Welsh Journals

9. SMALL BUSINESSES IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY IN WALES Nerys Fuller-Love and Aled G. Jones INTRODUCTION This paper investigates small businesses in the media and related industries in Wales. In an economy dominated by large-scale industries, inward investment and public-sector employment, the media is one of the few indigenous industries to have flourished in Wales in the last decade. The question of whether entrepreneurial activity is affected by cultural attitudes as well as by historical conditions has been posed by a number of researchers. This study contributes to that debate by exploring the relationships between small businesses in the media industry, the Welsh language and local economies. The television production industry in Wales began with a clearly defined cultural mission to operate within a Welsh language environment. Furthermore, many small businesses in the media sector have been established in largely Welsh-speaking areas of the west and north-west, bringing employment and skills to areas which have relatively few opportunities for alternative skilled employment. The purpose of this study is to identify patterns of entrepreneurship amongst Welsh-speakers which have been stimulated by the demand for Welsh-language television programmes, so that it can be used to foster entrepreneurship in other areas. The main focus of this study is on the small businesses that supply S4C with television programmes and their suppliers. This excludes the larger producers such as HTV and BBC Wales who are also broadcasters. The first part of the paper examines the theory of entrepreneurship with particular reference to the effect of culture on attitudes towards entrepreneurship. The second part of the paper presents the findings of the study including the characteristics of the small firms and their owner/managers. The importance of the Welsh language and the development of management skills are also examined.