Author: Rhys Gregory

Work is soon starting to demolish the Llys Dewi Sant building in Swansea city centre, helping pave the way for further redevelopment. Located in the area of the former St David’s Shopping Centre, the building has been used in recent years as a site office for the £135m Copr Bay district developed by Swansea Council. Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd – the council’s main contractor for the Copr Bay scheme – will carry out the Llys Dewi Sant demolition works. Stripping-out work will take place at the building before main demolition starts, which is expected to take about eight weeks to…

An official ceremony to celebrate the re-opening of Cwmcarn Forest Drive, has taken place yesterday (6 July) a year on after the Drive was able to welcome visitors back by car for the first time. Cwmcarn Forest Drive is one of the Valley Regional Parks (VRP) discovery gateways. The Drive officially re-opened to the public on 21 June last year, but coronavirus restrictions in place at the time, meant that an official re-opening ceremony was unable to take place. The Drive had previously been closed for 6 years to allow essential forestry operations to be undertaken,  to remove 160,000 larch…

hree Year 10 learners from Abertillery Learning Community wowed the panel at the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Connecting STEM Teachers ‘Sustainable Futures’ Innovation Challenge with their app designed to help reduce global food waste. They were so impressed that the students have been invited to attend Welsh Valleys Engineering Programme celebration event at the Royal Academy in London. Only 10 schools from across the UK have been invited. The students entered the Sustainable Futures: Innovation Challenge competition run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, in which there were four categories they could choose from to solve a real-world problem. They…

Schools in Blaenau Gwent are learning how 5G connectivity could transform the way we live and work with a new interactive Augmented Reality experience that is being delivered as part of the 5G Wales Unlocked programme, an innovation project co-funded by Welsh Government and various project partners. As one of the 5G Wales Unlocked project partners, Blaenau Gwent’s STEM Facilitation Programme team leader, Louise Juliff, worked with Welsh Government, Jam Creative Studios and Technocamps to create a way of educating the next generation about the benefits of 5G. The decision was to create an enrichment programme based around an Augmented…

Thousands of vulnerable residents in Powys are set to receive financial help after Cabinet decided how funding to support those most impacted by the cost of living crisis will be spent. Powys County Council has received £924,373 from the Welsh Government to provide discretionary support over the cost of living crisis. On Tuesday, 5 July, Cabinet approved the Discretionary Cost of Living Support Scheme which will see the funds being used to potential support up to 3,000 of the county’s vulnerable residents who haven’t been eligible to get help through the main Cost of Living Support Scheme. The discretionary…

First Minister Mark Drakeford took time to enjoy an ice-cream on Saundersfoot Harbour as he visited the impressive new Wales International Coastal Centre that will fully open in 2023. The First Minister visited the picturesque harbour as the latest figures are published today showing three quarters (75%) of Welsh tourism businesses saw an increase or maintained visitor levels over the May half term. The Wales Tourism Business Barometer shows visitor numbers were up 25% compared to pre-pandemic levels, with restaurants, pubs and cafes enjoying a busy Jubilee bank holiday weekend as 38% of hospitality businesses experienced more customers than usual.…

The Welsh Government will expand e-sgol, the programme which enables GCSE and A-level students to join classes at other schools via video link, to every part of Wales from September 2023. E-sgol was launched in Ceredigion in 2018, with the aim of expanding opportunities for post-14 and post-16 learners to study courses that would not otherwise be available to them and increase the number of learners studying subjects which normally attract lower numbers of students. The programme was created to increase the number of GCSE and A/AS-level options available for pupils, especially for those at smaller, rural schools, widening access…

As homeowners face record breaking energy costs, consideration of any opportunity to move away from traditional gas and electric are becoming increasingly researched. Following the last hike in the domestic energy price cap in April, household energy bills are set to cost around £2,000 per year and that’s before another price increase due in the Autumn. In May the Government launched a new grant scheme, offering homeowners £5,000 towards the costs of replacing their gas boilers with heat pumps, as part of a package of measures to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. We will briefly cover what heat pumps…

Not many people get the chance to experience an overseas business trip, so if you are lucky enough to get this opportunity, then you best make sure you make the most of it. Visiting a new country, even when you are there on business is still pretty exciting as you get to experience a whole new country and a different culture. Of course, the business side of things is important, but when you do have some down time, you should take the opportunity to explore this beautiful new country. So, if you have a business trip coming up, then keep…

If you enjoy the outdoors and love the idea of working for yourself, launching a landscaping business may be the perfect choice for you. As a self-employed landscape gardener, you’ll have flexible hours since you’ll be able to choose which projects to take. Moreover, starting your own business can provide great job satisfaction. However, the initial step of starting a new venture is often the most difficult stage, so it’s crucial to do enough research that can help you convert your hands-on abilities and passion into a productive landscaping company. Today we’ll look at the most important things you need…