Author: Rhys Gregory

Preparations are well underway for the first intake of students who will study at the new, independent North Wales Medical School at Bangor University, the Minister for North Wales Lesley Griffiths said today as she visited the facility. In January the First Minister announced the Welsh Government would fund up to 140 students a year at the facility, and the first 80 are due to start in September next year. The new medical school for North Wales will admit and train hundreds of medical students in its first decade through both 5-year School and 4-year Graduate Entry routes, and will…

A recent initiative saw pupils from years 5 and 6 at Penllwyn Primary School take part in a planting project in their community. The pupils worked with Keep Wales Tidy to plant a range of daffodil bulbs at Penllwyn Circle.  Pupils learned to take care when planting that no worms were hurt, and recovered any that were accidentally dug up. Penllwyn Community Partnership organised the project, with sponsorship provided by Paul Horne Stonework. Years 5 and 6 teacher Amy Landrygan said “The children in Dosbarth Gwenyn enjoyed planting daffodils in their local community.” Andrew King, Project Officer at Keep Wales…

Hawkstone Commercials named as “Start-up Entrepreneurs of the Year – Wales” at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2023. Held Monday evening at the iconic Grosvenor Hotel in London with over 1,500 in attendance, Hawkstone Commercials secured the most prestigious business award in the UK in being named at Start-up Entrepreneurs of the Year. Previous winner James Watt, founder of BrewDog, said that winning was “better than winning the World Cup.” Steven Bartlett has gone as far as to dub the awards as “The Grammys of Entrepreneurship,” With a turnover approaching £20 million in the first eighteen months of trading, 14…

Locum tenens, from the Latin meaning “to hold the place of,” refers to physicians who temporarily fill in for other doctors on leave from their medical practices. For surgeons, locum tenens offers an appealing career path that provides flexibility and variety but also comes with unique challenges. In today’s healthcare landscape, the locum tenens lifestyle is becoming an increasingly popular option for surgeons seeking more control over their work-life balance. At the same time, if you’re a locum tenens surgeon, the transient nature of locum tenens can also have drawbacks that must be weighed carefully before pursuing this path. Flexibility and…

The rumbles of cement mixers and crunching of excavators have been called to you since childhood. You’ve spent weekends and summers enthusiastically sweltering on job sites, wearing sawdust, and sweat-like badges of honour. Your etched-in admiration for skilled craftsmanship drives dreams of managing major project buildouts yourself one day. If this depicts you, turning a lifelong construction passion into a thriving business could be your destiny. The industry seems well-positioned for entrepreneurs – with development ever-expanding and contractors in demand. However, challenges exist as well. Fierce competition, slim margins and high overhead can undermine even well-executed ventures. So how can…

The British Business Bank has launched its new £130 million Investment Fund for Wales this week, unlocking additional funding to help smaller businesses to prosper and thrive. The fund will drive sustainable economic growth by supporting new and growing businesses across the whole of Wales through investment strategies that best meet the needs of these firms. It includes a range of finance options with loans from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investments up to £5 million to help small and medium-sized businesses start up, scale up or stay ahead. The Bank’s Investment Fund for Wales will be the first…

Swansea University spin-out MedTech company CanSense has developed a simple blood test to screen patients presenting to their GP with potential symptoms of bowel cancer. The start-up has appointed a chairman to guide the company’s growth and development following a series of recent funding award wins. CanSense’s simple blood test will help improve patient outcomes through the early detection of bowel cancer and Ian Smith joins the organisation as a non-executive director and chairman. Ian has held several CEO and CFO roles in various technology sectors, in both venture capital backed and listed businesses and this extensive experience in company…

A BOOMING bathroom business is preparing to open new headquarters and create more jobs as part of a multi-million-pound expansion. Plumbworkz is putting the finishing touches to its 20,000 sqm warehouse and offices in Kinmel Bay, following refurbishment of its Rhuddlan showroom. Director Gary Hughes thanked FFP Solutions in St Asaph for helping to secure a financial package that enables the company to grow even further in the years ahead. Gary, from Abergele, launched the business in 2009, as a bathroom and kitchen fitter, before taking on his first premises in Rhuddlan. Having relocated to Saltney and then Llay he…

The final luxury holiday lodges at Bluestone National Park Resort have been handed over by main contractor SJ Roberts Construction at a ceremony marking the early completion of the resort’s £24m investment programme. A total of 80 platinum lodges have been delivered by SJ Roberts and its sister company, Lowfield Timber Frames, all of which have been built with sustainability at the heart of design. Constructed with high-quality sustainable timber frame kits, each of the lodges is heated via air source heat pumps and boast features that include stylish décor, high ceilings and their own private sunrooms. Speaking on the…

These new photos take you inside the major new office development taking shape at the former Oceana nightclub site in Swansea city centre. The photos show some of the rooms that will soon be transformed into office spaces, as well as some of the staircases, communal areas and glazing being installed in the seven-storey scheme. Other images include artist impressions that show how the inside and outside of the scheme will look, once complete. Once open and operational, several floors at the development, including the rooftop level, will benefit from views over Swansea city centre and Swansea Bay. Developed by…