Author: Rhys Gregory

After a five-year closure and £1.4m major revamp by Heineken-owned Star Pubs & Bars, Cardiff residents and Cardiff Gate workers and visitors have a reason to celebrate this week as The Unicorn, near Cardiff Gate Retail Park, officially opens tomorrow 26th October at 12.00 noon. Local political and community representatives, who have been keen for the pub to reopen, met the new licensee, Gemma Morgan, and were given a sneak preview of The Unicorn.  The upgraded once-derelict building has been transformed into a fantastic country style pub with a more contemporary look and feel, serving great food and drink and…

A global aluminium recycling giant has announced a £30 million investment at its Wrexham plant to create 30 new jobs and double its recycling capacity to over 100,000 tons a year. The planned expansion by Norsk Hydro was announced at a campaign event to help secure an £80 million Investment Zone for Wrexham and Flintshire. The Norwegian-owned company was hosting a visit by members of the steering group leading the drive for Investment Zone status. The consortium includes the North Wales Business Council, Wrexham and Flintshire councils, Wrexham University and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Broughton, and is chaired…

A home builder has secured full planning permission to bring 93 new homes to Carmarthen. Persimmon Homes West Wales will construct the properties on land north-west of the old St David’s Hospital site in the town, off Ffordd Pendre, which is allocated for housing in Carmarthenshire’s Local Development Plan. As part of the housebuilder’s commitment to the local community, 11 of the properties will be designated as affordable housing for local people. The site will also include SUDS attenuation ponds and drainage features, and active travel routes. As part of the development, a play area – which will include balance…

More than 200 new food and drink products by Welsh businesses will be on show at BlasCymru/TasteWales, Welsh Government Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd Lesley Griffiths has announced. Organised by Food & Drink Wales (Welsh Government) and held bi-annually, this year’s event will be the fourth international food and drink trade event for Welsh companies. Featuring thousands of meetings and hundreds of industry professionals from across the globe, the event is expected to result in millions of pounds worth of sales for producers. This year’s event features some of Wales’ leading celebrities, who have branched out into…

Cardiff Bus is offering travel advice to customers ahead of Halloween and Bonfire night. The bus operator is alerting customers to service diversions that will come into effect from approximately 17:00 on Tuesday 31st October for Halloween and on Sunday 5th November for Bonfire Night. These diversions will be put in place for the safety of both customers and staff, in collaboration with South Wales Police. Route alterations will apply to City Circle services 1 and 2, along with services 11, 13,44, 45, 49, 50, and 102. Full information on the route diversions can be viewed on the Cardiff Bus…

‘Socially responsible procurement, increased collaboration, greater community impact,’ these are just some of the core objectives of Ardal, a new innovative procurement service launched by Cardiff Council which will deliver its collaborative procurement partnership with Monmouthshire County Council, Torfaen County Borough Council, and the Vale of Glamorgan Council. The new collaboration has been formed to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving procurement landscape and to provide solutions in line with Welsh Government legislation, including the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023. Ardal will harness the skills, knowledge and…

An artisan food company has clinched a major new listing to supply a top supermarket chain with Welsh gourmet crisps. Asda is now stocking three varieties from the Jones o Gymru 150g share bag range from Bwydydd Madryn (Madryn Foods) at 28 of its stores across Wales. Madryn has teamed up with two other iconic Welsh brands for the seasoning, Gwynedd-based South Caernarfon Creameries for the Dragon Cheddar Cheese and Onion hand cooked crisps and Halen Môn, from Anglesey, for the Sea Salt and Sea Salt and Vinegar flavours. All the crisps are made using Welsh potatoes from places like…

A former banking high flyer who returned to her roots in North Wales is on a mission to build 1,000 new homes. In a stellar career in the City of London, Helen Pittaway played a central role in mega, multi billion pound deals like the sale of Manchester United Football Club to the American Glazer family and she’s now applying her skills and financial acumen as the new chair of housing association Cartrefi Conwy. It’s brought life full circle for the mother-of-two who was raised in a former council house on the Elwy estate in Rhos-on-Sea which is now run…

Drop Bear Beer Co., the ground-breaking alcohol-free brewery based in Swansea, is rewriting the rules of the industry with its dynamic female married couple, Joelle and Sarah Drummond, who exemplify the spirit of ‘Work Hard and Play Hard’. Supported by a generous £2.1 million investment from Henry Engelhardt, the former CEO of Admiral, amongst 800 other investors, Drop Bear is poised to realise its vision of establishing itself as the first alcohol free brewery in Wales. Since its founding in 2019, Drop Bear has rapidly become one of the most prominent names in the UK’s alcohol-free craft beer scene. Joelle…

A tattooed vicar who loves make-up and false eyelashes is aiming to give viewers a slice of TV heaven on the Welsh version of Gogglebox. The Rev. Kirstie Griffiths, the unconventional cleric from Carmarthen, is among the newcomers on the second series of the hit S4C show, Gogglebocs Cymru. Joining her on the sofa is her sister, Annaly Jones, 42, who’s also from Carmarthen. Fifty-year-old Kirstie, who is married to a professional tattooist, got her first tattoo at the age of 35, a decade before deciding to train as a vicar, and enjoys nothing better than dressing herself up in…