Author: Rhys Gregory

Nearly 200 Welsh entrepreneurs came together in Cardiff last week (Thursday 2 March) to hear from experts at eBay, Chambers Wales South East, South West and Mid, and Small Business Britain as part of an event designed to help them start and scale their businesses online. Hosted at the Sophia Gardens Cricket Ground, the event, which was organised and hosted by eBay, was the latest in its series of Business Roadshows. Each one aims to bring small business leaders together with seasoned experts and innovators to help them start, scale and navigate their way through the challenges and opportunities presented…

Seven independent cinemas across Wales will receive funding from Film Hub Wales to support their venues with rising costs this spring. As venues balance significant financial pressures, funds will be used to ensure that the best UK independent and international films continue to reach communities at affordable prices. At Cellb in Blaenau Ffestiniog, their energy bills have escalated by 700% in the last quarter. So this youth-led venue is getting creative to maintain the modern cinematic entertainment offer that the community knows and loves, at reasonable prices. They are redeveloping their Blaenau Vista Ffilm Club with specialist Q&A screenings such…

The company behind proposals to develop a world-class leisure destination at Kilvey Hill has announced a heavily discounted Swansea Resident’s Annual Pass in a bid to open up the hill for all to experience. Global leisure and tourism experts, Skyline Enterprises, says local residents will be offered an annual pass for just £40 for adults, with seniors and children priced at just £20 (children under five will be free). A family of four (two adults and two children) will cost £100. The pass will entitle residents to a year of unlimited rides on the proposed gondola (cable car) and access…

A brand-new store from footwear retailer Shoe Zone has opened in Swansea. The new store will offer a wide range of affordable shoe styles and brands, opening its doors with huge savings and opening offers. The new store is open 9.00 am-6.00 pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30 am-4.30 pm on Sundays. The new store on Oxford Street, Swansea is a new and larger premises for Shoe Zone and opens with many exciting offers, including an extra 20% off sale. With its new concept store, Shoe Zone in Swansea will now combine a selection of Shoe Zone’s own brands with…

A coalition of Welsh organisations have joined forces to call on the UK Government to end the freeze on the Local Housing Allowance. Members and supporters of the Homes for all Cymru coalition have called on the UK Government to end the freeze on the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) at its upcoming spring budget. The LHA is designed to provide people with enough support through the benefits system to afford the cheapest 30 per cent of housing in an area, adjusted for household composition. With LHA having been frozen since 2020, however, this is far from the case. New research…

On International Women’s Day 2023 (Wednesday 8 March), Aberystwyth University announced it is renaming one of its flagship academic buildings in honour of the first Welsh woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). Professor F. Gwendolen Rees (1906–1994) was a leading zoologist and a pioneer of parasitology at Aberystwyth. She also featured in British Vogue magazine in 1975 in a celebration of influential women in society. Her name will appear on the former Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) building on Penglais campus, now home to the Department of Life Sciences (DLS) which was…

On behalf of Marston’s PLC, business property adviser and pub specialist, Christie & Co, has been instructed to market a selection of 61 freehold pubs in England and Wales from the national pub company’s estate. The assets, which are a selection of Marston’s non-core properties, include a mix of leased, tenanted, retail and managed pubs, and are available to purchase individually, in small groups or as a group package. Noel Moffitt, Senior Director – Corporate Pubs & Restaurants at Christie & Co, who is managing the sales process comments, “This is a fantastic opportunity for individuals and multiple operators to…

​​​​​​​A number of treasures from the vaults of Swansea Council’s libraries service will on public display this week. They’ll include items from the service’s historical collections including materials from the founding collections and the 1887 opening of the Alexandra Road Library by four-time Prime Minister William Gladstone. There’ll be works from historically significant local writers such as 19th century novelist Ann of Swansea and novelist and businesswoman Amy Dillwyn. Other items will include a Dylan Thomas Omnibus illustrated by artist Ceri Richards, newspapers and historical maps and wartime memorabilia. Swansea Central Library’s Tales from the Vaults event will celebrate the…

The date has been set for the second annual Mayor of Neath Port Talbot Citizen Awards! Following 2019’s hugely successful inaugural event, the awards ceremony, which recognises unsung heroes from across Neath Port Talbot, will take place at Margam Country Park’s beautiful Orangery on Friday, April 21st, 2023. The event’s return was held up by the Covid pandemic but with headline sponsors Tata Steel UK and John Pye Auctions plus other sponsors on board, a call is now going out to those who know of deserving groups or individuals and would like to nominate them for awards to contact us…

The next stage of Pembroke’s South Quay redevelopment project is set to take place in the coming weeks. The Henry Tudor Trust and Pembrokeshire County Council are working in partnership with the aim of delivering a high quality visitor attraction and community hub at the historic and prominent South Quay site, which is adjacent to Pembroke Castle. The new facility will comprise a fantastic new attraction for visitors and local people, exploring the story behind the birth of the world-famous Tudor Dynasty, within a stone’s throw of the birthplace of its first king, Henry Tudor. It will also include a…