South East Wales has already proven itself a great venue for international events, as evidenced by the 2010 Ryder Cup, and the Celtic Manor Resort is pivotal to that growing reputation.

The arrival of the NATO conference in 2014 proves that the Ryder Cup wasn’t a one-off.

It also shows that we have the infrastructure, organisational abilities and workforce to deliver events on this scale.

The continuing investment in the Celtic Manor Resort demonstrates, I believe, the confidence that the resort group has in the potential of South East Wales as a venue for large conventions for international organisations.

The news about the planned further development of convention facilities at the Resort, with enhanced parking facilities, is another positive sign.

Not only will the development stage bring construction jobs in the area, there will be extra opportunities for hospitality staff and local businesses to provide goods and services.

The immeasurable value of such developments is the growth of confidence across the South East Wales community generally.

There is nothing more people, whether business related or not, like to see than things actually happening on the ground and nothing is more visible than that of construction and infrastructure projects.

Seeing the redevelopment of Newport city centre negates so many of negative comments of those who said it would not happen.

With all that is happening locally you can’t help but feel a corner has been turned.

Too often we have the tendency to look at others and expect them to change things for us. However, at the heart of it is the fact that we are really the ones who can makes things happen.

The South East Wales region is a gateway not just to the wider UK but also to the rest of the world – it’s the reason we based our business here in Langstone and it has allowed us to develop opportunities for delivering VAT services not just UK-wide but across Europe as well. It is also the reason why our region will continue to draw in businesses.

Add the proposed Circuit of Wales Development into the equation and the opportunities expand everyone’s horizon.