Our CBI Wales 2026 manifesto, Made in Wales: A Manifesto to Support Firms & Create Jobs 2026–2030, is grounded in the lived experience of Welsh firms. It reflects the ambition, resilience and realism of businesses across every region – from advanced manufacturers in the north to clean energy pioneers in the west, from fintech scale-ups in the capital to family firms embedded in local communities. It is practical, focused and designed to deliver measurable outcomes.
At its core is a single proposition: that sustained growth in Wales will come from consistency, partnership and a relentless focus on competitiveness.
This manifesto sets a unified strategy for making Wales one of Europe’s most competitive and sustainable small economies by 2035. Grounded in business evidence, it focuses on four priorities — Competitiveness, Innovation, Energy, and Skills — and calls for coherent collaboration between Cardiff Bay and Westminster built on partnership, consistency, and regional inclusion.
CBI Wales 2026 Business Manifesto: overview
Building a competitive Wales
Issue: Post-pandemic growth and recent record FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is a stark contrast and testifies to the need for greater access to finance, better infrastructure, lower tax and lower energy costs. It says Wales is on the front foot and we have a window of opportunity with an Industrial Strategy for Wales.
Key actions:
- Welsh Industrial Strategy: Enhancing the benefits of the UK Industrial Strategy, the industrial strategy unites competitiveness, transport, AI, energy, skills and real visions for all corners of our nation.
- Finance: Continue to expand the Development Bank of Wales beyond £2 billion with the support of new platforms and pension funds.
- Tax and regulation: Reform Non-Domestic Rates, extend improvement relief on business rates, avoid new levies, and simplify commercial planning.
Outcome: A more predictable, pro-enterprise environment to use Welsh funding to anchor foreign investment and growth.
Technology & Innovation
Issue: Wales has the UK’s lowest share of innovation-active firms, despite strong universities and R&D assets.
Key actions:
- Funding certainty: Align Welsh innovation grants with UK schemes through a multi-year Innovation Funding Framework.
- Private capital: Launch a Wales Innovation Investment Platform linking government, the Development Bank, and investors.
- Smart regulation: Create “innovation sandboxes” and a Regulatory Innovation Forum to pilot emerging tech.
- Regional balance: Back AMRC Cymru, M-SParc and Bangor to expand R&D beyond the M4 corridor.
Outcome: Doubling Welsh business R&D by 2030 could add £800 million annually to national output.
Energy – Powering Green Growth
Issue: Over £20 billion in potential green investment risks delay from grid limits, slow planning, and high energy prices.
Key Actions:
- Infrastructure plan: Deliver a Net Zero Infrastructure Plan covering grid, ports, and energy networks.
- Streamlined consenting: Fast-track renewables and grid projects under the Infrastructure (Wales) Act.
- Industrial support: Continue with the process to replace the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to help heavy emitters modernise.
- Just transition: Retrain workers and support affordable energy through a Transition Fund.
Outcome: Projects like Celtic Freeport, SWIC, and Wylfa could drive £40 billion+ of investment and 50,000 jobs.
Future of work skills & equality
Issue: Youth employment is just 54%, while employers struggle to find and train skilled workers.
Key Actions:
- Flexible skills: Replace or reform the Apprenticeship Levy to support modular, lifelong learning.
- Smarter regional skills: Strengthen Regional Skills Partnerships to align provision with local demand.
- Youth guarantee: Expand paid placements and integrate mental health support.
- Inclusive workplaces: Broaden Healthy Working Wales and reward SMEs adopting wellbeing and diversity standards.
Outcome: A skilled, healthy workforce underpinning productivity and participation.
This agenda is not theoretical. It is a delivery framework. It is built around outcomes: higher productivity, stronger regional growth, lower barriers to investment, and a labour market that works for both employers and employees.
Wales has a window of opportunity. With the right policy alignment between Cardiff Bay and Westminster, long-term certainty on skills and infrastructure, and a shared commitment to partnership, we can anchor investment, accelerate innovation and secure sustainable prosperity for every part of the nation.
CBI Wales and our members stand ready to work constructively with government and stakeholders to turn this strategy into results.
Contact Russell Greenslade , CBI Wales Director, or Leighton Jenkins, CBI Head of Policy, Wales, for more information.
