Author: Rhys Gregory

A new pilot initiative set up by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) means that construction businesses can now get as much as 50 percent of their training costs subsidised. The subsidised training will allow workers to learn new skills, renew qualifications, and complete the mandatory training required for a variety of roles and trades – such as asbestos awareness, health and safety, and first aid qualifications. The employer network is a new 12-month initiative set up and funded by CITB and coordinated and delivered by local network groups across the regions, including Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, and…

A significant seven-figure investment by the Development Bank of Wales in Pembroke Dock-based Ledwood Engineering will help the 40-year old engineering company to leverage new opportunities in the renewable energy sector and emerging green economy. Established in 1983, the privately-owned business is one of the largest employers in South West Wales and provides specialist engineering, fabrication and construction services to the World’s leading energy, production and processing companies. Recent contract wins include a £50 million contract with GE Steam Power at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant along with Bylor, SABIC, wood, Phillips 66, Flogas, Spirit Energy and Prax…

A group of Swansea Bay pharmacies are leading the way in Wales with an inhaler recycling project which could help the fight against global warming. Each year thousands of empty plastic inhalers are sent with household waste to landfill or popped in plastic recycling containers after they’ve been used by patients with respiratory conditions like asthma. However these used inhalers are not completely empty. They still have residual gases in them which contribute to global warming. Now, as part of a trial, used inhalers are being disposed of in a greener way to stop these gases escaping. Eight pharmacies in…

Investing in social care in order to provide better pay for frontline staff would help relieve the dire NHS crisis in Wales. That’s the view of Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of Care Forum Wales, who said health boards and local authorities were significantly to blame for emergency because the fees they paid providers didn’t allow them to pay care home and domiciliary care workers well enough. She spoke out after the Welsh Government indicated that hospital patients could be discharged without the usual care packages being put in place. According to Ms Wimbury, something had to be done urgently…

Work has started on a £1 million extension at a distribution firm that’s gearing up for growth – creating 10 new jobs in the process. The additional warehouse space at the McCarthy Group on Wrexham Industrial Estate will create space for an extra 4,000 pallets. As well as increasing capacity by 18,000 square feet at their Elm Point HQ, the company, which currently employs 75 people, will also be doubling the size of the truck parking yard. The expansion comes just four years after their existing state-of-the-art warehouse and office complex was opened. Managing director Mike McCarthy decided to press…

A dedicated charity food bank which delivers over 70 parcels in and around Conwy every month has had a helping hand from one of Wales’s biggest food supply companies. Bags of Love/Bagiau Cariad was set up by parishioners at St Mary’s Church in the town three years ago at the height of the pandemic lockdown and today is stepping up its efforts as rocketing fuel and food bills put more and more families into difficulty. They have just received a helping hand from Harlech Foodservices, based in Criccieth and Chester and one of Wales’s biggest food distribution companies, who have…

AN award-winning organic beauty brand welcomed a new face ahead of further expansion in 2023. Leah Mullard is the new Head of Sales for the UK and International at Rhug Wild Beauty. Part of Rhug Estate, based near Corwen, the range is created from ingredients foraged on site and is widely recognised as one of the most sustainable, revolutionary names in the health and beauty arena. Having spent more than 25 years in the sector – including 10 years in Dubai – Leah is focused on growth nationwide and overseas, notably the Middle East, the US and Canada. Originally from…

A LEADING LAW firm wrapped-up a landmark 12 months with new appointments and plans for further growth in 2023. Mackenzie Jones Solicitors, based in St Asaph, Menai Bridge and Chester, is recruiting staff and celebrating internal success, including the continued development of its 24-strong workforce following a prosperous 21st anniversary year. Among them is Ceri Wynne, from Denbigh, who qualified as a solicitor during the festive period. The former Ysgol Glan Clwyd pupil and Bangor University student accepted a role as a paralegal after completing her studies – despite the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic – and will now focus…

A farmer-owned dairy co-operative has scooped a top honour after achieving record-breaking sales of more than £70 million. Gwynedd-based South Caernarfon Creameries (SCC) was crowned Large Business of the Year in North Wales at the prestigious Daily Post Business Awards in the august surroundings of the Prichard Jones Hall at Bangor University. Judges were impressed after hearing that the 17 per cent increase in turnover was accompanied by a rise in profits to £4.1 million, up by 20 per cent on the previous year. At the same time the creamery – Wales’s oldest dairy co-op – has won a remarkable…

Welsh Gogglebocs star Nia Phillips has opened up about her son’s courageous journey battling spina bifida in the hope he inspires other young people living with disabilities. Single mum Nia from Trefach, Llanelli told of George’s miracle journey and praised independent programme makers Cwmni Da and Chwarel for their inclusive approach to casting. Fifty-year-old Nia and children George, 20, and Olivia, 16, have appeared together on the show since the Welsh language version of the best-loved format first screened in November. Since then, the sport-loving trio have become regulars on screen and are often seen giving their off-the-cuff assessments of…