Gareth Williams At The Round Table With Chief Secretary To The Treasury

YellowDog’s Gareth Williams gives some insight into his round table with Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

“It’s not every day that you get to have tea and cake with Liz Truss, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, but today was one of those days.

Alongside several scale-up business leaders from Bristol, I joined Liz for a round table discussion chaired by Nick Sturge at Engine Shed, and as the founder of YellowDog, I was pretty delighted to be invited.

Bath and Bristol have a strong and resilient business ecosystem and a growing international reputation – which we at YellowDog have embraced. Regrettably, not everyone has access to that same opportunity. In my experience, business is uncertain and there are no safety nets, but it always helps to have a network around you.

Having the opportunity to discuss the challenges we face, in an open forum with Liz Truss, will enable greater local collaboration and, I hope, constructively call for more centralised support.

Diversity and inclusion was a key issue brought up several times. I believe we need more diverse role models in technology, we need more inclusivity in the workplace in tech businesses, and I shared this with Liz just as I did when ITV News visited YellowDog.

Our mission at YellowDog is ambitious. I revelled in the opportunity to pitch the vision and drive of ‘Limitless Compute’ to the Chief Secretary, and it was inspiring to hear about the innovations and goals of other local scale ups, from Ultraleap to Travel Local to Neighbourly to Pelipod to Immersive Labs.

In the name of collaboration and community, I’m excited every time I’m around other leading entrepreneurs from Bristol and the South West.

Whilst meeting Liz and having the opportunity to hear from and talk to her was incredible, I also enjoyed sipping my tea, dipping a biscuit, and being inspired by the stories, challenges, and proposals of others.”