This month, Ruth Lowbridge, Executive Chair of SFEDI and the IOEE, has joined the board of Trustees for PRIME Cymru, The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise in Wales and the only wholly Wales based charity that is a member of HRH The Prince of Wales’s group of core charities.

PRIME Cymru provides practical support to people aged 50 and over who want to become and remain economically active. The organisation aims to address the undervalued experience, skills and entrepreneurial potential of the 50+ age group through appropriate opportunities for sustainable economic activity whether it be through self-employment, employment, education, training or volunteering.

David Pugh, Chief Executive, commented:

"I am absolutely delighted that Ruth has agreed to join the board of Trustees of PRIME Cymru. PRIME Cymru supports economically inactive individuals over the age of 50 who are and want to return to the workforce either through starting their own business of securing sustainable employment. Ruth’s skills in the entrepreneur and enterprise arena will be invaluable to the future development of our charity across Wales and further afield.  Ruth joins an already highly skilled team of trustees, who have assisted me to develop a sustainable and highly effective charity that engages with over 5000 people a year across Wales, at a time of expansion of our activities.  With Ruth’s skills and tireless enthusiasm, I am sure that this will facilitate even great growth for the charity and the services we deliver".

The appointment is one which means a great deal to Ruth who has long supported initiatives that enable people at all stages of their life to explore self employment. She says:

"I passionately support the aims of PRIME Cymru. I believe that throughout our lives, whether through choice or necessity we need and deserve to learn new skills and explore new working styles. For many, self employment provides a perfect way to consolidate experience and knowledge gained over many working years, and create a working life which is both fulfilling and has the flexibility needed to juggle the many other responsibilities that often come with this stage of life. I am thrilled to be asked to join the board and am excited about contributing to the future strategy of the organisation and working with the PRIME Cymru team".

PRIME Cymru provides free support and advice to the over 50s in Wales in developing a business, securing employment or taking-up a volunteering opportunity. Founder and President HRH the Prince of Wales says

“In 2001 I founded PRIME Cymru because I felt that the experience and skills of many older people were being wasted. PRIME Cymru is determined to develop new ideas and approaches to enable older people in Wales to remain economically active”

Since its launch it has engaged with over 20,000 individuals in Wales who are economically inactive and seeking dedicated tailored support and advice, help over 5,000 individuals to start their own business, creating in excess of 4,500 jobs and supporting nearly 2,000 individuals to take-up volunteering opportunities.

PRIME Cymru Board Members:

Stephen Pegge (Chairman)

Stephen is Competitive Markets and Business Policy Director for Lloyds Banking Group dealing with politicians, officials and business groups on policy, finance schemes and competition enquiries and represents Commercial Banking externally. Stephen also led a Business Finance Taskforce including personally establishing mentoring policy in the UK for the industry and government and was part of the team which established the £2.5bn Business Growth Fund. Stephen is a director of UK Business Angels Association and represents UK on the Business Finance Group of European Banking Federation.

Hugh Child (Vice Chairman)

Hugh is a chartered accountant by profession but spent most of his professional career with Peacock Stores Ltd where he was Finance Director and ultimately rising to Managing Director. During his management he saw the business expanded from 20 to 180 outlets with a turnover of £120 million.  Since retiring at the age of 53 Hugh has held a number of high profile executive and non-executive roles.

Huw Evans (Trustee)

Huw is a Director and Private Banker at Coutts and Co in their Cardiff office.

His current role involves managing a portfolio of around 250 High Net Wealth individuals. He advises clients on strategic Wealth Management investment and lending decisions and has direct responsibility for £100m of assets under management (AUM’s). Huw is also a member of the Chartered Securities Institute.

Prof. Dylan Jones-Evans OBE

Dylan is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at Bristol Business School and visiting professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Turku in Finland. He is also the creator and director of the Wales Fast Growth 50, the annual barometer of entrepreneurial firms in Wales.

Andrew Morgan

Andrew is portfolio manager and co-head of Walker Cambria Investment Management based in wales.  He has spent the majority of his career so far working in the City of London as a fund manager at Mitsubishi-UFJ Asset Management where he specialised in European equities before moving on to BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.

Ruth Lowbridge

Ruth is Executive Chair of the SFEDI Group and an entrepreneur with over fifteen years of experience working with, developing and supporting enterprising companies across the UK. She is an established business consultant, trainer and developer who has extensive experience of working with both public and private sector companies and organisations both large and small.