English: I intend to examine how two European cities, Aarhus in Denmark and Mannheim in Germany, promote entrepreneurship. People often talk about some of the great cities of the world - and sometimes about Cambridge and sometimes about areas around Harvard - but these are two medium-sized European cities. I'm going to talk about barriers to growth for medium-sized businesses, because Wales is very poor at developing medium-sized companies into large companies - we've actually done it once, haven't we - and barriers for microbusinesses growing into larger businesses, starting with Aarhus. The second city in population in Denmark is Aarhus. Compare it to Swansea, which is the second city in Wales. GDP in Swansea is 75 per cent of the European average; in Aarhus, it's 107 per cent. So, obviously, Aarhus is doing something right. Aarhus has a university that was founded in 1928 - so, compared to our university, it's quite modern - and it's Denmark's largest, with 44,500 students in January 2013. It has probably gone up since then. In ranking lists of the world's best universities, it's regularly in the top 100. But what else does it do? The largest research area is the INCUBA science park, which focuses on ICT and biomedical research. The organisation is owned partly by the university and partly by private investors and it aims to foster close relationships between public institutions and start-up companies. As we all know, ICT and biomedical research are two of the current growth industries across the world. Mannheim is Swansea's twin city, but that is where the similarity ends. Economic data for the two areas makes interesting - and for a Swansea resident, very depressing - reading. Mannheim's metropolitan region has a GVA of 147 per cent of the European average, but the city itself goes up to 210 per cent, compared to Swansea at 75 per cent. So, for anybody who's earning £20,000, their equivalent in Mannheim is earning just under £60,000. An institution affiliated with the university is the Mannheim centre for entrepreneurship and innovation, which provides a founder and incubator platform for students, young entrepreneurs and investors. The institute is supported by the Mannheim institute for mittelstand and SME research, and the chair of SME research and entrepreneurship at the University of Mannheim. Successful start-ups: according to local media sources, Payback was sold to American Express for €500 million. Delivery Hero raised $1.4 billion in funding. Auto1 raised $200 million in funding. You've got other firms, such as Goodgame, that are initiating IPOs, raising £32 million in funding. And then you've got Movilizer, which was sold to Honeywell. Not all of them stay locally owned, but they've all grown. That explains why Mannheim was ranked eleventh in the top 15 of the most inventive cities worldwide. Can we get a Welsh team, a Welsh city, in there please? Turning to Wales, what medium-sized companies tell me are their problems: an inability to secure funding on assets held abroad; a limit of £5 million on lending by the commercial bank of Wales does not meet the needs of medium-sized enterprises; the size of Welsh Government contracts - some are put together in such a way as medium-sized enterprises cannot tender for them. In fact, many are put together so no Welsh firm can tender for them. The difficulty of raising working capital from commercial banks, and the danger that they will call it in at any time. One microcompany that had grown into a small company told me that their problems were: finding premises that were expandable; needing to move continually as they grow; a lack of readily available buildings; late payments; in construction, the continuing growth of sub-contracted agency workers that distort competition; and difficulty of access to markets. Is it surprising that small breweries have been amongst the most successful? Because we know that large supermarkets and Wetherspoon have been keen to retail their products. We know - we always talk about our own constituencies - about Boss brewery in Swansea. You can actually buy their beer in Wetherspoon pubs and you can get it in most of the large supermarkets. But that's where you've got the large companies helping it. And microbreweries are growing the length and breadth of Wales because they have that. So, what do we need to do in Wales? Work more closely with universities, either on the Aarhus business model or like the Mannheim centre of innovation and entrepreneurship. But we need to use universities. We also know that the term 'technium' has become synonymous with failure, but the initial idea of using it in Swansea to provide facilities for start-up companies spinning out of the university was a good one. Labelling all advanced factories as techniums was doomed to failure. We need to provide larger loans from commercial banks to medium-sized companies; provide loan schemes against overseas assets; let government contracts in such a size that medium-sized Welsh companies can bid; and make it easier for microcompanies to expand. We are no less skilled, entrepreneurial and capable than anywhere else. We need a policy that works to support the growth of Welsh companies and the starting of new ones.
Welsh: Rwy'n bwriadu edrych ar sut mae dwy ddinas Ewropeaidd, Aarhus yn Denmarc a Mannheim yn yr Almaen, yn hyrwyddo entrepreneuriaeth. Mae pobl yn aml yn sôn am rai o ddinasoedd mawr y byd - ac weithiau am Gaergrawnt ac weithiau am ardaloedd yng nghyffiniau Harvard - ond dwy ddinas Ewropeaidd canolig ei maint yw'r rhain. Rwy'n mynd i sôn am rwystrau sy'n atal busnesau canolig rhag tyfu, gan fod Cymru yn wael iawn am ddatblygu cwmnïau canolig eu maint i fod yn gwmnïau mawrion - rydym ni wedi gwneud hynny unwaith, i ddweud y gwir, yn do - a'r rhwystrau sy'n atal microfusnesau rhag tyfu i fod yn fusnesau mwy o faint, gan ddechrau gydag Aarhus. Ail ddinas fwyaf poblog Denmarc yw Aarhus. Cymharwch hi ag Abertawe, sef yr ail ddinas yng Nghymru. Mae cynnyrch domestig gros yn Abertawe yn 75 y cant o'r cyfartaledd Ewropeaidd; yn Aarhus, mae'n 107 y cant. Felly, yn amlwg, mae Aarhus gwneud rhywbeth yn iawn. Mae gan Aarhus brifysgol a sefydlwyd ym 1928 - felly, o'i chymharu â'n prifysgol ni, mae hi'n hollol fodern - a hi yw'r brifysgol fwyaf yn Denmarc, gyda 44,500 o fyfyrwyr ym mis Ionawr 2013. Mae'n siŵr ei fod wedi cynyddu ers hynny. Yn rhestrau graddio prifysgolion gorau'r byd, mae hi'n rheolaidd ymysg y 100 uchaf. Ond beth arall mae hi'n ei wneud? Yr ardal ymchwil mwyaf yw Parc Gwyddoniaeth INCUBA, sy'n canolbwyntio ar TGCh ac ymchwil biofeddygol. Mae'r brifysgol a buddsoddwyr preifat yn rhanberchnogion ar y sefydliad ac mae'n ceisio meithrin perthynas agos rhwng sefydliadau cyhoeddus a chwmnïau newydd. Fel y gwyddom ni i gyd, TGCh ac ymchwil biofeddygol yw dau o'r diwydiannau twf presennol ar draws y byd. Mae Mannheim wedi ei gefeillio ag Abertawe, ond dyna ble mae'r tebygrwydd yn dod i ben. Mae edrych ar y data economaidd ar gyfer y ddwy ardal yn ddiddorol - ac o'm rhan i sy'n byw yn Abertawe, yn ddigalon. Mae gan ranbarth metropolitan Mannheim werth ychwanegol gros sy'n 147 y cant o'r cyfartaledd Ewropeaidd, ond yn y ddinas ei hun mae'n cynyddu i 210 y cant, o'i gymharu ag Abertawe sydd ar 75 y cant. Felly, i unrhywun sy'n ennill £20,000, byddai rhywun sy'n gwneud swydd debyg yn Mannheim yn ennill ychydig o dan £60,000. Sefydliad sy'n gysylltiedig â'r Brifysgol yw canolfan entrepreneuriaeth ac arloesi Mannheim, sy'n rhoi cyfle i fyfyrwyr, entrepreneuriaid ifanc a buddsoddwyr sefydlu a meithrin busnesau. Cefnogir y sefydliad gan y sefydliad mittelstand ac ymchwil busnesau bach a chanolig Mannheim, a chadeirydd ymchwil busnesau bach a chanolig ac entrepreneuriaeth ym Mhrifysgol Mannheim. Busnesau newydd llwyddiannus: yn ôl ffynonellau o'r cyfryngau lleol, gwerthwyd Payback i American Express am €500 miliwn. Cododd Delivery Hero $1.4 biliwn o gyllid. Cododd Auto1 $200 miliwn mewn cyllid. Mae cwmnïau eraill yn bod hefyd, fel Goodgame, sy'n dechrau ar y broses o gyflwyno cynigion cyhoeddus cychwynnol, gan godi £32 miliwn mewn cyllid. Ac wedyn dyna i chi Movilizer, a werthwyd i Honeywell. Nid yw pob un ohonyn nhw yn aros mewn perchnogaeth leol, ond maen nhw i gyd wedi tyfu. Mae hynny'n esbonio pam y cafodd Mannheim ei gosod yn unfed ar ddeg yn y 15 uchaf o'r dinasoedd mwyaf dyfeisgar ledled y byd. Allwn ni gael tîm o Gymru, dinas o Gymru, yno os gwelwch yn dda? Gan droi at Gymru, yr hyn y mae cwmnïau canolig yn ei ddweud wrthyf yw eu problemau: anallu i sicrhau cyllid ar asedau sydd ganddyn nhw dramor; nid yw terfyn o £5 miliwn ar fenthyciadau gan fanc masnachol Cymru yn diwallu anghenion busnesau canolig eu maint; maint contractau Llywodraeth Cymru - caiff rhai eu llunio yn y fath fodd fel na all fentrau canolig dendro amdanynt. Mewn gwirionedd, caiff llawer eu rhoi at ei gilydd fel na all unrhyw gwmni yng Nghymru dendro ar eu cyfer. Anhawster cael cyfalaf gweithio gan fanciau masnachol, a'r perygl y byddant yn ei alw'n ôl unrhyw bryd. Roedd un cwmni micro a oedd wedi tyfu yn gwmni bach yn dweud wrthyf i mai dyma oedd eu problemau: dod o hyd i safle yr oedd posib ei ehangu; angen symud yn barhaus wrth iddyn nhw dyfu; diffyg adeiladau ar gael yn rhwydd; taliadau hwyr; yn y diwydiant adeiladu, twf parhaus gweithwyr asiantaeth wedi eu his-gontractio sy'n llesteirio cystadleuaeth; ac anhawster cael mynediad i farchnadoedd. A yw hi'n syndod bod y bragdai bach wedi bod ymhlith y mwyaf llwyddiannus? Oherwydd rydym ni'n gwybod y bu archfarchnadoedd mawr a Wetherspoon yn awyddus i werthu eu cynnyrch. Rydym ni'n gwybod - rydym ni wastad yn sôn am ein hetholaethau ein hunain - am fragdy Boss yn Abertawe. Fe allwch chi brynu eu cwrw yn nhafarndai Wetherspoon a'i gael yn y rhan fwyaf o'r archfarchnadoedd mawr. Ond mae hynny oherwydd bod y cwmnïau mawr yn helpu. Ac mae bragdai bychain yn tyfu ar hyd a lled Cymru oherwydd bod ganddyn nhw hynny. Felly, beth sydd angen i ni ei wneud yng Nghymru? Gweithio'n agosach gyda phrifysgolion, naill ai ar fodel busnes Aarhus neu fel canolfan arloesi ac entrepreneuriaeth Mannheim. Ond mae angen inni ddefnyddio prifysgolion. Rydym ni hefyd yn gwybod bod y term 'technium' wedi dod yn gyfystyr â methiant, ond roedd y syniad cychwynnol o'i ddefnyddio yn Abertawe i ddarparu cyfleusterau ar gyfer cwmnïau newydd oedd yn deillio o'r brifysgol yn un da. Roedd galw pob uwch ffatri yn ganolfannau technium yn siŵr o fethu. Mae angen inni ddarparu benthyciadau mwy gan fanciau masnachol i gwmnïau canolig; darparu cynlluniau benthyciadau yn erbyn asedion tramor; llunio contractau'r Llywodraeth mewn maint o'r fath y gall cwmnïau canolig eu maint yng Nghymru ymgeisio; a'i gwneud hi'n haws i microgwmnïau ehangu. Nid ydym ni'n ddim llai medrus, entrepreneuraidd a galluog nag unrhyw le arall. Mae angen polisi sy'n gweithio arnom ni i gefnogi twf cwmnïau Cymreig ac i gychwyn rhai newydd.