Author: Rhys Gregory

A 37-year-old from Maesteg has discussed how an apprenticeship has given him a new lease of life after he left school with no qualifications to pursue a career as a professional snooker player. James Matthewman is supporting the ‘Genius Decision’ campaign this Apprenticeship Week Wales, and hoping to encourage more people who are looking to upskill, gain qualifications or change careers later in life to consider an apprenticeship. Despite enjoying school, James focussed on becoming a professional snooker player when he was younger, which saw him travel the world competing in countries such as Latvia and Russia. After struggling to…

The average price of a home in Wales fell to £234,086 at the end 2023 following continued economic and financial pressures, making this the fourth consecutive quarter that prices have fallen in Wales. The figures have been released from Principality Building Society’s Wales House Price Index for Q4 2023 (October-December), which demonstrates the rise and fall in house prices in each of the 22 local authorities in Wales. House prices in Wales are now down 6% – or £15,000 – when compared to the same period the previous year when the peak price of £249,076 was recorded. Despite this being…

Wales’ most senior healthcare scientist has taken on a new role to help Wales become a world leader in cancer outcomes. Dr Rob Orford, who has been Chief Scientific Adviser for Health for Wales since 2017, will become chief executive officer of Moondance Cancer Initiative in April 2024.  Currently a member of the National Diagnostics Group, UK Genomics Board and UK Life Science Vision Delivery Board, Dr Orford led the Welsh Government scientific and technical response to Covid-19.  He was recently recognised in the New Year Honours list 2024, receiving an OBE for services to health sciences and evidence in…

A book loving five year old boy is “bringing joy” to the residents in a care home by reading exciting adventure stories to them. Young Harri Shone is a firm favourite at Pendine Park’s Highfield care home in Wrexham where he regularly pops in on his way home from school Harri just loves to read, whether it is imaginative stories or non-fiction, and says it’s his number one hobby. So, he takes along his schoolbooks to read stories out loud to residents with whom he has become big mates. The visits have become so successful that Pendine is now hoping…

Environmental consultancy Tyler Grange has just opened the doors to its new office in Cardiff. It’s the firm’s seventh UK location. The investment supports the growth of B Corp four-day week firm – expert in arboriculture, ecology and landscape planning – and enables Tyler Grange to work even more closely with Welsh architects, housebuilders and developers to deliver their projects with optimal benefits to people and the environment. And the firm is on the look-out for like minded ecologists, landscape architects and arboriculturists – who believe that a balance between purpose and profit is very much possible – to join the new award-winning team there. Operating from Cathedral…

Some energy suppliers are using rocketing standing charges as a way to inflate bills for small firms, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). In its response to Ofgem’s recent consultation on the standing charges system, FSB flagged fresh complaints from members of staggering rises – up to 12-fold increases – in the fixed fee set by energy suppliers regardless of energy usage. While standing charges are capped for household customers, they are now on a second year of hikes for business customers of the same energy suppliers providing the same electricity. Small businesses are often left with no…

Event organisers, Run 4 Wales, are gifting 100 free spaces in the ABP Newport Wales Half Marathon and 10K to help people improve their health and wellbeing. The exciting festival of running will be returning to the city on Sunday 28th April and will include a new half marathon option for the first time, alongside the full marathon and 10K distances. Run 4 Wales believes in the power of mass participation and the ability that events like the Newport Marathon have to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation by inspiring people to take up running and make positive…

Hawkstone Commercials is celebrating after being recognised as one of the UK’s top 100 SME businesses in the UK. From thousands of entries across every sector, Hawkstone Commercials has been ranked 55th overall in the Elite Business 100 (EB100). Hawkstone Commercials will celebrate at the awards evening on March 17th in London and be included in the EB100 digital guide and online directory with a viewership of over half a million people. The EB100 are the businesses to watch for the future. It recognises excellence in the SME community and ranks them across a broad range of criteria, from their…

A TRANSFORMATIVE social mobility charity celebrating its 10th anniversary will support and educate even more young people across north east Wales in 2024. WeMindTheGap has received additional funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to extend its WeDiscover, WeGrow and WeBelong provision from January onwards. The programmes are backed by Wrexham and Flintshire councils, and supported by Coleg Cambria. WeDiscover is a virtual programme, for participants aged 16 to 25 years, providing them with the opportunity to discover more about themselves and the world beyond their front door through a combination of interactive group activities, dedicated one-to-one mentoring and the…

Swansea University is set to run a unique new course aimed at getting the best out of disadvantaged people and inspire them to take a different path in life. The university has teamed up with Bristol-based initiative Street2Boardroom for the five-week course called Enterprise and Creativity: Entrepreneurship in Practice which launches this autumn.  It aims to not only provide the learners with new skills and knowledge but also to give them first-hand experience of university life. There are 15 to 20 places available, and it is open to people from all walks of life, including those considered at risk of…