Caerp[hilly-based ‘start-up’ hub, the Welsh Innovation Centre for Enterprise has appointed Gareth Jones as its CEO.

Since it was launched in 2012, the Welsh ICE brand has gone from strength to strength thanks to multiple private and public sector partnerships.

Now home to more than 85 companies and more than 150 employees at its Caerphilly centre, Welsh ICE has also recently launched the FCA-authorised ICE Dragons crowd-funding platform across Europe in partnership with E2Exchange, and has ongoing plans to extend its service offering in Caerphilly too.

Gareth’s appointment as CEO reflects the changing focus of his role and overall contribution to securing these achievements after originally co-founding the centre back in 2011.

Gareth studied building maintenance management at university but turned his attentions to other projects after growing disillusioned with the corporate world through subsequent work as a property surveyor. Raised in Llangollen, North Wales, he relocated to Cardiff in 2007 and also worked in the retail and hospitality sector before co-founding Welsh ICE in summer 2011.

Gareth has become a leading voice for young entrepreneurs through his involvement with the Welsh Assembly’s Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy for Wales, as a Big Ideas Wales Role Model and as an active member of the Cardiff Start community.

He was also instrumental in securing a £350,000 Welsh Government funding programme released via Welsh ICE to start-up businesses in Wales, which has already supported a rising proportion of businesses to get started in the first place and will continue to provide increasing entrepreneurial growth moving forward.

International entrepreneur Anthony Record MBE, former chairman of one of Britain’s largest risk management and compliance businesses National Britannia, originally partnered with Gareth as a co-founder.