Author: Rhys Gregory

RCT Council will shortly begin flood alleviation work at the Nant Cae Dudwg in Cilfynydd, having secured Welsh Government funding for the scheme. The upcoming work will take place at the existing debris control facility upstream from the culvert inlet, located alongside Pant-du Road, and will deliver an upgrade to the facility while carrying out essential repairs. The scheme will also install an access ramp at the site, to ensure all future maintenance of the watercourse can be completed without difficultly – especially in times of heavy rain. Funding from Welsh Government has been secured to deliver the £135,000 scheme…

A man from Aberdare has been jailed for the manslaughter of Keyron Curtis. Daniel Howells-Thomas, 24, of Penywaun, Aberdare appeared at Merthyr Crown Court on Friday (January 21st), and was jailed for nine years. Keyron Curtis, 21, died from what was described by doctors as a catastrophic head injury after being punched outside the Colliers Arms in the early hours of October 17, 2021. According to Keyron’s friends who witnessed the incident, he was punched with such force by Daniel Howells-Thomas that he immediately lost consciousness before hitting his head on a curb. He died in hospital from his injuries following…

Welsh Water is set to begin work on the highly anticipated construction of its visitor attraction hub at Lisvane and Llanishen reservoirs. The work by the not-for-profit water company will begin at the end of January 2022 and will be carried out at the northern end of the site. It will create a two-storey visitor hub with spectacular views across both reservoirs, and will feature changing rooms, showers and toilets for watersports, training rooms for local community use, as well as a café with spectacular views across both reservoirs. Once completed, the Welsh Water site would bring back sailing to…

The Welsh Government has announced £1.8 million to support health and social care students in Wales. There has been a decline in the number of students enrolled on Health and Social Care programmes at colleges, which can be explained by the impact Covid has had on the delivery of courses. The funding will help students complete their studies and encourage progression into the sector, as well as helping colleges promote health and social care courses to attract more students, helping meet the high demand for qualified staff. The funding could also be used to support childcare costs or to enable…

Detectives investigating the death of Tomasz Waga on January 28, 2021, have charged a further man in connection with his murder. Gledis Mehalla, 20, was arrested in Albania and extradited on Thursday, January 20 in a successful, joint operation involving South Wales Police Major Crime Detectives and other UK and Albanian law enforcement agencies. He is due to appear before Cardiff Magistrates’ Court today (Friday, January 21). Three other men – Josif Nushi, Mihal Dhana and Mario Qato – are due to stand trial on March 1 charged with murder. Other individuals arrested during this long and complex investigation remain…

The new Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) Strategic Premises Fund has officially launched and is open for new loan applications. The £50m Fund has been created to support the development of commercial real estate projects, across a variety of different sectors, in South Wales. All potential development schemes must provide socio-economic benefits to the local area with the core objectives being regional regeneration, job creation and accelerating the delivery of employment land. The Fund is managed by CBRE’s Investment Advisory team, part of CBRE Capital Advisors, which manages a number of other development Funds across the UK, including the North West…

A £500,000 grant from the Welsh Government will fund new facilities at Aberystwyth University for its nursing courses which will start in September this year. The announcement comes six months after the University’s plans to offer nursing qualifications for the first time were given the go-ahead by Health Education and Improvement Wales. The money will be used to invest in facilities at the University’s new Healthcare Education Centre, located opposite Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth. The plans include capital works and the purchase of equipment to create a suite of high quality clinical practice rooms, as part of a £1.7 million…

Ministry of Furniture, the company which emerged from Remploy Furniture, has unveiled exciting growth plans for 2022, which include a significant investment in systems, a planned move to larger premises and the launch of a new product line. The business will also streamline and simplify its offering in line with its core skillset – the design, manufacture (and remanufacture), and installation of furniture. As such, it has completed the divestment of Ministry Graphics, its division offering graphics and signage, which has been sold to its original shareholder. Ministry of Furniture first invested in Ministry Graphics, originally called Sign and Print…

A new site is set to help grow the green shoots of Denbighshire County Council’s work to improve biodiversity across the county The Council has set up a local provenance tree nursery at Green Gates farm on the edge of St Asaph. This new site aims to produce 5,000 trees and 5,000 native wildflower plants a year, with the hope to expand in the future. Following the Council’s declaration of a climate and ecological emergency in 2019, this project is part of an ongoing commitment to enhancing biodiversity across the county, Across Denbighshire there are now nearly 60 Wildflower Meadows…

A finance specialist, with more than 20 years’ experience, has joined Cardiff-based Lexington Corporate Finance as it seeks to strengthen its services to mature businesses wanting to expand, restructure or enter new markets. Sinead Johnson joins the award-winning company as a director, bringing decades of experience working with businesses across the SME and mid-markets at NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds Bank and, more recently, as a principal with Growth Lending, one of the UK’s leading alternative finance providers for innovative, fast-growing companies. She will play a crucial role in managing and developing the service line, which helps owners of companies raise funding…