August is a time for taking stock. While businesses in Gwent don’t shut down completely, as they do on the continent, there is certainly a noticeable change of pace which can be the perfect opportunity for people to look back at the year so far and to plan ahead for the months to come.

For me, this summer has brought with it a milestone birthday and I have taken it as an opportunity to reflect but also to look ahead.

I find that I am optimistic about the future, as are many of the businesspeople I meet in Wales through my work with the IoD. It is meeting and talking to these businesspeople which inspires me and encourages me in my role as a voice of the business sector in Wales.

Welsh politicians will almost certainly be taking the summer months as an opportunity to regroup before they start campaigning again, this time for the Welsh Government elections in 2016.

Election outcomes are an important issue for us at the IoD. While we are apolitical as an organisation we have an active part to play in politics by speaking to parties and identifying policies that benefit businesses here in Wales. Our constituency is the business community!

In the months ahead we will be engaging with our members and the wider business community to identify what they deem to be the important issues of the day and we will be taking an active part in the debate across all parties ahead of the May elections.

At the moment there are a lot investment projects in Wales, and in Newport in particular, including The Wales International Convention Centre, and in the summer months we will be continuing our engagement with members and officials on these key projects.

We will be working with the government at both ends of the M4 to ensure that any investment is to the benefit of Wales. We will continue to focus our efforts on the city regions, city deal and infrastructure investment to name just three areas of concern and interest to our members.

So, while it might seem somewhat quiet at the moment, the work goes on. I urge businesspeople to take advantage of this ‘quiet time’ to rest and reset so that they’re raring to go in September and see out the rest of the year on a high.

Wherever you’re spending your holidays, I hope you have a great time.