Wales needs five Admirals

David Stevens, chief operating officer of Admiral, Wales’ largest quoted company, says Wales needs another five companies like it to absorb the public sector jobs cuts expected after the budget, the FT reports.

He said: “It is depressingly inevitable that over the next few years Wales will struggle economically because it is so reliant on public-sector employment, and that will be depressed by the correction of budgetary balances.”

Admiral is raising staff numbers in south Wales from 3,000 to more than 3,500, but Stevens said “another four or five Admirals” are needed.

“The further you get from London, the harder it gets, and that is a powerful feature of the UK economy,” Mr Stevens said.