Author: Rhys Gregory

Aldi helped local charities in Wales provide 18,250 meals to people in need over the Easter school holidays. The supermarket paired its stores up with local charities, community groups and food banks to donate surplus food, making the most of unsold fresh and chilled food throughout the Easter period. Around 105 tonnes of food were donated throughout the UK, with more than 187,000 meals expected to be donated to causes focused on supporting families and children. The donations followed research from Aldi and community-giving platform Neighbourly which found that 100% of food banks in Wales have seen demand soar since…

The Wales Co-operative Centre has announced that it has changed its name to Cwmpas. Founded in 1982 by the Wales TUC, the organisation has established itself as the UK’s largest development agency for co-operatives, social enterprises and employee-owned businesses, with a strong track record of collaboratively delivering multi-million-pound projects that build a fairer economy and promote social and digital inclusion. The new name signals the next chapter for the development agency working for economic and social change in Wales and in other parts of the UK. It is designed to reflect the organisation’s role in helping people and communities set…

Giving elderly people in Swansea a cwtch after they have suffered a fall is helping to keep them out of hospital. But this isn’t a cwtch in the Welsh sense, though a hug may be part of it. Traditionally, when older people have fallen, the advice is not to move them, and not to give them any food or drink until an ambulance arrives. However, this view has now changed. Leaving them where they fell can in fact cause serious physical problems – and may lead to them needing hospital admission when the fall itself might not have. This is…

Eurofins Food & Water Testing UK and Ireland has once again expanded its reach and capability with the successful acquisition of a leading testing laboratory in Wales. On 25th April Eurofins completed the acquisition of Altair Analytical, a specialist independent food and drinks testing laboratory which employs 12 members of staff from its site in Carmarthenshire. Launched in 2015, Altair Analytical has cemented its reputation regionally and has grown to become the largest independent food and drinks lab in Wales, providing a range of microbiology testing with quality and customer service front-of-mind. Mark Carnaghan, Managing Director of Eurofins Food &…

A South Wales steel business has been saved after it was bought out of administration in a deal that will secure all 20 jobs. Cardiff Docks-based Bemaco Steel is a well-established manufacturer and distributor of steel products, which also specialises in laser cutting tubular products for the construction sector. It operates in the UK and Spain and has been trading profitably for many years. However, a ruling against the firm in a contractual case in March 2022 left the business unable to continue as a going concern. Andrew Sheridan and Jonathan Dunn of specialist business advisory firm FRP were appointed…

On Friday 29 April, Careers Wales will open its doors to its relocated Porthmadog careers centre. The now High Street-located centre will initially be open every Monday from 9am to 4.30pm and every Friday from 9am to 4pm. A variety of support is available, from help finding apprenticeships and upskilling through training or education, to complete career changes and redundancy guidance. The new Porthmadog careers centre has two interview rooms to ensure complete confidentiality and privacy. There will be two advisers and two employability coaches on site who will be available for face-to-face appointments, as well as interviews via video…

About 2.1 million tax credits customers will begin to receive their annual renewal packs this week from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The packs will be sent between 25 April and 27 May, and customers have until 31 July to check their details are correct and update HMRC if there has been a change in their circumstances. Tax credits help working families with targeted financial support, so it is important that people do not miss out on money they are entitled to. There are two types of renewal packs: if it has a red line across the first page and…

Wellbeing and mental health are beginning to slip down the business agenda, a new report from the CIPD and Simplyhealth finds, despite the fact that organisations are still dealing with the fallout from COVID-19 and it remains an on-going concern for workers. The Health and Wellbeing at Work 2022 report reveals that the number of HR professionals who think that wellbeing is on the agenda of senior leaders has fallen from 75% to 70% in the past year. There has also been a drop in the proportion of HR professionals who think senior leaders encourage a focus on mental wellbeing…

South Wales college, Coleg y Cymoedd, has collaborated with a Welsh manufacturer and a number of international organisations to investigate how human activity is affecting wildlife across the world. The global acoustic monitoring project to study wildlife using sounds from nature has seen Coleg y Cymoedd team up with semi-conductor manufacturer, Newport Wafer Fab, and Welsh TV and film professional, William Todd-Jones, alongside a network of creative and environmental partners; Wild Connect, Natural Resources Wales, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The project will assess and compare levels of biodiversity – in this case the variety of…

A new release of development land on the southside of Cardiff city centre is set to become a catalyst for regeneration. Associated British Ports (ABP) the UK’s leading ports group, is bringing two sites to market at ABP Business Park within the Port of Cardiff that could accommodate up to 200,000 sq ft of new industrial or logistics development. The sites on Longships Road comprise approximately 13 acres and are available as a whole or in part. Helen Thomas, ABP’s Head of Property for Wales & Short Sea Ports comments: “Cardiff’s port already supports 2,600 jobs nationally and contributes around…