Author: Rhys Gregory

Jeremy Miles has outlined further plans to introduce contact groups for adult learners in Higher and Further Education. Following news from the coronavirus press briefing on Monday, where the Minister for Education and Welsh Language set out plans for education settings in the autumn, today he provided more information on plans to minimise disruption in post-16 education and training. The measures, part of the new framework approach, would be applied in Higher and Further Education, work-based and community learning settings. The plans aim to align adult education contact groups with the most current social restrictions set by Welsh Government. Based…

The Welsh Government is reminding retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in Wales they won’t have to pay any rates until April 2022 as full discounts in England come to an end today (1st July). In March, the UK Government announced its 100 per cent retail, leisure and hospitality rates relief holiday would reduce on June 30, with a 66 per cent discount coming into effect for the rest of the financial year. In Wales, the Welsh Government has extended the full 100 per cent discount for all businesses and charities in the leisure and hospitality sectors until April 2022. Retailers…

The first glimpse of the oculus staircase, the first of its kind in the UK, can be seen following its installation at Cardiff Innovation Campus’ sbarc | spark building. The finishing of the staircase is a pivotal moment in the construction of the Innovation Campus. The sbarc | spark showpiece starts at the ground floor as a social stair and forms breakout zones to each level which are curated differently, becoming destinations to users on other floors. Bouygues UK, the construction company building the £300 million state-of-the-art Campus, worked with Taunton Fabrications to design and install the staircase, which was…

Bernard Ward has been appointed as the new Managing Director of Acorn Recruitment, one of the UK’s leading recruitment firms, member of the international leading recruitment group Synergie. Mr Ward will lead Acorn through the next stages of its expansion, as the company continues to break into new markets and drive further growth. Multi-specialist Acorn is the leading recruiter in Wales and is in the top 1% of all recruitment firms across the UK, with offices and business operations UK-wide and a turnover of over £100m. Previously the Regional Director (South West, Wales & Midlands) for Blue Arrow, Mr Ward…

Cardiff-based TV, film and theme park model makers Wild Creations has more than doubled its production capacity following a move to an industrial unit on Portmanmoor Road Industrial Estate in Ocean Park. Wild Creations – founded in 2010 by Matt Wild – designs, fabricates and installs bespoke creations from a sculpture or large model to a piece of scenery or theming for TV, film, theme parks, exhibitions or brand activations. Clients include BBC, Universal and JCDecaux and the company works with clients in the UK and internationally having recently exported to the USA, Japan, Mexico, China and Malaysia. Now it…

Two Cardiff-based chartered accountancy firms have merged to form one of the largest independent accountancy practices in South Wales. Roblins, a family firm dating back almost 70 years, has merged with BPU Chartered Accountants, which was founded more than 55 years ago. The merged business, BPU Chartered Accountants Incorporating Roblins, will continue to offer a wide range of accountancy and business advice services to businesses and individuals across South Wales and beyond. With around 2,000 clients and more than 40 employees, the firm is now one of the largest remaining independent accountancy businesses in the region. Huw Palin, director of…

Wales rugby fans and bus users in Cardiff are being urged to plan their journeys ahead of time as the Welsh Summer Tour games commence in Cardiff from Saturday 3rd July. Travellers are being reminded by Cardiff Bus of diversions and road closures which are set to come into force in the city centre on Saturday as Wales take on Canada for their first game of the tournament at the Principality Stadium. From 10:30am to 6:00pm on Saturday 3rd July, Saturday 10th July, and Saturday 17th July, diversions will be in place and buses will use alternative city centre stops.…

Cardiff and Vale College students have won a magnificent 34 medals in this year Skills Competition Wales Inspiring Skills contest, despite the pressures of lockdown. CAVC learners brought home 14 gold, seven silver and nine bronze medals – a record year for gold medals for the College. The contests they took part in ranged from Enterprise, Photography, 3D Game Art, Coding through to Hairdressing, Culinary Arts, Heavy Vehicle, Vehicle Refinishing and Vehicle Body Repair. The Inclusive Skills contest for people with additional learning needs also saw winners with golds, a silver and a bronze in Inclusive Hairdressing, silver in Inclusive…

The Brickfields Pond Snake Rock was a project led by Denbighshire County Council’s Countryside Services in the summer of 2020. This event was run by the service, environmental artist Tim Pugh, and local residents in support of the NHS to lift community spirits during the global pandemic. Rocks were painted by local residents and used to create a ‘pebble snake’, also known as ‘Snake Rock’ and it has now been given a permanent home in Morrison’s car park in Rhyl. The permanent artwork was a creation by multiple donors both in time and materials. Roger W Jones donated the cement,…

Following a period of significant growth, Swansea based Aspire 2Be, an international award-winning learning technology company, has made several senior promotions to its management team. In a year that has seen the business successfully pivot its offering to deliver more of its training online, Aspire 2Be has continued to grow. To support this growth, the business has moved to implement a new, dynamic approach to the company hierarchy, supporting the company’s vision to promote talent from within. The changes include the promotion to Managing Director for Simon Pridham, who takes over from retiring co-founder Jeremy Thomas. Simon is joined, in…