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Gwenllian Brassington, Digital Connectivity Project Manager, Ambition North Wales
Within most businesses there are processes that absorb more time, money or staff resource than they should. The people running those organisations will usually know where the pressure points are, even when the technology that could address them is less obvious.
That is the thinking behind Ambition North Wales’s Advanced Wireless Technology Grant Fund. It is not simply about improving connectivity or encouraging businesses to adopt technology for its own sake. It is intended to help organisations tackle a clearly identified operational need, improve productivity and invest in systems that can support them over the longer term. The Fund has been developed to support Ambition North Wales’ aims of improving connectivity, promoting innovation, creating jobs and sustainable development.
A total of £18.8 million capital funding is available until March 2030 through the North Wales Growth Deal. Grants range from £20,000 to £2 million and can cover up to 50% of eligible project costs, with applicants providing the remaining match funding.
The scale of that support makes this the largest advanced wireless grant fund in the UK currently. For me, however, the most exciting part is the breadth of what it could enable organisations across North Wales to achieve.
Advanced wireless technology covers a vast range of solutions, including 5G networks, Wi-Fi, satellite technology and the Internet of Things. Within those broad categories sit hundreds of different products and applications, from relatively simple monitoring systems to more sophisticated technology that can connect equipment, people, data and artificial intelligence.
That is why we have deliberately avoided restricting the fund to particular sectors or business sizes. Registered businesses and organisations operating in North Wales can apply, including those in the private, public and voluntary sectors, provided they are ready to deploy a medium-to-large-scale wireless technology solution.
The best place to begin is not by asking which technology to buy, but by identifying the business problem. An organisation may want to monitor equipment more effectively, reduce downtime, improve oversight across a site or release staff from repetitive manual checks. Once the need is understood, the right technology can be explored around it.
In agriculture, for example, sensors connected through LoRaWAN radio signal technology can support the monitoring of conditions and help identify risks before they develop into larger problems. That can reduce the need for frequent manual checks and allow people to spend more time on work requiring their judgement and experience.
The same principle can be applied elsewhere. A manufacturer may use wireless systems to improve the visibility of equipment performance. A logistics business may strengthen the way it tracks operations, while a hospitality or tourism business may use connected systems to manage facilities more efficiently. The technology will differ from one project to another, but the aim is consistent: to improve productivity, create efficiencies and make better use of available time and resource.
The fund can support capital expenditure, including equipment, software, installation, licences and project management costs until the technology is operational. It cannot cover revenue expenditure or the ongoing cost of running a system once it is live, so applicants will need to show that the investment is sustainable beyond the grant period.
That longer-term view is central to what we are trying to achieve. We want applicants to consider not only what the technology can do immediately, but how it could be expanded, what further uses might be added and how the learning from a project could benefit others within the same sector and wider economy of North Wales.
The fund also carries clear economic goals for North Wales. Successful projects are expected to support job creation, increase gross value added and attract further investment into the region. As a guide, around one full-time equivalent job is expected to be created for every £90,000 to £120,000 of grant funding awarded.
Those jobs can be direct or indirect and may include apprenticeships, but they must be based in North Wales. Direct and indirect roles must also be maintained for at least three years after the award.
Applications follow a two-stage process, beginning with an expression of interest before selected projects proceed to a full application. We launched the fund on June 30 and have already received some strong submissions, with others in development. That level of early interest is encouraging because it shows that organisations are beginning to think seriously about how advanced wireless technology could change the way they operate.
Businesses do not need to be technology experts, but they do need to have done the groundwork. Speaking to suppliers, industry specialists, trade bodies and organisations that are further along in their digitalisation journey can help establish what is feasible, what it may cost and how long implementation is likely to take.
A strong expression of interest will set out a clear project plan, explain the problem being addressed and show that the organisation can manage delivery, control risk and achieve the intended benefits. It should also demonstrate how the technology will continue to be used after the grant period and how the investment can create wider value.
The fund will run until March 2030 with several funding rounds during that time. Earlier applications will allow more time for projects to be developed and delivered so for organisations that already know where their operations could improve, the next step is to turn that understanding into a well-researched proposal with a clear business case behind it.
The next Expression of Interest phase will open in January 2027.