WII0023

Written evidence submitted by Green Man

Introduction:

Now entering its third decade, Green Man is one of three large independent festivals left in the UK and the largest festival in Wales. It is an award-winning seven day event that attracts 25,000 daily visitors from across the world to the breathtaking Bannau Brycheiniog. The Green Man experience spans music, comedy, literature, film, performance and installation art, wellness, science, as well as specific areas for both children and teens. Food is of food festival standard and made with fresh Welsh ingredients; the festival hosts its own Welsh Beer festival showcasing the best independent brewers from Wales. It was the first UK festival to sell out for the 2025 season, which it did in under an hour without any line-up announced. Uniquely it made the choice to spurn sponsorship to retain curational freedom and enable the festival to be used by independent Welsh food and beverage producers and protect children and young people from media and product manipulation.

Results from the 2025 BOP Research Report show that Green Man Generates £28.9 million into the Welsh economy annually and supports 395 full time jobs.

Green Man Trust, the charitable arm, has supported over 12,000 people since it was founded in 2014. Projects include arts development, science engagement, training, addressing the climate crisis and supporting positive change to address the poverty, mental health issues, violence and inequality resulting from the increasing wealth and age gap in Powys.

Our creative industries were worth more to the economy in 2022 than three of our heavyweight sectors—aerospace, life sciences and automotive industries—combined, yet there is little evidence of this in any Government economic growth proposal or inward investment strategy. Perhaps this is because they are less well understood. When we think about growth, one of our first thoughts should therefore be of the creative industries, and how they can help brand positioning and promoting Wales internationally.

Green Man is highly respected in the wider industry. Chris Smith - Director of WOMAD International Festival says: “Green Man is a flagship national cultural event, with an independent identity which parallels the Welsh nation itself. It is the first UK festival to sell out each year, which it does without any lineup: based on brand trust alone in a matter of minutes. The brand influence this indicates is self-evident and the possibilities for development immense”. 

How can Wales build on the success of its creative industries and sports sectors to attract inward investment?

I believe there are very few Welsh organisations within the creative industries which attract inward investment. Those that do should be identified, supported in a much more formalised way and asked to use their experience and knowledge to create a strategy going forward.

Green Man has an international social media reach of 230,000 and an annual circulation of 6.2 billion across international, national, print and broadcast media. This is calculated using average monthly visits to each website combined with print title circulation. The Green Man fanbase is ideally situated as ABC1 Marketing Profile with high influence; early adopters and include high wealth individuals.

Green Man 2025 ticket purchasers - Data Supplied TicketSellers (ticket services)

There is much to celebrate within Wales’ creative sector, but it is not being capitalised on. As Phil Samson - Director of Deals at PWC puts it: "Green Man has a proven track record of international success, with a significant global drag and reach for over two decades - notably reflecting a highly trusted brand across an extensive customer base, and supplemented by the businesses ability to diversify its products and services adding further to Green Man’s USPs. Furthermore, the business recognises the importance of creating an ethical proposition and the importance placed on this by customers,  driven by established, long standing social and environmental projects. Green Man is an exemplar in these regards, with significant growth opportunities; both through its core offerings, regional social and financial impact, cultural link with Wales and the Welsh language ethos and additional job creation opportunities”.

How effectively is the ‘Welsh brand’ articulated and marketed to international audiences?

Entrepreneurs follow business success and locations which welcome business. Promoting the business success stories of Wales is attractive to inward investors. Wales doesn’t do enough to identify, promote or support its creative successes with an international reach.  In addition, sometimes there is promotion of organisations which are unknown internationally which is confusing and not a coherent message to send to the international business community.

Based on the popularity of Green Man, what attracts is a unique, ethical, independently thinking, modern Welsh brand with high service standards and strong sense of place. This is what is attractive to international customers. As Daisy Proctor, Marketing Lead for Ministry of Sound Group explained, “Green Man's positive promotion of Wales would cost millions if the scale and results were replicated in a marketing campaign. Even then it would be unlikely that the same success would be achieved.”

What barriers exist to promote Wales internationally as a destination for inward investment?

We work in the age of media manipulation at an industrial level, and every country including Wales has never been more scrutinised or judged. I think it advisable that the Welsh Government should aim to outsource the best international PR and communications companies they can afford with clear targets, strategy and a timeline for delivery.

Much of the inward investment focus of the Welsh Government is on traditional industries, and more could be done to ensure that high-value industries with significant growth potential, such as the creative industries, are better embedded into the FDI structures and objectives. 

Wales  - and both Governments -  have not done enough in the past to celebrate, support or promote its creative industries business successes enough, which inevitably affects its ability to be seen as a location for inward investment. 

It would be helpful if the UK Government developed a more in-depth knowledge of the festival industry to better understand the issues faced in addition to the potential opportunities to promote Wales internationally. This could best be achieved by speaking to British independent festivals and not just organisations influenced by international entertainment organisations or representatives of those organisations.

Since COVID Wales has become dominated by international corporate entertainment and their ticketing companies. The influence and financial power they control makes them difficult to compete with. Green Man’s unique Welsh brand, and ability to identify emerging talent enables us to compete, but it becomes harder every year. Chris Smith Director of WOMAD International Festival, “A magnet for the music industry based on its reputation for identifying talented artists in their early careers. Headlining or being booked high on the bill is a game changer for emerging bands, and this has developed into other cultural activities and vocational training. To be Green Man trained is a high bar indeed and of value to employers”.

Green Man champions Welsh culture and language, promoting Welsh acts alongside major international artists. The larger corporations are focussed on promoting music that is guaranteed to sell tickets through their ticketing companies and profit to their shareholders, with far less focus on developing Welsh talent, culture and language. Chris Smith Director of WOMAD International Festival “Green Man has stood firm against the corporations and hedge funds that monopolise the live event industry. Spurning lucrative offers to retain its independence and using that freedom to create something truly Welsh, unique and caring which amplifies the authentic values which are at the core of this organisation.”

National BBC broadcasting gives little live coverage to contemporary music festivals due to budget issues, other than those owned by international entertainment corporations who I believe pay for broadcast costs. Glastonbury, which is independent and the other largest festivals in Ireland and Scotland do get coverage (but they are owned by corporations). Despite being Wales largest festival Green Man gets no national broadcast live from the festival, which wasn’t the case in the past. Independent events tend to be more aligned with place and that is particularly the case with Green Man. Meanwhile corporate owned events promote global international touring artists whose personal brands are bigger than the locations they perform in. The BBC has a massive global presence and not having this coverage diminishes the effectiveness of successful Welsh live experiences reaching a global audience.

Global touring artists and sports have been encouraged to Wales, and I welcome the opportunity for audiences to attend these events. But these are not immersive Welsh experiences, or tv or film media which bring the audience into Wales. Each has a place but surely a key question to ask is whether the audience remembers the global brand experience which they can enjoy in any major city in the world, or the location and values they experienced in an immersive Welsh experience.

How can inward investment be leveraged so that it delivers and supports sustainable, local benefit and prosperity?

There needs to be a strategy to identify what the challenges are in a specific location and what is needed to support sustainable local benefit. Kellie Beirne, CEO of Cardiff Capital Region, makes the point that ‘The impact of Green Man activity, on economic and social opportunities in Wales is something we strongly recognise and value in the Cardiff Capital Region. From its far reaching supply chain, to its focus on sustainability and inclusion - not to mention the brilliant training, development and upskilling opportunities it gives to hundreds of people in Wales, the ecosystem effect is far-reaching, and significant”.

In addition, work is needed to identify businesses who want to and are able to deliver what is required. It's not just about getting any business, it's getting the right business which will offer longevity and output to create positive change. This should take on board AI, location and need.

It takes time and resources to develop sustainable local benefits and it usually has a negative financial and staffing impact when initially developed. This may or may not be overcome in the long term and that should be factored into any deal.

Finally, it is crucial to  ensure a welcoming, supportive business culture where incoming business can deliver the outcomes required without unnecessary blockers, and  be confident that they can thrive and grow.          

Are there international examples of effective investment promotion campaigns that can inform Wales' approach to attracting inward investment?

Nicholas Bowler - His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Krygyz Republic

"In 2023 the UK Embassy of Kyrgyzstan supported an event organised by the Kyrgyzstani creative sector. We invited Green Man's owner and CEO Fiona Stewart to attend the event, as the brand is respected and seen as successful and aspirational by attendees. The choice of using Green Man was curated sensitively to fit within the acceptable values of Kyrgyzstan, as not only is it a very successful business and creative model, but it is also highly ethical and operates over a number of different sectors. The event was well attended and Fiona offered guidance for events and music but also for the many other sectors operated by Green Man which resonate with the Kyrgyzstani economy. This was popular and well received and has created positive change and long term benefits particularly to the creative, hospitality, film and tourism sector in Kyrgyzstan. Fiona also suggested an economic model to generate income into communities which would develop the supply chain, and generate income and jobs. This created a great deal of interest in government representatives involved in regeneration." 

"One short visit by Green Man to Bishkek exceeded our expectations and created a number of opportunities across creative but also economic sectors too. Culture has long been used to connect Britain to other countries, but historically this has been an arts offer at distance from the economy. In the past key business leaders may well have primarily been interested in classical arts, but times have moved on and those decision makers are also interested in successful contemporary culture, and the celebrity and business opportunities they bring. Green Man's association lifted this event into a more celebrity and business experience which not only brought together the best and brightest of Kyrgyzstan's creatives but also leaders of industry and government.

The profile of the event opened doors to conversations with Kyrgyz political leaders about the economic benefits of an open regulatory environment, and helped us to grow our networks. This led to at least one multi-million export deal under negotiation that will bring money back to the UK economy and take a Kyrgyz product to millions of new customers worldwide. Working with Kyrgyz people in the sector, we’ve built on that event to launch a constructive policy dialogue up to Prime Minister level and I’m confident that the changes this will bring about can drive more shared prosperity for the Kyrgyz and for the UK. I am confident that this model of combining business and contemporary culture, if curated to fit within the values and challenges of countries, can be used to engage with other emerging markets where Britain wishes to develop networks. Green Man embodies the best in contemporary Welsh and British values and proved to be a fantastic ambassador for our country." 

11 February 2025