Author: Rhys Gregory

Gareth Thomas has joined Hodge’s Executive team as its chief people officer. Gareth is the former director of people and organisational development at charity Brandon Trust, HR director at Arriva Trains Wales and head of HR and Business Change at Royal Mail Group. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Gareth will lead all People Services at Hodge, ensuring the bank develops its employment proposition to become one of the leading employers in Wales enabling its people to continue delivering excellent products and customer service. Hodge is a purpose-led company ultimately owned 79% by a charity the…

Swansea Council is to give further help to local sports clubs that play on council-owned pitches. The council helped them in Covid’s immediate aftermath with assistance worth around £140,000 – much of it by waiving hire fees for grass pitches. Now, with most pandemic restrictions gone across Wales, the council aims to give more help by extending its free-use offer for the remainder of 2022, and offering a significantly discounted rate at the start of the new year. The offer will extend to all the council’s main pitches, those self-managed and grass pitches at sites managed by partner not-for-profit trust…

Cardiff Bay will be home to 13 hand-built brick Ocean creatures from 29th October to Sunday 6th November when the BRICKLIVE Ocean Show heads to Mermaid Quay. Free to view, the display will feature an array of creatures of the deep, including a 10ft long Mako Shark, 7.5ft long Green Sea Turtle, Large Squid, Moray Eel, Octopus, Parrot Fish, Angler Fish, Nautilus, Baby Turtles, Coral Reef, Spider Crabs, Yellow Fin Tuna, Lobsters, Clown Triggerfish, Hermit Crabs, Small Jellyfish, Mackerel, Starfish, and Tropical Fish. The show has been devised to entertain whilst educating children and families about the incredible diversity of…

The spooks are out in force at Fonmon Castle in October and November, offering plenty of frights and fun for people of all ages. Fonmon’s Halloween Scare Trail will be running from October 19-31. Back by popular demand, this year’s event is bigger than ever. “The Ghostbusters” and their car Ecto 1will be outside the main entrance to the castle and local snake expert Geraint the Snakeman will be showing off his slithery friends, plus some gargantuan spiders, in the main hall. Local magician Patrick King will be entertaining visitors to the Medieval Farm, which will be transformed to a…

Swansea has been a stage this week for GALWAD, a new exciting multi-platform drama being shown on digital and broadcast channels. Blending conventional forms of storytelling with digital technology, GALWAD: A STORY FROM OUR FUTURE creates a new kind of cultural event in which audiences are invited to follow the story develop in real-time on social media and online platforms. The story in Swansea unfolds at three locations: the beach and promenade by the Civic Centre, Middleton Street in St Thomas, and the city centre; and Swansea Council has been working with Collective Cymru, a pan-wales partnership led by National…

Business confidence in Wales fell five points during September to -4%, the lowest of all UK nations and regions, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking – conducted between 1st-15th September, before the Chancellor’s economic announcement.  Companies in the country reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up 16 points at 18%.  When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, down 29 points to -27%, this gives a headline confidence reading of -4%.    Despite the fall in optimism during September, a three-month average of local businesses’ confidence scores reveals a more positive picture. The average sits at a net confidence score of 9%, factoring in monthly scores of July, August and September.    …

A team of talented, young chefs will be flying the Welsh flag with pride at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg in November. The Junior Culinary Team Wales will be competing against 15 other teams from around the world at the high profile culinary event, which runs from November 26-30. The competition comprises two different elements: a Restaurant of Nations hot kitchen when teams must prepare a three-course menu 70 people and a ‘Table of Fire’ which will see teams prepare four different kinds of cold and hot finger food, a cold, festive fish or seafood platter, hot main courses…

Cardiff’s newest venue, Proud Mary Pub on St Mary’s Street, has announced it will open its doors on Saturday 29 October following a £1.2 million transformation by operators REKOM. The city has been chosen as the first in the UK to welcome the traditional pub with a modern ‘party’ twist, where you are guaranteed a warm and friendly welcome featuring locally brewed beers from Tiny Rebel, freshly prepared food, the latest sporting action and live music at weekends. Venue manager Mark Simons and his deputy, Paloma de Souza, will be leading a team of 50 to make sure Proud Mary…

Phase two of an optimised retrofit programme for Rhyl council homes will begin this autumn. Preparations are underway to carry out the Welsh Government funded energy improvements to the remaining Denbighshire Housing properties on Rhydwen Drive, Rhyl. The move comes following Cabinet agreement of recommendations to award the contract to the contractor currently undertaking phase one of the works. Phase two will see the remaining 40 houses undergo the energy improvement work from late September onwards. The work will include fitting solar panels that will generate electricity and also store it in connected batteries to allow energy use in the…

A grand music gig will be held in Aberystwyth this October (15 October) as part of Aberystwyth University’s 150th anniversary celebrations this year. Marking the occasion, the gig will also be a celebration of the University’s musical heritage over the years and the line-up includes many of the artists and bands who have been students there over the years. The gig will be held in the Great Hall of Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Saturday 15 October with the artists being divided over two stages to ensure non-stop live music on the night. There will also be a special exhibition about…