Strategic Review of Welsh Government Food and Drink Sector Support
The Welsh Government commissioned Wavehill to undertake a high-level review of food and drink sector support funded through the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014–2020.
What we did
Wavehill undertook a synthesis of monitoring data, evaluation evidence and stakeholder perspectives from across the programme. The research included policy and literature reviews, stakeholder interviews, workshops, and a meta-review of evidence from 14 food and drink support schemes.
The review assessed the impact of support focused on business growth, workforce skills, technical innovation, market development, networking, supply chains and capital investment, alongside how effectively these different forms of support worked together.
What we found
The review found that Wales benefited from a broad and generally complementary package of support. Businesses were able to access different forms of assistance at different stages of their development, including training, technical expertise, business advice, collaborative networks and investment funding.
The research also highlighted opportunities to improve integration between services, simplify access to support and strengthen referral pathways to help businesses navigate the support landscape more effectively.
Why it matters
The review provided Welsh Government with an overarching assessment of how food and drink sector support operated as a package rather than as individual programmes. The findings informed decisions about the future design, coordination and targeting of support for one of Wales’s priority economic sectors following the end of EU-funded programmes.
For more information about this project, contact Ioan Teifi – ioan.teifi@wavehill.com
The report is available to read here.
