Author: Rhys Gregory

Swansea Building Society will sponsor the Welsh Equine Endurance Team for the second year running at the Home International Endurance Championships – one of the most prestigious equine events in Europe. The event will take place between the 9th – 11th September at Longnewton, near Melrose, in the Scottish Borders. Last year, the Welsh team romped home to win the Celtic Challenge and came second in the Home International. This year, the team is aiming to go one better and win both trophies. The competition has horses and riders competing over courses ranging from 40km in one day to a…

Hodge has added three new experienced managers to its Commercial Lending team. Andy Buss has joined as a senior business development manager along with David Hales as senior development finance manager and Jon Hankins as senior relationship manager. Andy Buss joins Hodge from Cambridge and Counties Bank, and before that he spent nearly 20 years at NatWest in the Commercial Real Estate team, working with property developers and investors in the south west of England. At Hodge, Andy will be building relationships with brokers and intermediaries in the commercial property investment sector and helping customers with their property portfolio plans.…

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething has been soaring over the peaks of Snowdonia – without ever leaving the ground. Mr Gething was given a taste of a UK first virtual reality paragliding experience during a visit to Adventure Parc Snowdonia in Dolgarrog in the Conwy Valley. The two Fly Snowdon paragliding pods were created especially for the pioneering adventure complex – which also boasts the UK’s first inland surfing lagoon – by VR innovators Frontgrid who are based in Llandudno Junction. A grant from the Welsh Government helped get the idea off the ground thanks to development funding from the Creative…

North Wales Tourism has appointed Yvonne Jackson as an advisor to support the challenges that Hospitality, Travel and Leisure sectors might face post-pandemic and beyond. This aims to build and maintain a prosperous and sustainable tourism industry in North Wales. Yvonne is Condor Hotels CEO and a ‘hands-on’ business consultant specialising in the Hotel and Leisure Industry. During her thirty-year career, Yvonne has held significant senior roles within Hospitality across the UK, including the prestigious Q Hotels, Hilton Hotels and DeVere Hotels. The last few years have seen the Hospitality, Travel and Leisure industry on its knees across the UK…

Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I, a proud part of AB InBev, welcomed Secretary of State for Wales, Robert Buckland to its Magor Brewery in South Wales on Tuesday 16th August. During the visit, the Minister toured the brewery to learn more about the recently installed water and energy efficiency projects, designed to reduce energy output at the brewery. Over the past year, the introduction of these technologies resulted in a 10% reduction in water usage, and a 10% reduction in energy usage. These collective savings mark another step in Budweiser Brewing Group’s journey to achieve net zero brewing operations in 2026…

Revolucion de Cuba, the Havana-inspired cocktail bar group, is on the hunt for the UK’s biggest rum fan to become its official taste tester. The lucky recruit will land a £1,000 salary to sample and critique the plethora of delectable rum serves that Revolucion de Cuba has to offer – alongside 12 months of rum and street food! The unique job will require the taster to have a passion for rum and barrels of enthusiasm. According to the job description on the Revolucion de Cuba website, the individual filling the Rum Residency vacancy will be required to: Review the bar’s…

A pop-up garden made almost entirely of reused materials has been created in the Maindee area of Newport. Volunteer-run charity, Maindee Unlimited, has teamed up with Newport Makerspace to design and create a pop-up reuse garden to be located in the car park on Chepstow Road. This small-scale park innovation scheme has drawn inspiration from communities around the world transforming unloved areas into new green spaces known as ‘pocket parks’. As part of a project to explore the potential of reusing materials, the garden is made up almost entirely of reused materials such as old pallets, tumble dryers, and leftover…

Bridgend County Borough Council is pleased to have been awarded £930,000 as part of the Welsh Government’s Community Focused Schools Grant. The funding will be used to ensure more schools are able to operate and develop as Community Focused Schools, which reach out to engage families and work with the wider community to support all pupils. It is part of a package of measures which will provide more support for schools to ensure all children have the best start in life regardless of their background. The grant will help to fund practical ways of improving school facilities and enable greater…

To ensure Pride Cymru 2022 can be safely enjoyed by all, road closures will be put in place to prepare for the event and facilitate the parade. In preparation for the event, from 6am on Wednesday August 24th, the bottom of King Edward VII Avenue will be closed from the junction with City Hall Road down to the war memorial. From 6am on Thursday, August 25th, the following roads will be closed: Gorsedd Gardens Road from the junction with Park Place Museum Avenue from the junction with College Road down to City Hall King Edward VII Avenue up to the…

A new video shows how the face of Swansea city centre is changing as a £1bn transformation story gathers even more pace. As well as Swansea Arena and multi-million pound improvements to the look and feel of The Kingsway, the video also shows foundation work progress at the former Oceana nightclub site. A new office development is being constructed there with space for 600 jobs in sectors like tech, digital and the creative industries. The new coastal park next to the arena is also included in the video as part of the £135m Copr Bay district developed by Swansea Council.…