working for yourself more so,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18more security for when you've got a job, when you get a salary.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Also, when you are working in the public sector,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23your hours are usually set,
0:03:23 > 0:03:28whereas when you are working for yourself, you could be working for a lot longer.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31This is a good school and you kids are clearly bright kids,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35but the figures show that the standard of reading,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37the ability to read in this country of Wales,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40has actually been falling. Why do you think that is?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43I really enjoy reading but not many of my friends do.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46I think there's two or three other friends that actually enjoy reading.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- Really?- Yeah.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54One obvious problem is that coal has gone,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57leaving an area bereft of industry.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Coal is what this village of Blaengarw is built on.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06It's right up at the top of the Garw Valley,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08about ten miles north of Bridgend.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11The coal came here and it created the village,
0:04:11 > 0:04:16sucking in people, employment, paying wages.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20But now that coal has gone, what do the people do?
0:04:23 > 0:04:25'"Not very much" is often the answer
0:04:25 > 0:04:30'and the problem is that no work means no confidence.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33'A third of the unemployed in the Bridgend area are young.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38'Like 19-year-old Nickita, who lives with her parents in Blaengarw.'
0:04:40 > 0:04:43I've been out of work for like a year.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45I want a full time job, but there's none about.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49And uh...most of the people that we're near of,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52I'd send them CVs and application forms
0:04:52 > 0:04:54but I wouldn't hear off them at all.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57I've done hairdressing for nearly two years,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59but then, I gave up.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00Why?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03I don't know...
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Had enough.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08There's no jobs up here, you've just got to look around.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10This is all coal, coal has gone.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13- You could have moved, you could have gone to Cardiff.- Yeah.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16I don't want to work that far away, because I don't drive or anything.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18I don't want to work all the way down there.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26'Sign on every fortnight,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29'takes about half an hour on the bus to get there.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34'I just go there, sign. You've got to look for jobs every day.'
0:05:37 > 0:05:39You've got decent qualifications from school.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40Yeah, they were all right.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44If you could go back to school now, would you do things differently?
0:05:44 > 0:05:45- Oh, yeah.- Like what?
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Behave better, listen.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52How do you mean?
0:05:52 > 0:05:53Don't just mess about in school.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55SHE CHUCKLES
0:05:55 > 0:05:56- Why?- I don't know.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Go on, talk to me.
0:05:58 > 0:05:59THEY CHUCKLE
0:05:59 > 0:06:02I don't know, just messed about with everybody,
0:06:02 > 0:06:03didn't listen to the teachers.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07Now, if I'd listen, I would have had better grades than that.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Could she do more, I wonder? Should she move?
0:06:15 > 0:06:17How can she get her confidence back?
0:06:20 > 0:06:25But in today's economic climate, even graduates struggle.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Jane studied physiotherapy at Cardiff University.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35They did tell us, before we started physiotherapy,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37that it would be quite hard to get a job,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39but I didn't really believe them until I graduated.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41SHE CHUCKLES
0:06:41 > 0:06:44There were 80 graduates at the end of my course.
0:06:44 > 0:06:49About 30% to 40% have got jobs so far, which isn't that great.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54Jon, from Port Talbot, has a degree in neuroscience from Leeds.
0:06:54 > 0:06:59What an asset to the economy! But not in Wales - he's leaving.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01It's quite a funny thing with neuroscience.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04A lot of people are hoping to do medicine, but it's so competitive.
0:07:04 > 0:07:0780% to 90% of my friends in neuroscience applied for medicine
0:07:07 > 0:07:12and one or two got into postgrad in medicine, which is really bad.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18People came off from university really stuck, you know, not sure what to do.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23The NHS fund everybody in Wales and England's fees,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26so it seems a bit mad, really, that they've paid for so many of us
0:07:26 > 0:07:30to be graduates of physiotherapy and none of us can get a job.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34The first six months were hard, you know,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37it's not easy seeing friends get a job
0:07:37 > 0:07:42or having to rely on parents or families or sign on to the dole.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47I gave out my CV to everywhere in Cardiff
0:07:47 > 0:07:50and I had one reply from Carluccio's, so I really pushed for it.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52OK there, gents? Did you enjoy your coffees?
0:07:52 > 0:07:54When I've rung up to get feedback
0:07:54 > 0:07:57for why I haven't been shortlisted for interview,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01they've said that they were just overwhelmed with applications, like 250 applications.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Then, in January, I applied for a job in Carluccio's.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08I got that straight away
0:08:08 > 0:08:11and I've been working there ever since.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- That's for table 61.- 61? Yeah.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19'I've decided I'm going to move to London with the restaurant.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21'They did offer me a graduate scheme
0:08:21 > 0:08:23'to learn about the whole restaurant business
0:08:23 > 0:08:25'and then, I'd become an Assistant Manager.'
0:08:25 > 0:08:28OK, this is for you. Thank you, enjoy your coffees.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31'Cardiff is an amazing city, it's great, it's vibrant.'
0:08:31 > 0:08:34But there's just not that economic support
0:08:34 > 0:08:38within the city that London provides.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41There's just greater job prospects, greater job opportunities.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47In one in every five households, there's nobody working.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50A good measure of an economy is what it produces -
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Gross Domestic Product, GDP.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57And on this, Wales is bottom of the UK league.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59If you look at some of the major countries in Europe -
0:08:59 > 0:09:03France, Germany or Spain, for example,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06the comparison between the GDP per capita
0:09:06 > 0:09:11in the wealthiest regions and the poorest regions is about two to one.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16In the case of the United Kingdom, the disparity between the wealthiest region, which is inner London,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18and the poorest region, which is currently Wales,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20is about five to one.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22And those disparities are increasing.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26So the gap between rich and poor regions in Britain
0:09:26 > 0:09:29is wider than elsewhere.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Welsh productivity is low.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35It's not laziness, it's just that the industries in Wales
0:09:35 > 0:09:38tend to be low tech, low wage, low profit.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Some of those people say, "Oh, Wales has somehow got a right to be
0:09:41 > 0:09:45"a rich and prosperous country, we must be screwing it up in some way."
0:09:45 > 0:09:46That isn't the case.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49The point is, left to itself, Wales would be peripheral.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52We've got the job of making it something different.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03This is the Rhondda Heritage Park,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Wales as a museum.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Museums have their place, of course,
0:10:08 > 0:10:13but you can't pay the bills of the future by living in the past.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17After jobs in coal and slate and steel vanished,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20the aim was to attract light industry.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23There were big grants in what was called regional policy,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25but it failed to keep companies here.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Welcome to the Hirwaun Industrial Estate,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32right at the top of the South Wales Valleys.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35The Neath Valley comes up here, the Rhondda Valley -
0:10:35 > 0:10:39this industrial estate was one of countless ones across Wales,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44built just after the war to bring industry in.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46And industry did come in.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Now, though, companies are leaving.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52How can you compete with Eastern Europe,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55let alone China, on the basis of wages?
0:10:58 > 0:11:03The collapse of heavy industry left Wales high and dry,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05so what filled the gap?
0:11:05 > 0:11:08In Germany, there is still manufacturing,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12but they invest in machinery and training for the long term.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17In the US, there are creative, innovative new businesses.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21In Wales, we relied on employment in the public sector.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27If you've ever wondered where your taxes go,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31this is the place to see it, Cathays Park in Cardiff.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35City Hall there, the Law Courts, the police behind that,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37the University, Museum over there,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41and not so far away, the Welsh Government,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44the BBC and the Heath Hospital.
0:11:44 > 0:11:50Sometime it seems like everybody in Wales is in the public sector,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52paid for by taxpayers.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Every thriving economy has government workers,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03but the question is, how many?
0:12:03 > 0:12:07In Wales, about one in four workers are in the public sector,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09higher than the rest of Britain.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11No government will turn round and say,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15"I want the DVLA to be 10% bigger in five years' time,"
0:12:15 > 0:12:18whereas if you're running a private company,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21that is exactly the sort of attitude that you will be taking,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23and so from that point of view,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26if you have a large number of public sector jobs in Wales,
0:12:26 > 0:12:31you are therefore looking at a significant part of the economy,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35which nobody actually wants to grow, they actually want to see diminish.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40So that really tilts the sort of economic potential growth framework
0:12:40 > 0:12:42that you have for the economy as a whole.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51I'm on my way to visit something of a rarity in Wales -
0:12:51 > 0:12:56a big manufacturer, high tech, high skill, high flying.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05Good old-fashioned metal-bashing - very, very clever,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08sophisticated, high-end metal-bashing,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11but that's what it is, manufacturing.
0:13:11 > 0:13:12Making things.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15And that, you know, fell out of vogue.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19But in China, in Germany, in the United States,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24all those fast-growing economies, it never went out of fashion.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28This factory and its airspace heritage
0:13:28 > 0:13:31has been around for over 70 years. Pre-war, in fact.
0:13:31 > 0:13:3412 years ago, when I first joined this plant,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36there was just over 4,000 employees.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Today, it's over 6,000, so quite a significant amount of growth.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43In addition to that, there's probably some 2,000 employees
0:13:43 > 0:13:46who have jobs in the extended supply chain
0:13:46 > 0:13:48as a result of our presence here.
0:13:49 > 0:13:50Over the last 10 years,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54the Welsh Assembly has invested over £80 million in this facility.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Airbus contributes £100 million worth of salary bill
0:13:57 > 0:13:59to the Welsh economy.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07I don't think Western Europe will ever have a labour market
0:14:07 > 0:14:08that is cheaper than the competition,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10so we have to be faster and we have to better.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12And the reason why we are here
0:14:12 > 0:14:14is because today, we are faster and better.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Airbus trains people.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26In the last 20 years, it's taken on 4,000 apprentices.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Bright young people get trained and get paid while they are doing it.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32How good is that?
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Apprenticeships are at the very core
0:14:34 > 0:14:37of our recruitment strategy at Airbus.
0:14:37 > 0:14:4070% of our senior managers in this company,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44in the UK Airbus side of the business, are all ex-apprentices,
0:14:44 > 0:14:45who started from school, learned the trade,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49served an apprenticeship, either in engineering or in the shop floor,
0:14:49 > 0:14:50and are now senior managers,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54and have grown their careers over 15, 20 years.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56What's the gain of doing an apprenticeship,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58rather than going the formal way through university?
0:14:58 > 0:15:00I just thought it was the better option.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04I get to study for a degree, and I'm also getting industrial experience,
0:15:04 > 0:15:05which I know a lot of my friends
0:15:05 > 0:15:08are struggling to get on standard university degrees,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12to set them aside from everybody else who's doing the same thing.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Why are you in it, in this dull old manufacturing stuff?
0:15:15 > 0:15:19I don't quite think it's dull and old!
0:15:19 > 0:15:22This is a really nice factory in here,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25and the opportunity with the company is great,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and the fact that we get paid, we are studying,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29we're getting experience.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32When you were going through school, the two of you,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34towards the end, thinking about these things,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37were there pressures on you to go into certain jobs but not others?
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Definitely in my school, the pressure to go to university,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42and if you didn't want to go to university,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44you weren't always guided in the right area
0:15:44 > 0:15:46for other options that you could take up.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Some people say engineering is undervalued in this country,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51do you get any sense of that?
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Quite possibly, engineering is thought about like that,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57but I think it's to do with education,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59and once people have an insight to what it involves,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02they might think it's not dull any more.
0:16:02 > 0:16:03HORN BEEPS
0:16:04 > 0:16:06How competitive was it to get here?
0:16:06 > 0:16:07Very.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11600 people went for about 11 jobs on my course that I'm on.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19But there just aren't enough places for apprentices.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23The opposite of the situation in Germany.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26For three years, after leaving school, I went to Barry College,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28learning to be a plumber.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31There were 25 people in my class, and as far as I know,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35there are now me and only two others currently in work.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40Lots of my friends are out of work,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42so I do feel lucky that I've got a trade.
0:16:42 > 0:16:43TOILET FLUSHES
0:16:43 > 0:16:47I feel being an apprentice is a good opportunity for me.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Hopefully in ten years' time, I'll be qualified,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52and will be working as a plumber.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58It's not only companies which are enterprising.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Cadwyn is a housing association, which builds houses,
0:17:02 > 0:17:04but doesn't aim to make a profit.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06It takes on apprentices,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10kids who come in without confidence, and who then grow.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13What do kids without confidence look like,
0:17:13 > 0:17:14and what do they behave like,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17and how do you recognise them when they come through the door?
0:17:17 > 0:17:21They look so different to the kids that we meet every day.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25They look at their feet, they won't engage,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29they won't look you in the face, they don't think anyone cares.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32And we employ apprentices within our organisation,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35to certain levels of qualification,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39to make sure they are equipped to do proper jobs in the future.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42And they pick themselves up, they square their shoulders,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45they get engaged with the office banter,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47they start taking the mickey out of people.
0:17:47 > 0:17:48They're just different people.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51It's great, great for you, great for the kids,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55but actually, you can't make a thriving economy
0:17:55 > 0:17:56on the strength of it.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Well, you can, actually.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00We have worked with six other housing associations,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04and what we've done is insert clauses in the building contracts,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08specifically requiring the contractors to provide jobs
0:18:08 > 0:18:12and apprentices and training places.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17And since April 2009, we've provided 270 opportunities.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23But it's small and medium-size companies
0:18:23 > 0:18:25which are the backbone of thriving economies.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Enterprising people like Billy and Eddie,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30in business now for 30 years.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35Taking on apprentices isn't as easy as it was.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37Started my apprenticeship on the council,
0:18:37 > 0:18:41and at the time, they had an apprentice motor mechanic,
0:18:41 > 0:18:46apprentice carpenter, bricklayer, two apprentice decorators.
0:18:46 > 0:18:52So, yeah, people were taking on apprentices then.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56With the apprentice, you've got to allow them to go to college,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59and you've got to pay for them to be there.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04Sick pay, bank holidays, they've all got to be allowed for,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06and it comes out of your profit.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07And with just a small company,
0:19:07 > 0:19:13you can't really carry that sort of scheme for a four-year period.
0:19:13 > 0:19:14The way forward with apprenticeships
0:19:14 > 0:19:21would be to actually cover the cost of the apprentice
0:19:21 > 0:19:23for the first 12 months, completely.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27They have to travel in the front with a seatbelt,
0:19:27 > 0:19:28not the way we were taught,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32just thrown in the back, and travel round that way.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35We've only got the one van now, anyway, so that wouldn't work.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38It would mean buying extra vans
0:19:38 > 0:19:41just to accommodate an apprentice, really.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48With few places in companies for apprentices,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52there's been a big growth in courses without a guaranteed job,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54like this one in the Garw Valley,
0:19:54 > 0:19:57for young people who don't go to school.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01It takes ages to find a job,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03but if you do stuff like this, you can hobble for a while,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05and then get a tidy job.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10But the jobs market is changing.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13The jobs on offer are very different now.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16The new coalface is the computer screen.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Oh, I see, sir, right.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23We Welsh can talk. We know we're a nation of talkers.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28But this room is not just a group of people chattering away.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31This organisation is very, very different in Wales -
0:20:31 > 0:20:34it is one of the few big, big companies
0:20:34 > 0:20:36that's actually put its headquarters here -
0:20:36 > 0:20:39the brains of the organisation.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43We were a business plan team, working out of London.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45All we had was a business plan, and we knew
0:20:45 > 0:20:48we could put the business, kind of, anywhere in the UK outside the M25,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51so we sent off letters to ten areas
0:20:51 > 0:20:53where you get grants for locating your business.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55And about two days later,
0:20:55 > 0:20:57we get a call from what was then South Glamorgan County Council,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and they said, "Can we come out and make a presentation to you?"
0:21:00 > 0:21:02We said, "Sure, come on out."
0:21:02 > 0:21:05We didn't have a grant, we didn't have the grant at that point,
0:21:05 > 0:21:06so we were ready to go to Brighton.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09We had building premises picked out, all set,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11and we were just a couple of weeks away from moving in,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13and that would have been the end of it,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16and the WDA came through with a £1 million grant.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19You know, as a business, we couldn't go to our backers and say,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22"Sorry, we just turned down a £1 million grant,"
0:21:22 > 0:21:25- when we were a start-up business. - You've got your headquarters here.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30How important is that in terms of the future of the company,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33but also in terms of persuading other companies?
0:21:33 > 0:21:38Well, it's really important for the Welsh economy
0:21:38 > 0:21:41that it's headquarter businesses that come in here,
0:21:41 > 0:21:46not just moving an office from one part of the UK to another,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49or maybe even getting part of a US company,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53or some other country's company to locate here.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55I mean, that's not bad, but the roots grow deepest
0:21:55 > 0:21:57with headquartered companies.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01And what has Admiral brought?
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Well, Admiral brings a lot of jobs.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Almost all of our people who move up in our organisation
0:22:07 > 0:22:10start at entry-level positions in the organisation.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13We don't go outside and recruit from middle-level managers.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16We take from within, so there's really room for people to grow
0:22:16 > 0:22:19if they have the energy and the desire and the talent.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27Admiral is one of the biggest private sector employers in Wales,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29employing 5,000 people,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32brought here by some incentive from the taxpayer,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35but also with a lot of private enterprise.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41You're from Chicago, you're from the heart of the free market,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43if you like, the US.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47How do you contrast the way of doing business that you grew up with,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and the way of thinking in Wales?
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Well, there's really a can-do mentality in the US -
0:22:53 > 0:22:56anybody can succeed.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59There is that belief, that kind of American dream...
0:22:59 > 0:23:03- Is that really true?- I don't know if it's really true,
0:23:03 > 0:23:05but it's what people think, and by and large,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09people believe that you can go from nothing to something,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12and I'm not sure that's the way it is here.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14I'm not sure people aspire to that,
0:23:14 > 0:23:16much less yet believe they can achieve it.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19So how can we aspire to it?
0:23:19 > 0:23:21What do we need to do?
0:23:21 > 0:23:22By showing people examples,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24and not one or two, but lots of them,
0:23:24 > 0:23:29sprouting up, planting seeds of business generation,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31and then nurturing those seeds,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34and showing people that you can grow big trees from seeds.
0:23:34 > 0:23:40As you go round your country now, Wales, and you see the economy,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44what thoughts go through your mind about what might be done?
0:23:44 > 0:23:45I come back to education,
0:23:45 > 0:23:50because the kids need to value the fantastic education
0:23:50 > 0:23:52that they get in this country.
0:23:52 > 0:23:53And I'm not sure they do.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57And there are kids in other countries, millions of them,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00who would give their right arms to have the education
0:24:00 > 0:24:04that our kids have, and a lot of them don't really care about.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08And we need to have that same energy from our young people.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13What should government do, and what should government keep away from?
0:24:13 > 0:24:16They should be trying as hard as they can to make it easy,
0:24:16 > 0:24:18they should work with the banks
0:24:18 > 0:24:19to try and make sure funding is available.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Funding is very difficult to get
0:24:21 > 0:24:23if you are trying to start a new business.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26And they should stay away from creating new rules and laws,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28and things that people go, "Oh, you know,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30"I can't wait till I can get out of this business."
0:24:30 > 0:24:33And there are a lot of those, there's a lot of rules
0:24:33 > 0:24:34and things that come up,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36they are often seen as being very petty,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40and people with small businesses, in particular,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43can't carry the burden of those things, and so they get out.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45Too much government here?
0:24:47 > 0:24:48How much time have you got?
0:24:48 > 0:24:50HE LAUGHS
0:24:50 > 0:24:52- Time to hear the answer. - Too much government.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55I think that there's a lot of government, yeah.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59You know, if you take the ratio of government per person,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01I think if the equivalent was true in the US,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Congress would be about 6,000 people.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05I think in this day and age,
0:25:05 > 0:25:09a lot of our government is built up because 100 years ago,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11Caerphilly was different from Cardiff,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13but now, where's the line, really?
0:25:13 > 0:25:16You know, I can drive to Caerphilly in 15 minutes.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19It probably used to be you'd get dressed in your Sunday best
0:25:19 > 0:25:22and come to Cardiff twice a year, something like that.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25So why do we have separated government?
0:25:25 > 0:25:30There's a thing that strikes me, and that is that you're an American,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33so you come free of prejudice towards Wales,
0:25:33 > 0:25:34you come with an open mind.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36I didn't know where Wales was.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39The sad thing is, so many people we meet,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41even people from other parts of the UK,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43think they're going to get to Wales,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45and everybody is going to have a lamp on their heads
0:25:45 > 0:25:47and black marks under their eyes,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and nothing could be further from the truth.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53This is a cosmopolitan city, it's got a lot going for it.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55All of South Wales does.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58And it's just very misunderstood.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03Misunderstood? Well, maybe.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06What is clear is that strong economies thrive
0:26:06 > 0:26:11on lots of enterprising people doing things for themselves.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Government does some things, but people do the heavy lifting.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Now here's an enterprise I love.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Why have you set up this business,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22because you could go on the dole, you know,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and it's hard work doing business here, so why don't you?
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Well, it's just the way we were brought up,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31is, er...to work to pay our own way.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35I think it's too easy these days to just sit down and do nothing,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37rather than get up and do something.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41How easy is it to run a business here?
0:26:41 > 0:26:47It's hard work. It's a...well, six days a week we work,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and also then the Sunday, having to do things on the Sunday, usually.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Shopping and catching up with everything,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55your own things that you've got to do as well.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Where do you get money from? How do you raise the money,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00- how did you do it? - We had a loan, that's how.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02We went to the bank and had a loan.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04We had no help at all.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Is there anything you would like to change?
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Would you like the government to do more for you,
0:27:10 > 0:27:11the government to do less for you,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14or do you just want more people on this estate?
0:27:14 > 0:27:16More people on the estate, basically.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20I don't see anything at all happening up this area.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22You've only got to look around you
0:27:22 > 0:27:24to see that there's nothing going on up here.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27You have little units, little smaller units,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30people coming into them,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33but they're usually there for about a year, and then they are gone.
0:27:39 > 0:27:40It's sad, really,
0:27:40 > 0:27:46because this estate has been here 30, 40, 50 years,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and there's just...well, there's nothing up here.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57This place is refreshing.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Good tea, good vibe, good atmosphere,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05enterprise, a bit of hard work, keeping its head above water,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10one of those small businesses that absolutely every economy needs.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19You go to a small town, you find, typically, bed and breakfasts,
0:28:19 > 0:28:20hotels, garages, shops,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24other small businesses all providing vital services and products
0:28:24 > 0:28:25to the local community.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29They create, in turn, jobs, valuable jobs.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Penderyn Whisky is distilled in Hirwaun at the Heads of the Valleys.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40It is a Welsh product, but that's not the important bit.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44It's a product that people want to pay money for.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Wales needs a distinctive product,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55and there wasn't really anything you could turn to,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58apart from lovespoons, that was Welsh.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01And we thought,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04"It's about time we regenerated that whisky industry."
0:29:04 > 0:29:07What gave you the guts, if you like, and the confidence,
0:29:07 > 0:29:11the chest-out to have a go?
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Well, it is all about belief.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17And we believed in ourselves.
0:29:17 > 0:29:22We believed that if the Scots could do it and the Irish could do it,
0:29:22 > 0:29:23why couldn't we do it?
0:29:23 > 0:29:26And we thought we had enough skills to make it.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29I can vaguely remember people saying, when you set up,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32"Ooh, who does he think he is, and what's all this stuff?
0:29:32 > 0:29:34"It's all front, it ain't going to work."
0:29:34 > 0:29:39And that's the Welsh mindset, you know, that's the truth of it.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Well, it is, and you're right enough,
0:29:41 > 0:29:43it's the old lobster approach, isn't it?
0:29:43 > 0:29:46You know, you've got the lobster climbing out of the barrel
0:29:46 > 0:29:48on the Pembrokeshire dock, and somebody's saying,
0:29:48 > 0:29:50"Hey, your lobsters are getting away, mate,"
0:29:50 > 0:29:53and the guy saying, "Nah, they won't get away, they're Welsh lobsters,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55"the rest of them will pull them back."
0:29:55 > 0:29:57That is the Welsh mentality.
0:29:57 > 0:30:02We thought that once we had a Welsh whisky
0:30:02 > 0:30:07and a couple of other Welsh drinks, that the Welsh would get behind it.
0:30:07 > 0:30:13In fact, they didn't see Wales's new drinks as a quality product.
0:30:13 > 0:30:20All around this place is desolation. There's an awful lot of failure.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22How do you change that?
0:30:22 > 0:30:25The best thing the government can do is create a level playing field
0:30:25 > 0:30:28for people in Wales to get their products to market.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32If you're in Aberystwyth, it takes you longer to get to the M4
0:30:32 > 0:30:34than it does to get from the M4 to London.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39The other thing governments can do - get better access to finance.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43Banks don't want to invest in risky products, that's not their business,
0:30:43 > 0:30:48so to get risk capital, you need a different sort of investor.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50And in Wales, we haven't got enough of those,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54and if we had more private sector, creating long-term sustainable jobs,
0:30:54 > 0:30:56we wouldn't have the problems, and the social problems,
0:30:56 > 0:31:00and the devastation around here that you now see.
0:31:00 > 0:31:01The government could say,
0:31:01 > 0:31:03"Your jobs aren't there.
0:31:03 > 0:31:08"They were based on coal, coal has gone, you need to look elsewhere."
0:31:08 > 0:31:10"Get on your bikes", is the phrase.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13If you didn't have a regional strategy,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15we'd all end up living in London.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18You know, you've got to have a system which tries, at least,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21to distribute the wealth across the country.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Otherwise, it becomes an unattractive country
0:31:23 > 0:31:24in which to live.
0:31:24 > 0:31:32# Pan fyddwn rhodio gyda'r hwyr
0:31:32 > 0:31:40# Fy nghalon fach a dowdd fel cwyr... #
0:31:40 > 0:31:42If you took the view there's no such as society,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45there's just people and their families and they can live anywhere,
0:31:45 > 0:31:46then that's what would happen.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49There'd be a net emigration from Wales on a big scale,
0:31:49 > 0:31:52you know, flood a few valleys, make some more reservoirs,
0:31:52 > 0:31:54have a few old folks' homes, and that's it.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58And if you were just totally indifferent to community,
0:31:58 > 0:31:59that's what you'd do.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01But of course, if you value community,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04if you think that the Welsh people are a people,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06then you have got to worry about the economy.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Right at the other end of Wales from the makers of Welsh whisky
0:32:20 > 0:32:23is another big Welsh liquid asset -
0:32:23 > 0:32:24the Menai.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26Water - salt water.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30From that salt water comes a global brand
0:32:30 > 0:32:34gracing the tables even of the President of the United States.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38This is where the company called Halen Mon makes money
0:32:38 > 0:32:42out of the salt in the sea around this country of ours.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50We noticed that we were getting orders from a chocolate factory
0:32:50 > 0:32:52on the west coast of America in Seattle.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56Eventually, it came out that Obama liked these chocolates
0:32:56 > 0:33:00that had smoked sea salt on the top of the caramels.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02And when he got into power,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06this became the traditional gift when you left the White House -
0:33:06 > 0:33:08you got a box of Obama's favourite chocolates,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11and they have a sprinkling of our sea salt on.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21My wife and myself came to Bangor to the local university,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24loved it and wanted to stay here, and there weren't jobs,
0:33:24 > 0:33:26so we thought we'd create them.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31We started a public aquarium that used the clean sea water.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34We were paying the Queen a reasonable amount of money
0:33:34 > 0:33:38for the sea water, but tourism in Anglesey only happens in the summer,
0:33:38 > 0:33:40and it was that that led me
0:33:40 > 0:33:43to take a saucepan of sea water from the sea, take it home,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46and actually begin the process
0:33:46 > 0:33:50of evaporating it on an Aga to just see what happened.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59And I thought, "OK, there's a little germ of an idea."
0:33:59 > 0:34:02And at the time, there was CAMRA, the campaign for real ale,
0:34:02 > 0:34:06and even that made me realise in my student perspective
0:34:06 > 0:34:09that people would pay more for something better.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13That idea of paying more for better is a new way of thinking,
0:34:13 > 0:34:14or certainly in Wales.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17This idea of going upmarket, quality,
0:34:17 > 0:34:20but charging the prices, not selling it cheap.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25Absolutely, and we can...Wales can never compete on doing it cheap,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28because there will be somebody with cheaper labour,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32cheaper resources, more sun or whatever.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35We can only compete, in my view, by doing it better,
0:34:35 > 0:34:37so being a niche market and charging a lot.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40And loads of people said, "It won't work,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43"people will never pay that much money for sea salt."
0:34:43 > 0:34:47And I just had a burning gut instinct that it could work,
0:34:47 > 0:34:48and that people would pay.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Look at cars - any car will get you from A to B,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54but a Rolls-Royce will cost you ten times as much,
0:34:54 > 0:34:55and there's a market for it.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03It cannot be right that we Welsh lack enterprise,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06that we're a bit inferior, that can't be right. It's not right.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Well it's not necessarily correct, because the Welsh are not inferior.
0:35:09 > 0:35:10You only have to...
0:35:10 > 0:35:13You know, I interact with all the people around me,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16and they are fantastic people.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20But there is a culture,
0:35:20 > 0:35:24like success is defined as a job with the council, you know,
0:35:24 > 0:35:28in the economic development department giving advice.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30And that makes me uncomfortable, because success for me
0:35:30 > 0:35:34is actually generating Welsh wealth from customers.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40The people who really, really made the difference
0:35:40 > 0:35:42at the beginning of Halen Mon, 14 years ago,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45was an organisation called Menter Mon,
0:35:45 > 0:35:48who said, "Yes we'll put £6,000 into this project."
0:35:48 > 0:35:50That made the key difference.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Doesn't matter how many business plans you have,
0:35:52 > 0:35:57you actually have to have a bit of seed corn funding to start.
0:36:02 > 0:36:03This is a very old-fashioned map.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06We now live in the...well, it's paper,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09- but we now live in the world of the internet...- Yeah.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12- ..which I imagine has transformed your business.- It has, it has.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16Without that, I think we would have been scuppered a long time ago.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18People come to us through the internet
0:36:18 > 0:36:21looking for high quality sea salt.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23There's a whole community, as well, on the web,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26and on things like Twitter and Facebook,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29and we tap into that and we use that extensively.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32- Could you do this business without it?- No, no, we couldn't.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39In the age of the internet, the world is the market.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42But there are many spots in Wales without internet connections.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44"Not spots."
0:36:45 > 0:36:47In this world economy,
0:36:47 > 0:36:51connections and easy links are everything for business,
0:36:51 > 0:36:54and not just with the internet.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02When I was growing up just down the road, this place,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Rhoose Airport as we called it, was the future -
0:37:05 > 0:37:07a lot of hope invested in it.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12Bristol Airport was just a wannabe. Now, it's the other way round.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Cardiff International Airport, as it's now called,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19is like a ghost town. When I come back home, I come through Bristol.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23The airport does make money from the landing fees
0:37:23 > 0:37:28for empty aircraft flown in to be serviced.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31Passengers are not crowding the place out.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45One thing seems absolutely clear,
0:37:45 > 0:37:47and that is, if you want a strong economy,
0:37:47 > 0:37:52you have to have ways of moving things around reliably.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55People and things have to move to where they need to be.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00You have to able to move products to the people who want to buy them.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05Network Rail plans to electrify the route from London
0:38:05 > 0:38:10as far as Swansea to make it faster, and some of the Valleys lines.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12But what about other parts of Wales?
0:38:12 > 0:38:16Governments in successful economies invest in transport.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20Barriers to movement keep money-spenders out.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30Though some enterprising people
0:38:30 > 0:38:31find a way of attracting them anyway.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Well, my name is Brenda, but you can call me Pamel-ah today.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39LAUGHTER
0:38:44 > 0:38:46It is a pleasure to welcome you
0:38:46 > 0:38:49to this corner of south-eastern Wales.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52And enterprise further down the coast,
0:38:52 > 0:38:57at Ffos Las near Llanelli, on the site of an old opencast mine.
0:38:57 > 0:39:02The first National Hunt racecourse in Britain for 80 years.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04Giving it a go!
0:39:07 > 0:39:12'It's all about people doing it for themselves.'
0:39:12 > 0:39:16From the small, like setting up a car-wash in a supermarket car park,
0:39:16 > 0:39:19to the big. The very big.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Sir Terry Matthews is Wales's first billionaire.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25Keep a positive attitude.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29Born in Gwent, founder of the Celtic Manor in Newport.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32But a fortune made in Canada.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36'I started up my own company, Mitel,
0:39:36 > 0:39:41'in parallel in the US, the UK and Canada,
0:39:41 > 0:39:43'with only 4,000 dollars.'
0:39:43 > 0:39:49After ten years, every dollar invested became 2.5 million.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52And the people that worked with me
0:39:52 > 0:39:54were mainly in their last year in university.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57Are they married? Typically not.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01Do they have children? Typically not. They're too young.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Can they work seven days a week? Yes, they can!
0:40:05 > 0:40:11So you've got people with energy, well-educated and hard work ethic,
0:40:11 > 0:40:17directed at something which is customer-demand-driven.
0:40:17 > 0:40:23What should government do, and what should government keep right away from?
0:40:23 > 0:40:28I'm very supportive of a system whereby the government says,
0:40:28 > 0:40:33"I'll supply funding," let's say, for the sake of argument,
0:40:33 > 0:40:39"30%, 40%, 50%, and then get funding back in the royalty scheme
0:40:39 > 0:40:44on the basis of the success of the product, until they are repaid.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46Young companies create jobs,
0:40:46 > 0:40:50so create a society that encourages young companies.
0:40:50 > 0:40:56In the US, from 1985 to 2010, so you have a 25-year span,
0:40:56 > 0:41:03in that time, all new jobs US-wide came from new companies.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07Some of the big Fortune 1000 companies in the US,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11they grow from acquisitions, it's not net new jobs.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16Now, in Wales, the public sector, compared to private sector,
0:41:16 > 0:41:18needs to be re-balanced,
0:41:18 > 0:41:22and one way to get it re-balanced is to create more private sector jobs.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27- There were a lot of people studying electronics in Swansea.- Mm-hmm.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30- But you were the one who jumped into business.- Mm-hmm.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33You were the one who thought, "I can make a bit of money out of this."
0:41:33 > 0:41:34No, I didn't think that.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37I enjoy what I do. It isn't about...
0:41:37 > 0:41:40I'm not knocking it at all, I'm just trying to understand it.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42Well, I must tell you, like, it is good to make money,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45make no mistake about it. It's much better to...
0:41:45 > 0:41:47You know, if you're really going to get upset about something,
0:41:47 > 0:41:51cry in a Rolls-Royce than a rusted out Toyota.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54You have a very American demeanour.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57- Do you think?- By which I mean North American, Canadian.- Mm-hmm?
0:41:57 > 0:42:01Do you need to be there to get that confidence?
0:42:01 > 0:42:04Why can't you have that confidence in Wales?
0:42:04 > 0:42:05Of course you can.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09It's wrong to say that you can't create businesses here.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Some of the wealthiest people in the world came from Wales.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17As a matter of fact, you know, Thomas Powell,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19who built the Manor House of the Celtic Manor,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22was the world's first millionaire.
0:42:22 > 0:42:28If a lad called Terry Matthews, at the top of a Valley, said,
0:42:28 > 0:42:31"I don't know what to do, I don't think I can do anything,"
0:42:31 > 0:42:33what would you say to them?
0:42:33 > 0:42:39As for people who today feel a little bit despondent,
0:42:39 > 0:42:42you know, you need winners,
0:42:42 > 0:42:46and you need to be able to publicise those winners
0:42:46 > 0:42:51in order for people to say, "Do you know what? I can have a go at that".
0:42:51 > 0:42:53You know, if you start with nothing, there's only upside.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56And be persistent.
0:42:56 > 0:43:02The single most important word to success - "persistence."
0:43:04 > 0:43:08'In my journey round Wales, trying to find clues to success,
0:43:08 > 0:43:13'one thing seems clear - confidence is important.
0:43:13 > 0:43:19'Governments can help, but people actually do it, or not.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24'Back to school, then, to find out more.'
0:43:24 > 0:43:28Brynteg Comprehensive in Bridgend had another pupil with views.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33You come over very optimistically, but just look at the figures.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36Incomes are lower, unemployment is higher,
0:43:36 > 0:43:38the productivity of Welsh workers is lower...
0:43:38 > 0:43:41I'm not sure that's right about productivity.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45Well, the value added per worker is 75% of the UK average,
0:43:45 > 0:43:47three quarters.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Any measure you choose, Wales performs worse, pretty well.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53So why your optimism?
0:43:53 > 0:43:56Because I know the interest that exists in Wales
0:43:56 > 0:43:58from investors from abroad,
0:43:58 > 0:44:00If Welsh productivity was really that bad,
0:44:00 > 0:44:01we'd have no investors.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04What we don't have, of course, is a large pool of capital,
0:44:04 > 0:44:05unlike Germany, unlike the States,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08so we have to look for that capital to invest in Wales.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11Businesses are saying to me, "We can't get the capital to expand,
0:44:11 > 0:44:13"the banks will not lend to us."
0:44:13 > 0:44:16It's an universal problem.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19Now, until that's cracked, until we see a better flow of capital,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22people with good ideas, some of them will get funding,
0:44:22 > 0:44:25but those that don't at the very beginning will struggle
0:44:25 > 0:44:28to raise the capital to develop their ideas.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Maybe you should be saying, "Don't come to me, matey.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33"I'm the Government, I don't do it.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37"You sort your own problems out. You have a bit of enterprise, you do it."
0:44:37 > 0:44:40- It's a partnership. If you look... - Is it a partnership?
0:44:40 > 0:44:42It's not for the Government to do that kind of stuff.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44Who else is going to do it?
0:44:44 > 0:44:46I am a believer in government intervention
0:44:46 > 0:44:48where the economy is bumping along the floor,
0:44:48 > 0:44:49and that's what we've been doing.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55It's not just the economy that's bumping along the floor.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59It's basic reading and writing skills.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01Wales is way down the list.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08Between 2006 and 2009, reading standards in this country, in Wales,
0:45:08 > 0:45:10actually fell.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13And so did ability on maths on OECD figures.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16Something is going badly wrong.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19We know we want to improve basic skills.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23- We've put in place, now, tests... - Reading has fallen.
0:45:23 > 0:45:24- Fallen.- Well...
0:45:24 > 0:45:27We know there's room for improvement,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31and that means we want to make sure that literacy and numeracy improve,
0:45:31 > 0:45:34and we've put measures in place to deal with that.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40Maybe I'm too gloomy, but I go around bits of Wales,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43'and I think, "What on Earth is going on here?"'
0:45:43 > 0:45:48You see lads who should be working hanging around on street corners.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51You see unemployment, you see the lack of money.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54How can you tell me that I'm not being too gloomy?
0:45:54 > 0:45:55As RS Thomas would have put it,
0:45:55 > 0:45:57I think you are worrying the carcass of an old song.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00There are some parts of Wales where things remain difficult,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03and have been since the '80s. There's no question about that.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06And it is a tough nut to crack, but I think we are getting there.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09The unemployment rate is too high - we want to bring it down.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14I think what we need to do over the course of the next five to ten years is try and spread prosperity.
0:46:14 > 0:46:15Cardiff has done very well,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Swansea has had serious investment over the past ten years,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21the old mining valleys, more difficult.
0:46:21 > 0:46:22Geography makes it difficult
0:46:22 > 0:46:24to attract investment in there historically.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28But there is light at the end of the tunnel. We're investing heavily in broadband.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31We want to make sure that people have access to super-fast broadband
0:46:31 > 0:46:34by 2015 in Wales, in all parts of Wales.
0:46:34 > 0:46:38Then it doesn't matter where your business is, geographically.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42It's immaterial. You can be in Glyncorrwg, you can be in London.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46There are countless Welsh people watching you and thinking,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48"He talks the talk,
0:46:48 > 0:46:50"but I don't believe it cos I've seen the past."
0:46:50 > 0:46:52How can you convince them?
0:46:52 > 0:46:56I think what people wanted for their children was a job that was safe,
0:46:56 > 0:46:59respectable, had a pension at the end of it, which is why, of course,
0:46:59 > 0:47:00we've always generated many, many teachers -
0:47:00 > 0:47:03my mother and father were two examples of that.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06I'm a lawyer by training.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08In many ways, we were put off going into business
0:47:08 > 0:47:11or going into commercial activity. It was seen as a bit risky.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13That has changed over the last ten years.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15We've never been short of entrepreneurs.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18What we've been short of is the confidence
0:47:18 > 0:47:20so that those entrepreneurs can turn their ideas
0:47:20 > 0:47:24into successful businesses that employ other people.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30'Any economy would struggle when the world economy's struggling.'
0:47:30 > 0:47:35But the better economies will eventually thrive on people -
0:47:35 > 0:47:40skilled people, ambitious people, people unafraid to give it a go.
0:47:41 > 0:47:47Any country with low standards of reading and arithmetic
0:47:47 > 0:47:49and high unemployment clearly has a problem.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52There are success stories here,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55whether it's running a cafe on a trading estate
0:47:55 > 0:47:57or running a big insurance company,
0:47:57 > 0:48:01or taking the salt out of the ocean and turning it into money.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03Government has a role, of course,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06but all those success stories don't look to the government
0:48:06 > 0:48:09to solve their problems.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13What they've got is ambition and self-belief.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16They know they can do it, they think big.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18Confidence is the thing.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20And do you know what?
0:48:20 > 0:48:23We Welsh are as good as anybody.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd