Author: Rhys Gregory

An exciting mixture of free BBC events has been added to the Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye 2024 programme, adding to the line-up of more than 600 events, 23 May–2 June 2024. Taking place in the Exchange Marquee, set in the centre of the free-to-enter Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye site, BBC events offer a dynamic blend of live show recordings and workshops from BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Academy, and BBC Hereford and Worcester. BBC Radio 4 kicks off the schedule of free events as Clive Anderson presents Saturday night hit Loose Ends, while award-winning satire show Dead Ringers will bring…

From vinyl, coffee and jewellery shops to restaurants, bars and art galleries, dozens of traders are at the heart of High Street’s ongoing transformation in Swansea city centre. Over £100m is being invested in the area thanks to a combination of schemes being led by Swansea Council, Coastal Housing and other organisations. Examples include a council scheme to bring the Palace Theatre back to life and Coastal Housing’s plans to expand its Urban Village development which already includes a range of office, retail and hospitality businesses. Among the organisations based on High Street is 4TheRegion, which has now had a…

A £300,000 campaign has been launched to encourage businesses in Wales’s Welsh-speaking heartlands to use the language to boost their bottom line. Bwrlwm ARFOR – bwrlwm means buzz or chatter – is reaching out to companies and businesses, from village shops to multi-million pound operations, across the four counties with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers. It is part of the £11 million Welsh Government ARFOR Two scheme that’s targeting the Welsh strongholds of Ynys Môn, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire to use the language to boost entrepreneurship and economic development. The aim is to create opportunities for young people and…

Housing market activity has improved across key measures in the first quarter of 2024 including sales activity, house price growth and the supply of homes for sale, which is a fifth higher than last year. This is according to Zoopla, the leading UK property website’s latest monthly House Price Index. Sales activity continues to build momentum New sales agreed are 9% higher than a year ago, with 7% more home sales agreed over Q1 2024 vs Q1 2023. This trend is encouraging more sellers to list their homes for sale with 20% more homes for sale compared to this time…

The team at Pembrokeshire Chilli Farm, renowned for its fiery range of chilli-based products, have experienced a significant surge in sales and enquiries following its appearance on Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen on March 9th. This surge underscores the farm’s expanding influence in the hot sauce market and its dedication to high-quality, locally produced ingredients. In the weeks after being featured on Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen, a weekly cooking program that shines a light on the finest British ingredients, the Welsh business has reported a 165% increase in online sales for their hot sauces compared to the same period the previous…

Twenty eight of the world’s best young singers are vying for a prestigious international prize at a top festival in North Wales. Competitors from as far afield as Australia, India, China, Singapore and the USA are aiming to win the  Pendine International Voice of the Future competition at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. Organisers say they’re delighted by the exceptional standard of entries in the Pendine International Voice of the Future competition, sponsored by the Pendine Park care group via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT) which supports arts and community activities. The final will take place on Saturday, July 6, …

Friends and family of a man paralysed in a diving accident are coming together next month in an epic bid to get him to the summit of South Wales’s highest mountain. Jon Hobbs and a team of 28 supporters will attempt to get up and down Pen y Fan on April 6 to raise money for Spinal Research – the UK’s leading charity funding research into function restoring treatments for paralysis after a spinal cord injury. Jon’s life changed in an instant when, aged just 22, he dived into a swimming pool on the first morning of a holiday with…

When Beyoncé became the first black woman to top the Billboard Hot Country chart last month, it was hailed as a breakthrough moment for country music – and undisputable confirmation that the genre was truly having ‘a moment’. Now, Cardiff Bay’s Tiger Yard is set to ride the country music wave on Saturday, June 1st as it plays host to a brand-new event, ‘One Night in Tigerville.’ Showcasing the best of Nashville’s country music hits, the event will be headlined by One Night in Nashville, a phenomenal live band renowned for their electrifying performances of country music’s greatest hits. From toe-tapping…

Ameco Leisure Group, a third generation family-run business, has officially opened its latest new restaurant and bar in Mumbles. With panoramic sea views, On the Rocks is a 150 cover bar and restaurant with a 20 metre long dining terrace overlooking Swansea Bay.  The £1 million investment has been part-funded by a £470,000 loan from the Development Bank of Wales and a grant of £116,000 from Visit Wales. Currently open Wednesday to Sunday On the Rocks is located in the former rowing club and serves high-quality local produce. Employing 10 full-time and up to 40 part-time people, it is the…

Tesco, the UK’s leading supermarket and NatWest, the largest UK bank for business and one of the largest for the farming sector, have today launched a new discounted climate and sustainable finance scheme for 1,500 of the retailer’s farmers, providing them with preferential rates on finance to help them switch to sustainable farming methods, including installing renewable energy sources, such as solar panels and wind turbines, and fossil fuel-free heating or cooling systems, such as heat pumps. The voluntary programme, which has been designed with farmers’ input, will see farmers who are part of Tesco’s Sustainable Farming Groups for beef,…