Author: Rhys Gregory

Park Holidays UK has announced its acquisition of holiday parks group Park Leisure which owns 11 holiday parks in popular locations in England, Scotland and North Wales. It will bring to 54 the number of parks now operated by Park Holidays UK – and follows the company’s acquisition of nine parks from Bridge Leisure in 2021. The enlarged portfolio, says the group, will provide it with an even stronger national platform from which to serve Britain’s fast-growing domestic holiday market. Park Holidays UK director Tony Clish said the coming together of the two well-established groups presented exciting new opportunities in…

Residents may have noticed some new visitors who have recently landed in Porthcawl to help keep the area clean and tidy. In collaboration with Keep Wales Tidy, the five solar-powered bins have been wrapped and are located across Porthcawl: Griffin Park Eastern Promenade Esplanade Rest Bay West Drive It is anticipated that the makeover will encourage residents and visitors to use the bins to make sure litter doesn’t invade the county borough. Pam Bacon, Regional Manager Central West for Keep Wales Tidy said: “We are delighted that five new alien solar bins have moved into Porthcawl, this is a new,…

Urban Splash have announced a joint venture with real estate developers Milligan for the transformation of the Swansea Central North site in the area of St Mary’s Church. The news comes within weeks of Swansea Council appointing Urban Splash as its long-term partner for the wider £750m private sector funded transformation of sites that also include the Civic Centre and land along the riverfront in St Thomas. Plenty of opportunities will be available for people to give feedback on plans for each site once proposals are developed in more detail. Early proposals for the 5.5-acre Swansea Central North site at…

The longest Alpine rollercoaster in the UK could be built at a popular tourist destination in the Caerphilly county borough, if ambitious plans being drawn up by the council are agreed by the UK Government. Three exciting regeneration projects totalling £80.6million are set to be submitted to the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund by CCBC. The council’s Cabinet will meet next week (Wednesday 29th June) to consider a report which details the bids and their benefits to the community. The three proposed bids are: A new £33.6million enhanced Leisure Centre on land at Caerphilly Business Park to provide state-of-the-art health…

The County Borough Council’s Cabinet has approved a request from taxi owners to increase the current rate of fares for Merthyr Tydfil – but residents still have time to raise objections. A letter sent to the Council from 24 proprietors asked for an increase of 50p on the first mile of each journey, which drivers said would help them cope with the rise in the cost of living. Details of the proposal were circulated to all 201 licensed drivers and proprietors of Hackney Carriages in the county borough, and there were 34 responses, 30 of whom agreed with the increase.…

Ukraine nationals who fled their country after the Russian invasion have been welcomed to Wales by the First Minister and Social Justice Minister Jane Hutt. The Ministers met the Ukrainian nationals seeking sanctuary in Wales on World Refugee Day (20 June). They visited a Welcome Centre where more than 200 people have been sponsored under the Welsh Government Super Sponsor scheme. Thousands more people from Ukraine have already claimed sanctuary in Wales, thanks to many people who have kindly volunteered to be a sponsor, after fleeing the country following the Russian invasion. More than 6,500 people have been welcomed to…

The Welsh Government has today published the annual report on the teaching of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and contributions. In July 2020, the Welsh Government appointed Professor Charlotte Williams OBE to chair the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities, Contributions and Cynefin in the New Curriculum Working Group. The group published its final report in March 2021 and all recommendations were accepted by the Welsh Government. Today’s report sets out the progress made in implementing the recommendations, with the aim of reinforcing the importance of teaching past and present experiences and contributions of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic…

CHICAGO, the international multi-award-winning musical is back in Cardiff for one week only. The highly popular American musical from the 1970s is currently on its tour of the UK and is first stopping off at Cardiff’s New Theatre before heading to Venue Cymru in North Wales, later in July. We’re taken back a time when the stories of merry murderesses are a fascination of the people, innocence or guilt doesn’t matter as long as you’ve got a pretty face and a good story. Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and…

Swansea Council has launched a new round of funding for ideas that can bring new vibrancy to local communities. The opportunity is part of Crowdfund Swansea, a scheme that helps deliver innovative community-led ideas to improve the city. Eligible projects could receive a council pledge of up to £5,000 towards their crowdfunding target. To be in with a chance of securing the support, local groups should create their projects on crowdfunding platform Spacehive and pitch to the Crowdfund Swansea Fund by Wednesday, September 14. Those who have succeeded in previous funding rounds have included Gowerton Athletic Club who helped fund…

Iain Mansfield has been appointed as chief financial officer at Principality Building Society in an expanded role that includes responsibility for commercial lending and strategy. A qualified Chartered Accountant, Iain has almost 20 years’ experience in a wide range of senior leadership roles across financial services, most recently as Chief Operating Officer. He initially joined Principality in 2015 as finance director of Nemo Personal Finance and became a board member in 2019. In addition to overseeing the finance department, Iain will continue to have responsibility for the commercial lending, Nemo Personal Finance, strategy and architecture teams within Principality. He succeeds…