Author: Rhys Gregory

Swansea Council is offering grants to help restaurants, bars and cafés re-open safely and serve food outside. The funding can be used to buy outdoor furniture, allowing hospitality traders to roll out services as government restrictions are gradually eased in the wake of the pandemic. Grants of up to £8,000 are available, with businesses required to cover 20% of the total spend. The funding is available through the Welsh Government Transforming Towns initiative. Existing Welsh Government rules state that customers visiting a hospitality business can only be served food and drink outdoors at tables. Social distancing guidelines apply. The rules are…

A top bakery has clinched a historic contract with Marks and Spencer to sell its signature loaf in all its Welsh stores. The award-winning Village Bakery already supplies around 30 products to M&S but what makes this deal special is that this is the first time that their bread has been sold under the family firm’s own label. According to managing director Robin Jones, he was exceptionally proud that the famous Village Bakery Welsh Batch loaf was now available in the chain’s 30 shops across Wales and the Marches. The news, he said, was a great reward for the team…

Tŷ Hafan, the hospice for children in Wales, has received a generous donation of £10,000 from The Range after staff chose the children’s charity as one of the causes to benefit from its plastic bag levy fundraiser. The large donation takes the retail giant’s total contribution over the past five years to £48,000 after donating the carrier bag charge to the Welsh hospice to help support life-limited children and their families across Wales. Tŷ Hafan’s director of fundraising and retail, Julian Hall, explained: “The donation from The Range is truly wonderful news at this difficult time. We’re facing significant fundraising challenges as a direct result of the pandemic, but the…

Hafod, one of Wales’ largest providers of housing, support and care, has appointed Jonathan Morgan, former AM, as the new Chair of the Hendre Board, which oversees the delivery of services under the Hafod brand. Jonathan has an impressive background and was one of the first Assembly Members, elected in 1999 at the age of 24 and served for 12 years. He built a strong reputation in his committee work as Chair of the Health Committee and in working across the political parties to introduce the first mental health law for Wales. In his last term of office he was…

A pair of Cardiff-based podcast specialists have been shortlisted for ‘Creative Industry Entrepreneurs of the Year’ at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2020. Husband and wife team Steve Austins and Marina Lois founded their audio production agency Bengo Media back in 2017. Steve was formerly Station Editor at BBC Radio Wales, whilst Marina has a background as a Station Director and product developer. Their boutique agency specialises in creating podcasts, radio programmes, audio guides, tours and books; but the primary offering is the training, consultancy and production of branded podcasts for businesses, institutions and individuals. Since it was founded in…

The new cycleways are planned to be installed by the autumn to provide safer, mostly-segregated routes to enable people to travel by bike on some of Cardiff’s busiest roads. The two routes – the ‘Cross City ‘and ‘Bay Loop’ cycleways – are being brought forward as part of the Council’s ongoing COVID Recovery plans and are in line with the cycling vision set out in the Council’s Transport White Paper. Cllr Caro Wild, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport said: “Traffic on our roads has reduced dramatically now that a number of businesses and organisations are opting to let…

Cardiff’s exciting new dining out experience on Castle Street is set to officially open to the public on Friday, July 31. The 240-seater, outdoor, covered, eating area will welcome diners to enjoy food from a wide selection of city restaurants in front of one of Cardiff’s most picturesque views – its beautiful castle. The Castle Quarter Café -which is built directly on Castle Street -is part of a wider range of measures being put in place to increase useable, outdoor space for the hospitality sector which is trying to recover from the effects of the pandemic. The new hospitality area…

The Welsh Government is investing £53m to help Wales’ diverse culture sector deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, has announced. The fund will be delivered jointly with the Arts Council of Wales and has a “cultural contract” at its heart to help the sector emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever. Today’s announcement comes on top of the £18m portfolio package provided in April, which was delivered by the Welsh Government, Arts Council of Wales and Sport Wales. The Cultural Recovery Fund will help protect organisations, individuals…

The Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, Hannah Blythyn, has launched a consultation on the Welsh Government’s proposals to ban a range of single use plastic items. Ahead of a beach clean in Anglesey, which was the first local authority in Wales to be given plastic free status, Hannah Blythyn said she wanted to hear from the people of Wales on how the country can be at the forefront of the global drive to tackle the plastic waste problem. The Welsh Government’s ambition is for a Wales free from unnecessary, single use plastics. If the proposals are implemented, a…

A number of opportunities are available to help deliver the £1.3 billion Swansea Bay City Deal investment programme. Applications are open for four new positions within the City Deal’s Programme Management Office (PMO), with a deadline of Monday August 3. Candidates are wanted for the positions of PMO Manager, Strategic Development Manager, Senior Programme Support Officer and PMO Assistant. A major investment in a programme of transformational projects across South West Wales, the Swansea Bay City Deal will create thousands of high-quality jobs while accelerating the Swansea Bay City Region’s economic recovery from Covid-19. Cllr Rob Stewart, Chairman of the…