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| By Rhyshuw1 at English Wikipedia, CC0 BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27761679 |
On Wednesday, I visited the Mid Wales Business and Innovation Exchange, which I previewed on 16 April 2026. It was a glorious day, and the view of Aberystwyth from the Machynlleth road as I drove in from Bow Street, where I had spent the previous night, was exactly like the picture above.
I arrived at the University Arts Centre and registered on time. The registration desk was staffed by young women in yellow T-shirts, all of whom were friendly and eager to help. Attendees' names were typed on sticky labels. Mine fell off my clothing immediately, regardless of the garment or accessory to which I tried to attach it.
There were supposed to be bus tours to Aberinnovation, IBERS and the Smart Bungalow from 10:15. I was particularly keen to visit Aberinnovation because it is Wales's second science park. It had been constructed during the COVID-19 pandemic on time and on budget (see Jane Lambert Completion of Aberystwyth's Science Park on Time and on Budget 30 Aug 2020). Unfortunately, there was no signage and nobody seemed to have a clue where or when to catch the bus. I visited the exhibition space and grabbed some breakfast at the cafeteria. When I returned to the registration desk, I was told that the buses had left.
I was not too bothered because there was supposed to be another tour at 15:15, and I wanted to hear James Pittendreigh of BCRS. The BCRS is a Community Development Finance Institution ("CDFI"). I had once worked with Stephen Waud of the Bradford Enterprise Fund and was aware of the support that CDFIs provide to startups and other small businesses in Yorkshire. The theme of James's talk was "What to do if a bank declines your business loan application." I could think of several businesses in Wales that could have benefited from such information. Sadly, nobody seemed to know where his talk was taking place. By the time I found out it was over.
Happily, one of the young women in a yellow T-shirt helpfully conducted me to the Hugh Owen Building, where Gary Walpole of Cardiff Metropolitan University was due to speak on the circular economy until 11:30. Gary played us a video of the crew on a space mission who were running out of breathable air because the mechanism for controlling the level of carbon dioxide in the cabin had failed. Staff at ground control were tasked with devising a solution with a collection of articles that were believed to be in the capsule. Attendees at Gary's workshop were split into groups and given exercises such as explaining why the crew's predicament was analogous to humanity's.
Although Gary's talk was advertised to end at 11:30, he announced that he would stop at midday. Had I known that he would continue speaking after 11:30, I would not have booked an appointment with Rosemary Toll of the Department of Law and Criminology at 11:45. One of the yellow T-shirt clad women led me from Gary's workshop to Rosemary's office, which was also in the Hugh Owen Building. Rosemary teaches the intellectual property module at Aberystwyth and is a remarkable woman. She came to intellectual property as a performer, having trained at the Purcell School and the Royal Northern College of Music. She continues to play professionally from time to time. She later read law, qualified for the Bar and taught at Manchester before coming to Aberystwyth. Her research interest is music, both musical and literary copyrights, rights in performances and the technology relating to its distribution.
My meeting with Rosemary was one of the high points of my day. I had asked for an appointment to invite her students to apply for our chambers' mini-pupillage course, to enlist her support for a Welsh Intellectual Property Society and to offer presentations similar to those I delivered at Bangor and St Andrews. Rosemay welcomed the idea of a network of IP specialists from private practice and the universities in Wales. She will mention our mini-pupillage scheme to her students and she will consider other ways in which we can work together.
Rosemary showed me the quickest way back to the Arts Centre, where the plenary sessions were taking place. Someone on one of the exhibition stands directed me to the auditorium where the Vice-Chancellor was speaking. I attended all the presentations, which gave me another opportunity to hear Gary Walpole and a chance to catch James Pittendreigh speak about CDFIs. James asked the audience whether we knew what the letters CDFI stood for. I raised a hand, but James noticed I was the only one. James invited questions at the end of his talk, and I asked whether James's fund lent money exclusively or invested in equity. He replied that he was a lender and that the Foresight Group invested in equity.
Unfortunately, the audience dwindled to single figures as the afternoon wore on. That was a shame because the quality of the talks was excellent. Colonel Davies's on Tom Kuhn and Mark Price's on AI were particularly good. By the time Dr Patrick Finney, Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Humanities, delivered his vote of thanks, there were only 7 people in the auditorium, and several of them were speakers.
In his speech, Dr Finney commended the bus tours of Aberinnovation and IBERS. I rushed to catch one, only to learn that the plenary sessions had overrun and the last bus had gone. I contemplated walking down to the National Library of Wales and one of the yellow T-shirted young women offered to guide me. there. As I walk as slowly as an elderly arthritic tortoise, I abandoned that idea.
I made my way back to the exhibition space on the first floor, where I met Professor Homagni Choudhury, the Head of Aberystwyth Business School, Dr Julie Jones and Dr Aloysius Igboekwu. I told them about my meeting with Rosemary Toll and discussed the possibility of setting up an IP clinic. The university had advertised a drinks reception at 16:45, but only a handful attended it.
My overall impression of the event was that it had been a great success and could have been greater still with better signage and timetabling. I would also suggest a bus trip to the National Library as well as to the Gogerddan campus and the smart bungalow. They should also feature IP and enlist the help of Emma Richards of the Intellectual Property Office as M-SParc has done. Indeed, if they repeat the event at this time of the year, the University could tie it into the World Intellectual Property Day celebrations.
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