Author: Rhys Gregory

12-year-old Welsh junior Niall Pickerd-Barua picked up two international titles last week on home soil, winning the 12U singles and 12U doubles titles at the Tennis Europe Wrexham International event in North Wales. The Tennis Europe Junior Tour has been running since 1990 and has heralded the arrival of such top players as Justine Henin, Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki, Andy Murray, Victoria Azarenka, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Maria Sharapova. The Tour features competitions for 16U, 14U and 12U players, with 400+ tournaments taking place in over 50 countries. At the Wrexham-based event, Niall won all three of his round robin matches…

Spring has reportedly sprung in Welsh housing market with the latest RICS Residential Market Survey showing the number of new homes listed for sale was at its highest in 15 months, this despite ongoing caution over the rising cost of living and higher interest rates. In March, +26% of respondents in Wales reported a rise in the volume of fresh listings coming onto the sales market. New buyer enquiries also rose this month too with +14% of respondents reporting a rise. The number of agreed sales was flat in March haven risen in February. Although the increase in the number…

Melin Tregwynt, the iconic woollen mill and shop, has officially transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust after its current owners Eifion and Amanda Griffiths handed over the reins to 42 employees of the company. Melin Tregwynt was supported in its transition by Social Business Wales, which is delivered by the Wales Cooperative Centre. The mill was founded by Eifion’s grandfather in 1912 who bought a small Pembrokeshire textile mill, which has since developed into a thriving company weaving woollen blankets, bedspreads, fabrics and much more. Alongside its own stock ranges the company specialise in short runs and exclusive designs for…

Businesses in Wales backed by Welsh and UK government funding are seeing sustained recovery two years after the start of lockdown. These trends and others are detailed in a new report from Economic Intelligence Wales (EIW). The report assesses the impact of the Welsh Government’s financial interventions through its Economic Resilience Fund (ERF), which supported businesses across Wales during the Covid-19 pandemic. Jointly commissioned by EIW, the Development Bank of Wales and the Welsh Government, the report published today (Wednesday, April 13) is the second in a series of five stages of ongoing research into the effectiveness of the ERF.…

Securing a contract with the UK’s top quinoa grower has opened up a new market for a Wrexham warehouse and distribution company. It prompted McCarthy Distribution to gain official accreditation to store organic food at their new £3 million warehouse on Wrexham Industrial Estate. The deal with Oswestry-based British Quinoa follows the appointment of transport industry big hitter Julian Richards as commercial director at McCarthy. The go-ahead firm is aiming to increase turnover to £15 million, creating 30 new jobs in the process. The strategy to take the firm to the “next level” includes increasing warehouse capacity and taking on…

NetLet UK, the fast-growing Pembrokeshire hospitality network which provides holiday accommodation as well as housekeeping and laundry services for the hospitality sector, has moved into new premises in Milford Haven Docks. The larger premises bring the whole NetLet operation together under one roof and have increased its laundry capacity in line with its growth. This has also enabled NetLet to offer more than 30 new job opportunities. The new site includes a laundry, stores, offices, a boardroom and a training centre. The company, which saw 47% growth last year, specialises in fully managed self-catering holiday accommodation. As well as having…

Transport for Wales is strongly advising customers to check before they travel this Easter weekend as trains are expected to very busy and vital engineering work takes place. With warmer weather forecast for the days ahead, services are expected to be particularly busy to coastal destinations such as the North Wales coast resorts and Barry Island. Passenger numbers for weekends have increased significantly in recent months and are now at around 100% of pre-covid numbers, so further increases in passenger numbers will mean some trains across the network are likely to be full and standing. In addition to this, changes…

A business proposal to produce innovative and therapeutic hemp products has wowed the judges to win this year’s Aberystwyth University InvEnterPrize student business ideas competition. The business plan and pitch by Jamila La Malfa-Donaldson, a postgraduate student researching industrial hemp, won her a £10,000 business investment sponsored by alumni of the University. Her food and cosmetics brand, ProHempOtic, will offer a range of products derived from organic hemp with added plant-based ingredients, aimed at supporting health and wellbeing. Jamila’s business idea also secured another of the competition’s coveted prizes, a year of office space at the Aberystwyth innovation and enterprise…

RCT Council is giving advanced notice of a refurbishment scheme to Imperial Bridge in Porth – requiring a road closure at the bridge section of Pontypridd Road and temporary bus arrangements locally. The closure will begin on Monday, April 25, to carry out steelwork repairs to structural elements of the bridge, repainting of all steelwork and decorative parapets, installation of expansion joints and resurfacing. The bridge bearings will be replaced and the bridge deck waterproofed – while masonry and concrete repairs will be made to the abutments, ballast walls and wingwalls. The Council has appointed Centregreat Ltd as the contractor…

More than 6,500 children and young people in Powys participated in a series of library events as part of the Winter of Wellbeing programme, the county council has said. Throughout March, the Powys Library Service hosted a range of activities, including storytelling, workshops and sports, and arranged virtual ‘meet the author’ sessions for schools across the county. These events were held as part of the Winter of Wellbeing programme; an initiative led by the Welsh Government to support children and families to ensure that no child is left behind as part of the recovery from the pandemic. Children across Powys…