How Life Sciences Hub Wales uses The Data City to support data-led growth

When working to strengthen the life sciences sector in Wales, the team faced a common challenge. It wasn’t always clear where to focus.

Life Sciences Hub Wales needed intelligence on new and existing companies, clear insight into future growth potential, and a better understanding of regional and sub-sector ecosystems. They wanted to move beyond working with companies simply because of existing relationships or visibility and instead evaluate businesses on their actual merits and growth potential, using a structured and data-led framework.

As Gareth Healey, Head of Economic Development explains, the goal was not just to understand where a company had come from, but where it might be going.

“The Data City is a key source of information for us to understand companies and emerging economic sectors. The Data City enables us to get a much better understanding of where a company may be going, rather than just where it’s come from…“

Gareth Healey, Head of Economic Development, Life Sciences Hub Wales

Life Sciences Hub Wales embedded The Data City into its internal workflows as an intelligence source. The team regularly integrates company-level data into its own systems while using the platform to quickly assess financial performance, leadership, sector classification and Welsh employment footprint.

The data underpins an internal framework to assess growth potential and scalability. Rather than relying solely on funding history or visibility, the team now takes a structured, data-led approach to evaluate 13 different characteristics to determine priority for potential support.

The platform is also used to map regional and sub-sector activity across Wales, revealing concentrations of revenue and identifying structural gaps. This enables more focussed economic interventions and stronger, evidence-based discussions with Welsh Government.

Beyond day-to-day use, Life Sciences Hub Wales is working with The Data City to redefine how the Welsh life sciences sector is identified in data, ensuring emerging, AI-driven and supply-chain companies are properly captured. This is building a clearer, more dynamic picture of how the ecosystem has evolved and where it is heading.

The Data City has become a central data source for Life Sciences Hub Wales.

It supports the design of new economic development programmes, enables more targeted support for high-potential companies, and clearer identification of structural gaps within the sector. The team can now prioritise activity with greater confidence and engage with Welsh Government using evidence and insights.

Through a more rigorous, data-led approach to decision-making, Life Sciences Hub Wales has strengthened its ability to support scalable businesses and shape long-term sector growth.

The Data City supports how the organisation thinks about economic strategy in Life Sciences.

If you would like to find out more, visit Life Sciences Hub Wales.

“…Our relationship with The Data City is valuable, and their collaboration and support allow us to explore new ideas. When we speak to people or our stakeholders, it allows us to say: this is the data, and this is what it looks like in this sector or area. It’s become a central data source for me, helping strategic thinking about where we should focus.”

Gareth Healey, Head of Economic Development, Life Sciences Hub Wales