UK Steel Enterprise's track record in Gwent is already most impressive. In the last two years £700,000 has been invested in local companies creating hundreds of jobs in a range of companies.

An example in recent months was the speed with which UKSE was able to act to help Newport's Precision Cast Components (Mouldings).

PCC managing director Mark Isaac saw the chance to move into the phenolic mouldings sector, creating thirty jobs in the process, widening his firm's range of services to a worldwide base of customers.

The £750,000 package was raised in the shortest possible time, underpinned by a £150,000 loan/equity package from UKSE's technology and enterprise fund, which brings European money to fund Welsh businesses.

UKSE believes that indigenous Gwent companies have an untapped capacity to expand, and create quality jobs.

UKSE's Mark Hislop said: "The area has a worldwide reputation for the successful integration of inward investment projects. These international companies are supported by a mature network of local suppliers, many of who have grown up specifically to provide for their needs.

"I believe that Gwent has the capacity for expansion. This has been used up in other parts of the UK, which are now becoming overheated with property prices too high for workers to live nearby and costs spiralling out of control.

"With a positive attitude towards investment and confidence in the abilities of our entrepreneurs and the skills of the workforce, Gwent can take enormous strides forward, and we at UKSE are determined to do all we can to help that process."