This month, the Welsh technology industry received the royal seal of approval when King Charles III visited Sony’s Pencoed-based manufacturing facility to celebrate the tech giant’s 50th year operating in Wales.
Top brass from Sony gave the King a tour of the Sony UK Technology Centre, a 20,000 m2 state-of-the-art site that predominantly manufactures cameras and professional broadcasting equipment sold globally.
The current site was declared open by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 and has since become a key contributor to the booming Welsh tech industry. It employs 600 people and is home to the Sony Wales Academy — which provides opportunities for apprentices, graduates, and school pupils — and a number of promising tech startups.
During the tour, the King met staff members and learned about the manufacturing work they do for Sony and third-party customers. In a big milestone for Sony UK TEC, the King finished making the 30,000th high-definition camera manufactured at the factory.
Visiting the centre was likely a full-circle moment for His Majesty, who convinced Sony to expand to Wales at the start of the 1970s and opened its original Bridgend-based office as Prince of Wales in 1974.
In recent years, the Sony UK Technology Centre has invested significantly in green and renewable energy as it looks to become more sustainable — something the King has championed for several decades.
Rob Wilson, managing director of Sony UK TEC, said: “We are now in our 50th year of Sony in Wales. It is a true honour and a privilege to have the King on-site to join in with our celebrations, having played such an instrumental role in our journey.”
Wales cyber tech boost
July also saw Cardiff-based cybersecurity firm PureCyber raise a £5m equity investment from business growth capital provider BGF. It hopes to use the funds to attract more customers, both small and large.
Founded in 2016 by CEO Damon Rands, the company currently employs 37 people and positions itself as an outsourced cyber team for businesses that want to protect themselves from rising cyber threats.
It offers a range of cybersecurity services on a subscription basis, including brand protection, incident response, global penetration testing and a security operations centre (SOC) offering.
Speaking of his firm’s investment and its relationship with BGF, Rands said: “The PureCyber team and I are committed to growing the business to support the ever-increasing needs of the global SME and enterprise market and are delighted to be working with an investment partner that shares our vision for the future.”
In another boost for the Welsh cybersecurity community, John Davies MBE — managing director of Pervade Software and chair of Cyber Wales — was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of South Wales. His company developed the software that powers the National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Essentials Scheme, the UK Police Cyber Alarm platform and the dark web intelligence gathering platform.
Gareth Williams, chief operating officer of engineering firm Marshall and former global vice president at Thales, also received a USW honorary degree in recognition of his impressive career achievements. In addition to a glowing corporate CV, he was involved in setting up the Wales National Digital Exploitation Centre (NDEC), ResilientWorks, and the Cyber College Cymru initiative.
Sharon Johnstone, head of cybersecurity at USW, said: “I am delighted to see both John and Gareth recognised for their tireless work in the sector and their drive and passion to bring cyber security to the forefront of government and individual attention.”
Meanwhile, the Development Bank of Wales spearheaded a £1.75m investment round for Argonaute RNA Ltd, a biotech company developing a novel drug aimed at treating cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company acquired Wrexham-based medtech firm Aparito.
In other acquisition news, iTero Gaming— which provides artificial intelligence coaching to esports players — was acquired by European esports organisation GIANTX. A spokesperson for GIANTX told UKTN that the deal is worth seven figures. Vista Technology Support, a Cardiff-based IT support and services firm, acquired Dublin-headquartered competitor Store Computer Technology in a bid to expand across Ireland.
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