Evidence · Experience · Implementation
Business, public policy and economic development across the UK, informed by practical experience with small and medium-sized organisations.
Rooted in Wales. Looking across the UK and beyond for lessons that can be put to work.
About Frontier
New publication series
A Framework for a Stronger Welsh SME Economy.
Three reports and an accompanying briefing examine how Wales can broaden enterprise, connect firms to capability and retain more of the value they create.
Explore the seriesFrontier Briefing
A Cooperative Strategy for Economic Transformation in Wales.
How co-operative enterprise could play a larger role in economic development, drawing on lessons from Mondragon and Emilia-Romagna.
Explore Dragonomics
An economic framework
Stronger local economies need more than isolated interventions. Frontier examines how places can broaden their enterprise base, connect firms to capability and retain more of what successful businesses create.
Broaden the enterprise base and enable ambition.
Help independent firms borrow capability and scale through relationships.
Retain or recycle productive capability through succession, ownership change and successful exits.
The cumulative objective: accumulating indigenous productive capacity.
New publications
The Framework Briefing introduces the argument. Three Frontier Reports then examine enterprise creation and progression, SME ecosystems, and the retention or recycling of productive capability in depth.
Frontier Briefing
A Framework for a Stronger Welsh SME Economy.
Frontier Report · 01
Creating Businesses, Creating Employers.
Frontier Report · 02
The Missing Middle.
Frontier Report · 03
Keeping Value in Wales.
New briefing · Updated October 2026
Frontier Briefing
A Cooperative Strategy for Economic Transformation in Wales
What would it take to make co-operative enterprise a mainstream part of Welsh economic development? Lessons from Mondragon and Emilia-Romagna, with practical proposals for finance, skills and business growth.
Connecting the care of historic buildings with skilled employment and productive new uses.
Lessons from international research on helping smaller businesses develop and strengthen the wider economy.
Exploring the role of small-scale manufacturing in local enterprise and economic development.
The everyday economy
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in both the private and third sectors create employment, provide essential services, develop skills and retain capability within places.
Frontier’s understanding comes from working with these organisations every day across the UK. We examine what they need to start, develop and endure, and how their experience and capabilities can contribute to regional economic prosperity.
Engage Frontier
Organisations can engage Frontier for business planning, consultancy and advisory work, workshops, speaking and structured stakeholder work.