Author: Rhys Gregory

Quest House, a modern office building based on the outskirts of Cardiff on St Mellons Business Park, has undergone a significant investment and makeover to attract local businesses. Featuring high specification offices from 100sqft to 7,250sqft, fully equipped meeting rooms and private Skype booths, Quest House also boasts a landscape courtyard and outdoor meeting pod so tenants can escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Ample car parking, modern kitchen and seating areas plus super-fast broadband also add to the enviable facilities at Quest House.   To mark the refurbishment, Quest House are inviting prospective clients to come and view the new space on Friday 15th July. This will be an…

They were the highest placed competitors in the National Young Traders Market Competition regional final held in Swansea city centre. They are Swansea-based Caitlin Penry, of Caerynys Shed Jewellery, Anthony Johnson, of AJ The Confectionist (Llanelli), Bianca Samuel, of Austringer Cider (Port Talbot) and Harry White, of Blanc Homeware (Brecon). The South Wales final was hosted by the council-managed Swansea Market. The event was funded through the Welsh Government Transforming Towns Town Centre Business Fund. Council joint deputy leader and cabinet member David Hopkins said: “Our judges were impressed with the quality of the offers and the ambitions of the…

Helping to ensure the people of Pembrokeshire are safe using our roads is absolutely paramount – and that’s exactly what driving instructor Mark Jempson has won an award for. Mark, who collaborates with the Authority on many schemes, has won a national Road Safety Wales Award for his dedication to Road Safety in Pembrokeshire. He has been an Approved Driving Instructor and Fleet Driver Trainer since 2012 and teaches learner drivers, coaches full licence holders and runs classroom based courses and enjoys every aspect of his job. Since qualifying as an Approved Driving Instructor, Mark has been a huge asset…

Work has begun to transform a retail unit in the city centre into a pop-up library for Newport residents. Central Library and Museum will be closing for several months from 23 July while work takes place in the building to create an “information hub”. While it is closed, residents will still be able enjoy a range of library services in a colourful and welcoming space in the Kingsway Centre. Councillor Debbie Harvey, Newport City Council’s cabinet member for community wellbeing, said: “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to secure a unit not far from the John Frost Square building.…

Caerphilly County Borough Council has launched an information pack as part of a wider project to address the issue of empty properties. The ‘Caerphilly – No Use Empty’ pack aims to provide a resource for owners of empty properties and to signpost them to the wide range of support available to help them bring their buildings back into use. In December 2020, the Council’s Cabinet gave the green light to establish a dedicated team to deal with empty properties in the county borough.  The team has since developed an action plan and begun delivering this by building on the Council’s…

Merthyr Tydfil’s new bus interchange has picked up its fifth prestigious award in the space of a year, this time being named the best building project in Wales 2022. The £13m bus station was announced winner of the Building Project of the Year category in the annual Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) Awards, the second time it has been recognised by CEW in 12 months. “It’s clear why the interchange keeps on receiving these accolades,” said Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing Cllr Geraint Thomas. “It looks amazing, the materials and quality are of the highest standard,…

It has just been announced that the Foundation for Jewish Heritage has been successful in its funding submission to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) & Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme in respect of its plans to develop a Welsh Jewish Heritage Centre at the historic former synagogue at Merthyr Tydfil. The National Lottery Heritage Fund grant will cover Development Phase funding of just under £400,000 which will enable the Foundation to progress the detailed planning of the project working with its various institutional partners.  Assuming the Development Phase is successful, the Foundation will then make a second round submission…

A Powys staircase manufacturer is expanding its operations at a new site, helping to safeguard jobs and create new skilled employment opportunities thanks to support from the Welsh Government, Economy Minister Vaughan Gething has announced. Welshpool-based Boys & Boden Limited, a regional builder’s merchant which has traded since 1895, will use a £232,000 Property Development Grant from the Welsh Government to expand the staircase manufacturing division of the business, Pear Stairs, at the old Laura Ashley site in Newtown. The move will address a space shortage for Pear Stairs, which makes and delivers staircases across the UK. It will also…

HRH The Prince of Wales will visit the National Botanic Garden of Wales to receive an oak sapling from the First Minister of Wales, as a gift from the people of Wales to HM The Queen to mark the Platinum Jubilee. The Pontfadog Oak, looked after by generations of the Williams family at Cilcochwyn Farm near Chirk, fell during a storm in 2013. At the time it was reputed to be one of the biggest and oldest oak trees in the world. In 2013, The Crown Estate successfully managed to propagate the original Pontfadog Oak tree and plant a tree…

The Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Sir Frank Atherton is reminding people to follow simple steps to protect themselves from the risk of catching Covid-19. This includes getting vaccinated, wearing face coverings in crowded indoor settings and taking a lateral flow test if you have symptoms. His comments come as coronavirus cases are once again increasing in Wales. The latest ONS figures estimate one person in every 30 has Covid-19. Cases of the omicron subtypes BA.4 and BA.5 have increased across the UK, with BA.5 now the dominant form of coronavirus across Wales. Sir Frank said: “The pandemic has not…