Author: Rhys Gregory

Cardiff Bus customers are being alerted to route diversions as a result of the Cardiff 5K taking place Sunday 30th April. The event will mean diversions to routes 21, 23, 24 and 25. Services 21 & 23 departing the city centre from 14:37 until the last bus will see route diversions between Gabalfa Interchange and Pantmawr Road where buses will operate via Manor Way and Northern Avenue. Service 24 departing the city from 14:50 until the last bus will operate its normal route to Gabalfa Interchange, diverting via Manor Way, Northern Avenue, Old Church Road, and Penlline Road, and then will…

More primary school children than ever before across England and Wales are being given the chance to take part in an entrepreneurial challenge that will introduce money management skills from an early age. Principality Building Society and Young Enterprise have teamed up to deliver the Fiver Challenge initiative for another three years. The scheme invites students aged 5-11 years to create, research and plan a business with just £5. Principality has sponsored and provided funding for the Fiver Challenge in Wales since 2020. It has now expanded its support for the scheme across England, allowing even more children the opportunity…

Business confidence in Wales rose six points during April to 32%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. Companies in Wales reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up nine points at 42%.  When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, up three points to 22%, this gives a headline confidence reading of 32%. Welsh businesses identified their top target areas for growth in the next six months as diversifying into new markets (35%), evolving their offer (23%) and investing in sustainability (22%) The Business Barometer, which surveys 1,200 businesses monthly, provides early signals…

Following a multi-million-pound site investment, Wales’ leading soft drinks company Radnor Hills has opened its expanded facilities in Powys, mid Wales. To mark its opening, Lesley Griffiths, Wales’ Rural Affairs Minister visited the Knighton site yesterday. The investment has been used to build new production facilities and a quality assurance laboratory as well as to create a new £2.5 million state-of-the-art office complex for staff and a conference facility from an old agricultural building on the site. Upgrades have been made to a number of lines in the factory including a new £750,000 labeller and conveyer system. A £4.5 million…

A mural found in Cardiff created by the mysterious Glaswegian Street artist, The Rebel Bear, is being shown at Blackwater Gallery on the site of the parking dispute which inspired the piece. The artwork, which appeared on hoardings on Ferry Road in July 2022, was painted by the ‘Scottish Banksy’ in support of Cerys Gemma, a disabled woman who lives in the city. Cerys is trying to overturn parking charges for using disabled spaces outside her flat in Prospect Place, Grangetown. Like Banksy, the Rebel Bear’s identity remains a mystery, and they reportedly paint while dressed in a bear costume.…

Welsh football has won a prestigious honour after the Football Association of Wales was named the Sport Organisation of the Year at the UK Sport Industry Awards 2023, during a ceremony in London on 27 April.  The Sport Organisation of the Year Award comes as the FAW is nearing the halfway point of its 2021-2026 strategic plan – Our Wales – and reflects the incredible work of the volunteers, clubs, staff, and partners from across Welsh football. The Sport Industry Awards celebrate the work that is done around the sector from world-leading events of all formats and scale, or using sport as…

Design, fit-out and refurbishment specialist Paramount has strengthened its position in the property sector by adding construction to its set of core services. In a move that “signals the start of an exciting new era”, commercial and residential construction activity will propel Paramount towards the £40-million turnover mark. To drive forward the new ‘Build’ offering, which heralds a new phase in Paramount’s exceptional growth, the company’s leadership team has been boosted by key appointments. Paramount’s board of directors has been bolstered with Paul Thomas in a new post as Construction Director and in conjunction with Commercial Director Dimitri Tsakiris will…

Eligible students in school sixth forms or college settings are reminded that increased support is now available from the Student Finance Wales Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) scheme. Starting from this month, the payment will increase from £30 per week to £40. The weekly grant, which is paid every two weeks, is designed to support 16 to 18-year-olds from low-income households with further education costs, such as transport. Students may be eligible to receive the EMA award if they: are above the compulsory school age; will be aged 16, 17 or 18 years old on or before 31 August; normally live in…

A Cardiff landlady has been ordered to pay just over £3,000 for failing to comply with the licensing conditions for a property that was being rented out as a House of Multiple Occupation. The rented property, 50 Ninian Road in Plasnewydd, is a three storey, Victorian, terraced house made up of eight bedsits with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. Mrs Nayer Javedfrom Penylan Place, Cardiff pleaded guilty to one offence on October 13th, 2022. The management company, Umbrellas Homes Ltd and the sole director Mr Farshid Mansouri from Woodville Road, Cardiff, also pleaded guilty to several separate offences under the…

There was a time when we all hoped to be in a job for life but how many can claim today to have worked for the same employer – doing more or less the same tasks – for the past 50 years? Step forward Mark West, alias ‘Westy’, who retires this week, 51 years since he began work as an impressionable 15-year-old trainee gardener in Cardiff Council’s Parks department. Mark said: “I’ve loved this job from the day I started on £7 a week and I still love it just as much now. Even when I’m not working, I’m looking…