Author: Rhys Gregory

Work to repair and strengthen one of Wales’ most historic buildings is to start next week, Powys County Council has said. Powys County Council has been overseeing repair works on the Grade I listed Old Market Hall building in Llanidloes. The first phase of the works were completed earlier this year. Further structural repairs, which will include the use of new technology to strengthen the stability of the building, will now be carried out after the council received listed building consent. The application for listed building consent was submitted by Hughes Architects on behalf of the council. The work, which…

The Winter Fair is an important event to showcase the best of rural Wales and discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the agriculture sector especially in responding to the climate and nature emergencies, Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths has said. The Minister will be at the showground in Llanelwedd today and has reiterated the climate and nature emergencies are the biggest threat to the agriculture sector and has emphasised the important role farmers have to play. The Minister said: “It is great to be back in Llanelwedd after a very enjoyable Royal Welsh Show in the summer. “The Winter Fair…

Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing Lynne Neagle, and Chair of the Food Standards Agency, Professor Susan Jebb, welcome the significant improvement in hygiene ratings for Welsh food businesses on the 10th anniversary of mandatory display of food hygiene ratings. 71% of Welsh food businesses now have the top hygiene rating of 5 – a jump from 44% from 10 years ago – making it the highest on record in Wales. In 2013, Wales became the first country in the UK to make it a legal requirement to display hygiene rating stickers in prominent places, like front doors and…

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…