Author: Rhys Gregory

A 24-year-old Cardiff Metropolitan University graduate has set up a business to help connect athletic students with sporting opportunities at universities. Tim Parker’s app, Sportfolio, will allow prospective students to see what sports programmes different universities across the country offer alongside their degree courses. Tim, originally from Bristol, started his business with the help of Big Ideas Wales, part of Business Wales and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. The service is aimed at anyone between the age of 5 and 25 who wants to develop a business idea. As a keen footballer who…

This Christmas, M&S Food is putting charity firmly at its heart. In a year when charity funding has declined almost 25%, M&S Food is proud to donate £10,000 to Swansea-based charity project, Matthew’s House, an initiative of the Hill Church Charity, in recognition of the volunteering efforts of local colleague Suzy Mayhew as part of an overall £2 million donation to good causes for its very special Christmas campaign. A sign at the front of the store was unveiled on 3rd December, highlighting Suzy and Matthew’s House’s brilliant work to all customers shopping at M&S Mumbles this Christmas. As well as…

Life Sciences Hub Wales has appointed five Non-Executive Directors to join its Board to play a critical role in shaping the organisation’s future strategic direction. The appointments come at an exciting and challenging time for industry, health and social care, where the demand for innovative solutions is greater than ever. The new directors will actively support the organisation in making Wales the place of choice for health and well-being innovation through sharing tactical insight and guidance. Each Non-Executive Director brings a wealth of experience that spans life sciences, health and social care and finance, which will help to accelerate the…

Today, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) Wales have released their manifesto for the forthcoming election, explaining that only when the private rented sector (PRS) is regarded as part of the solution to the housing crisis can landlords and tenants prosper. The representative body has six key calls for parties standing in the 2021 Welsh Parliament elections: streamline licensing; support landlords and tenants; improve homes; introduce a Welsh Housing Survey; improve justice for landlords and tenants; and, rejecting rent controls and Right-to-Rent. To achieve these objectives, the NRLA is advocating measures such as eliminating the need for local licensing by adopting requirements in national frameworks, introducing a housing court, and removing the second property Land Transaction…

Patients staying at a Penarth hospice over the Christmas period will be able to enjoy beautiful light displays thanks to generous donations. Pontyclun-based Floodlighting and Electrical are among those who have volunteered to support the Marie Curie Hospice, Cardiff and the Vale, in a bid to make their Bridgeman Road gardens festive this season. The company has installed icicle lighting as a goodwill gesture for the staff, patients and visitors to enjoy during December. The charity had put out an appeal for outdoor lighting, in order for inpatients to enjoy Christmas displays from their rooms. The Penarth RFC Mini and…

Swansea City face a big test in the Championship this weekend when they travel to Cardiff for the latest South Wales derby. One point off top spot after 17 games, fourth-placed Swansea have failed to win five of their last eight matches. While only two defeats occurred in that sequence, this isn’t good enough form for a club in pursuit of direct promotion. Perhaps it could secure a playoff spot, but, given the fierce competition for one of those, that form would also leave a place to chance. Cardiff City, Swansea’s opponents on Saturday, are one team hoping to capitalise…

This December, companies are being encouraged to swap the office ‘secret Santa’ for toy donations to KidsOut — the charity helping to bring joy to children in domestic violence refuges across South Wales and the UK. Between April and May this year, KidsOut delivered over 100 boxes of brand-new toys up to the value of £100 to children in women’s refuges in South Wales, bringing fun and relief at the height of lockdown. But it hasn’t been easy. With nearly half of donations made to KidsOut coming from corporate fundraisers each year, the charity has lost around £800k from postponed…

Business is accelerating rapidly for a Denbigh-based container sales business who have helped an expanding quad bike adventure company hit the ground running after the recent lockdown. Denbigh-based Container Sales Centre has supplied three new storage units for Tile Farm Off-road, in Guilden Sutton, to house its increasing fleet of all-terrain vehicles when they’re not roaming round 250 acres of Cheshire countryside. Pandemic restrictions forced them to close for four months earlier this year but since then and until the latest England-wide closure their customer mix of motocross bikers and quad bike enthusiasts had kept them busy. The use of…

The GS Verde Group, a multi-discipline professional services business, has announced a formal partnership with marketing and PR agency Dragonfly Creative. Following the recently announced launch of the Elevate investment network, the group has seen a growing need for businesses looking to increase their marketing presence as part of the process of an investment raise. Having already been able to support businesses with both corporate finance and legal advice from within the group, the partnership with Dragonfly will enable the group to offer the full cycle of support needed by its clients, with the marketing agency able to assist in…

A takeaway premises in Lampeter has been required to make improvements to safeguard the public’s health and well-being as part of the coronavirus regulations. A Premises Improvement Notice has been served to Oh My Cod in Lampeter by Ceredigion County Council’s Public Protection Officers due to non-compliance with The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 4) (Wales) Regulations 2020. The improvement notice requires the business to ‘provide or require the use of personal protective equipment and face coverings by persons working on the premises’ and warn that failure to comply with the notices can result in a premises closure notice being…