Doing business
Doing business in Cardiff is much like doing business in any other part of the UK – with one difference. The establishment of the Welsh Parliament here has revitalised national pride and with it the local economy. In the slipstream of the new parliament has come a whole host of business opportunities ranging from political lobbying to catering for the burgeoning workforce. Look westwards to Cardiff if you’re involved in financial services – ING Direct, Black Horse Finance and AA Insurance are among companies established here – bioscience, engineering or the creative arts. With BBC and HTV entrenched here, Cardiff is the prime driver of creative Wales.

Hip restaurant
The exterior of Le Gallois in Romilly Crescent, Canton, may be fairly ordinary, but the metropolitan interior of polished wood surfaces and yellow and ochre walls houses one of Wales’ most distinguished eateries. Cardiff-born chef Padrig Jones creates a pleasing blend of Welsh and French cuisine created from impeccably sourced ingredients. The meat and seafood comes from Wales; offal, poultry, wine and cheese from France.

Happening bar
Many a business deal has been instigated in the Laguna Bar at the Park Plaza Hotel, but you’re just as likely to bump into a Welsh rugby international celebrating after a win at the Millennium Stadium. There are high-backed booths for those intimate conversations of a business or personal nature and the bar has  hosted, more than once, fashion parades. 

Must-see sight
Rising above Cardiff Bay like a huge snail clad in Welsh slate, the Wales Millennium Centre is the symbol of the new Cardiff. Completed in 2004, the building is nothing if not distinctive and more than 1.5million visitors have already passed through the doors of what is part meetings centre, part museum, part entertainment and part shopping centre. 

Getting downtown
By the standards of some of its UK counterparts, arriving at Cardiff airport is a  doddle. The airport is close to Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan, 12 miles to the west of the city. Trains operate direct to Cardiff Central station hourly on weekdays (every two hours at weekends) and the Airport Xpress service (the X91) offers a rapid bus link to the same destination. Taxis operate a fixed-fare system 24 hours a day. The fare to the city centre is approximately £24 and cars can be booked in advance on 01466 711747 or by emailing
cardiff@checkercars.com.

Getting there
There are now good air services to Cardiff from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Anglesey, Jersey, Belfast, Dublin, Galway and Cork, and internationally from Paris, Nantes, Amsterdam, Geneva and Prague. The city is also accessible by rail from most parts of the UK, served by

Arriva Trains Wales, Central Trains, First Great Western and Virgin Cross Country. The fastest journey time from London Paddington to Cardiff Central is around two hours. There are also good road links with the M4 feeding into the country’s motorway network.

The carbon cost
A single flight from Edinburgh to Cardiff will cover 1,010 kilometres and emit 0.1 tonnes of CO2. Offset this with The CarbonNeutral Company for £1.40.

INSIDER’S TIP
“Cardiff is a great place in which to do business. You have the blend of the old – Cardiff Castle – and the new, with the Millennium Stadium.  There’s great entrepreneur-ship, which has risen on the back of what is, in the nicest way, an incestuous community. People are proud of their Cardiff background  and pull together to make business work.”
Will Allen, Sales and Marketing Director, Ideal Business Show

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