Author: Rhys Gregory

A new economic report predicts that Swansea will lead the Covid-19 recovery in Wales, with a rapid employment rebound by the end of this year, although prospects for 2021 remain uncertain. The latest UK Powerhouse report by law firm Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), reveals Swansea will be in the top ten of UK cities for employment, with 8.1% year-on-year growth projected by the end of 2021. The positive uptick in the city’s employment prospects is due to public sector jobs in education, health and administration being among those least affected by the coronavirus…

Business confidence in Wales fell three points during November to -15%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank. Companies in the region expect neither an increase or decrease in business activity over the next 12 months – making November the first month since March that firms haven’t expected trading prospects to worsenhen taken alongside their views of the economy overall, this gives a headline confidence reading of -15%. When it comes to businesses’ hiring intentions, a net balance of 8% expect to reduce staff levels over the next year, down one point on last month. The Business Barometer…

ONE of the highlights of the North Wales business calendar is to be held virtually this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisers of the popular North Wales Means Business Conference unveiled a series of star speakers and interactive sessions for the event on Thursday December 10. Showcasing the ION Leadership, 20Twenty Business Growth and NWBA programmes – delivered by Bangor University – the line-up includes journalist and TV presenter Kate Hardcastle MBE; Penderyn Whisky’s Managing Director Stephen Davies; Asentiv New York boss Graham Dobbin; Sophie Morris, Managing Director of Worldspan, and LIMB-art founder, Mark Williams. The University’s Vice Chancellor…

A surge in property sales following the end of the first lockdown in June has pushed the average house price up 3% annually in Wales to an average £196,165. The figures have been released from Principality Building Society’s Wales House Price Index for Q3 2020 (July-September), which demonstrates the rise and fall in house prices in each of the 22 local authorities in Wales. Wales also experienced growth in sale prices across the quarter by 2.2%, however the number of property sales was down by 58% between April and September when compared with the same period in 2019. In September…

Four new members of staff have joined to further strengthen the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Portfolio Management Office. Phil Ryder, Ian Williams, Amanda Burns and Hollie Thomas join a team led by Jonathan Burnes, the City Deal’s Portfolio Director. Phil is the Portfolio Management Office Manager, Ian the Portfolio Development Manager, Amanda the Senior Portfolio Support Officer, and Hollie the Portfolio Management Office Assistant. The Swansea Bay City Deal is a £1.3 billion investment in a portfolio of major projects throughout the Swansea Bay City Region, which is made up of Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea. Cllr Rob…

A Swansea University project’s ground-breaking work to improve diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer has helped it secure more than £3 million of investment from industrial partners. The Cluster for Epigenomic and Antibody Drug Conjugate Therapeutics (CEAT), based at Swansea University’s Medical School, has also attracted additional funding from Welsh Government – bringing the project’s total value to more than £5 million. Epigenetics involves studying chemical changes to DNA and associated proteins that can lead to genes being turned on or off. In some cases, this can go wrong and lead to diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative conditions like…

The national winners of the annual FAW & McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards have been revealed, with Undy AFC from Gwent being crowned the winner of the 2020 Fun Football Provider of the Year award. The awards celebrate the efforts of grassroots football clubs and volunteers across Wales who go the extra mile to support their local communities. Launched in March this year by former Wales striker and McDonald’s Fun Football ambassador John Hartson, the public response has been extremely strong, with the People’s Choice category in particular receiving over 45% more votes this year versus 2019. The awards feature a…

New revised NHS Wales hospital visiting guidance during the coronavirus outbreak will be published on Monday 30 November 2020. This supersedes previously published guidance. The revised guidance sets out the baseline for visiting in Wales during the pandemic, but allows health boards, trusts and hospices to have more flexibility to depart from the guidance. This flexibility is due to the changing picture of coronavirus transmission across Wales, with significant variations in community transmission across different parts of the country and differences in the rate of nosocomial transmission. The new guidelines allow health care providers to asses local factors and work…

The pandemic and restrictions that followed it have now been in place for close to a year. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there is going to be an end to it soon, as cases continue to rise and problems keep popping up. While that is happening, you might find yourself sitting at home, constantly bored, looking for things to do. Lucky for you however, there are plenty of things that you do to keep yourself entertained and active during the pandemic. Here are some things that you can do to cure your boredom during this time. Online Casinos Casinos have…

Due to coronavirus restrictions, there will not be a night shelter for homeless people in Merthyr Tydfil this winter. Instead, the County Borough Council will be offering temporary accommodation to rough sleepers in line with Welsh Government guidance. It will also be working in partnership with the Pobl Housing Group, Salvation Army and Cornerstone, which supports homeless people and who are offering their services at all of the temporary accommodation premises across Merthyr Tydfil. Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Public Protection Cllr Geraint Thomas said: “Welsh Government has informed local authorities that they must not implement or support volunteers to…