With growing evidence of the benefits of doing business in Welsh and offering bilingual services, companies got together in Caernarfon this week to talk best practice and celebrate recent successes over breakfast.

Coinciding with Gwynedd Business Week, event organiser Business Wales, the Welsh Government’s business support service, was keen to bring together partners, business advisers and local businesses to showcase Welsh language business support.

The event at Tŷ Castell in Caernarfon follows the success of a recent Business Wales campaign designed to promote their Welsh medium support.

Dafydd Evans, North Wales Regional Manager for Business Wales, said:

“Our business breakfast this week was a great opportunity to meet partners and clients to celebrate their achievements and to showcase our Welsh language services. Our campaign to raise awareness of our Welsh medium support was a first for Business Wales and as a result we have seen an increase in take-up of the service.”

Three businesses that have benefited from Business Wales’ Welsh language services are Tŷ Castell tapas bar in Caernarfon; Bragdy Mona, a brand-new brewery based on Anglesey; and Balwns a bespoke balloon company from Llanrug. All three took part in the recent campaign and were featured as case studies promoting Welsh language business support.

Huw Jones, one of the directors and founders of Bragdy Mona, said:

“Accessing support services in Welsh when setting-up the brewery was important to us. We’re all Welsh speakers and will be offering our customers a bilingual service with Welsh a key feature of our brand and packaging – so to deal with Business Wales in Welsh was natural for us.”

Roland Evans, one of the owners of Tŷ Castell, added:

“When we contacted Business Wales, we wanted to conduct our discussions in Welsh. This was possible throughout the whole process from the planning stages to finding what other help was available for new businesses like ours. We had significant support right from the beginning, so we were pleased to have taken part in the campaign to raise awareness for Business Wales’ Welsh language support services.”

Speaking at the breakfast, Dafydd Evans said: