Author: Rhys Gregory

A Caerphilly company has switched up production at its factory to create millions of sustainable face shields that will be used worldwide by frontline staff as well to support employees returning to the workplace. Transcend Packaging, a sustainable packaging specialist and the first company in Europe to produce paper straws for major quick service restaurants, has converted operations at its Ystrad Mynach manufacturing base to create protective face shields. Made from reinforced paper boards and recyclable materials, the inexpensive visors are designed for single use and to be recycled. With support from Life Sciences Hub Wales, Transcend has been able…

A retired GP, Dr Mike Bloomfield, is challenging himself to walk 500km over 100 days for leading Welsh charity City Hospice. The 69-year-old co-founded City Hospice, and remains a Vice President of the charity which provides palliative care for 550 patients with life limiting or terminal illnesses in Cardiff at any one time. Dr Bloomfield, who has previously had both hips replaced and quadruple bypass surgery, set himself the physical challenge to raise funds for the charity at a time when its shops are closed and fundraising events are postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently in self isolation at…

The COVID-19 pandemic has particularly hit the food and drink sector. But Welsh producers will get expert advice on coping with the current situation at two special marketing masterclass webinars later this month. The ‘TUCK IN – Marketing in a Crisis’ webinars will be held on June 9th and June 16th. Organised by the Food and Drink Wales Industry Board and the Fine Food Cluster, the ‘TUCK IN’ masterclasses bring together a wealth of expertise and experience from across the marketing spectrum. Previous masterclasses have been very well received by producers, and there has been a tremendous response to the…

A WEEK of virtual talks, workshops and seminars for students and graduates wanting to start a business will be launched on Monday (June 8). The Summer Start-Up week has been organised by colleges and universities across Wales, including Coleg Cambria. Six sessions across the five days will be hosted by Cambria partners and collaborators, including Gareth Jones and Katherine Broadhurst from Town Square Spaces in Wrexham, freelance advisor Mike Corcoran, author and entrepreneur Sid Madge, and Limb Art founder Mark Williams. The free online programme covers numerous topics, from self-employment, networking, and money matters to promotion, protecting your ideas, finance,…

Welsh scale-up Delio has welcomed Mark Redwood and Sally Jones-Evans to its Board. The two new senior appointments share a wealth of experience within the finance industry and will be advising the company as Chairman and Non-Executive Director, respectively.  Delio’s new Chairman, Mark Redwood, has spent the majority of his career in financial services and, as an angel investor, is no stranger to business innovation. Regarded as a pioneer in capital markets software, he has held senior management positions for several companies at different stages – including Thomson Reuters where he headed the multinational conglomerate’s largest operating unit. Delio will…

The GS Verde Group has announced a series of appointments, bolstering their team following a year of growth across all parts of the group. The group is a multi-discipline professional services group, consisting of award-winning law firm Greenaway Scott, and corporate finance specialists Verde Corporate Finance. Two of the latest appointments are within Verde Corporate Finance, which has achieved significant year on year growth including high-profile transactions such as the management buy-outs of S3 Advertising and Santia Asbestos Management.   They have also worked on a number of other company investments, acquisitions and grant fund raises for clients across Wales and…

From Monday, June 8, library users will be able to order a selection of books to collect from one of the four core hubs that have remained open throughout the lockdown period, as the Council embarks on a phased reopening of services from the city’s hubs. Since Libraries closed as a result of lockdown, statistics provided by Bolinda, one of the main providers of e-resources, show a 110 % increase in total loans compared to the same period in 2019. Additional funding has also been provided to libraries from the Welsh Government’s £1m Cultural Resilience Fund to help with adapting facilities…

The Italian Tourist Board has announced that from 3rd of June 2020, British visitors will be able to travel to Italy with no quarantine restrictions. Flavio Zappacosta, manager for UK and Ireland commented: ‘The tourism industry is one of Italy’s key economy drivers so it is with utmost importance that we open for business as soon as it is safe to do so.  We know how popular Italy is for Brits and hope we can inspire them to start to plan and book an Italian holiday this year.’ As of 18 May 2020, the country already started to significantly open…

This week McDonald’s will start to reopen Drive Thrus across the UK and Ireland, starting with 168 locations from 11am today, but only two of those are in Wales. The two locations set to open for Drive Thru deliveries in Bridgend are at Pencoed Business Park (CF35 5HY) and Picton Court Retail Park (CF31 3XX). McDonald’s will also see a further 22 restaurants open for McDelivery today, but unfortunately none of these are in Wales (yet). In a statement released today, a spokesperson for McDonald’s said: “We are glad to be back but it will look a little different and may…

Leading Welsh security company Specialist Security has had its inaugural article published in the Parliamentary Review.