Author: Rhys Gregory

Many company directors will be rightly wondering if they are entitled to the same support as company employees announced over the recent weeks by the UK Government, as a way of supporting those affected financially by the Coronavirus Pandemic. South East Wales’ largest independent accountancy firm, Kilsby Williams, has been exploring whether the grant funding provided under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) can apply to directors of owner-managed companies. Mary McDonagh, Partner at Kilsby Williams, explains: “Many directors will have structured their remuneration by way of a low salary, usually at a level just below the NIC threshold, with…

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is helping people with sight loss keep up to date during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering a free subscription to a newspaper or broadcast guide via its Newsagent service. RNIB Newsagent provides plain text email versions of major UK newspapers, and TV and radio guides, which can be easily read with magnification or screen reading software that many blind and partially sighted people use. This offer means that anyone who finds it difficult to read a paper or TV guide in their current print or online formats can get easy access to…

With the whole country affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, having a healthy diet is vitally important.  People need to continue to eat well but many are worried about staying healthy and are concerned they won’t be able to buy the food they normally eat. Here, Chris Cashin, Registered Dietitian and a lecturer in Nutrition at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David outlines what we can all do to continue eating well during these difficult and unprecedented times Start by having a good look at your cupboards and freezers – there is probably quite a lot in there that you…

The Come Together Cast, being overseen by Swansea Council and the Swansea Music Hub, is available to all online. It aims to highlight innovative work across the city, share ideas for maintaining wellbeing and entertain residents during the ongoing isolation period. Robert Francis-Davies, the council’s cabinet member for investment, regeneration and tourism, said: “These are uncertain times so I’m glad that cultural services staff from our Fusion Project and friends at the music hub have found a dynamic new way to illustrate what Swansea has to offer. “I urge those with access to the internet to listen to this podcast…

COLEG CAMBRIA is mass producing safety visors and face masks to help in the battle against Covid-19. The north east Wales institution is using 3D printers to manufacture vital PPE (personal protective equipment) for NHS staff and frontline workers facing up to the Coronavirus pandemic. Nick Tyson, Assistant Principal and Director of Technology, Engineering and Construction, and Engineering Technology instructor Len Robinson have been hard at work creating more than 50 visors a day at the college’s University Centre in Deeside. Using the equipment and materials they have at their disposal the pair hope to support the NHS with mass…

The regeneration of a former redundant brownfield site in Barry aims to reconnect the local community with buildings that were once right at its heart.   Avison Young has been appointed to provide valuation services for The Goodshed, Barry, a hugely inspirational project that will see the restoration of former heritage railway buildings in the town. The Goodshed is being developed by Simon Baston’s company Loft Co. Over recent years Loft Co has won a string of national awards for its renovation and rebuilding of historic properties across South Wales. Simon Baston explains, “The aim of this scheme is to bring…

A six year old from Aberdare is taking to her treadmill and walking to help other children during lockdown. Ivey Moore-James will be doing her first ever charity fundraiser and completing a 30 minute walk to raise money for The Children Society. According to her mother, Joanne James, Ivey usually hates walking but wanted to do something challenging to help to kids less fortunate than herself: “Every time we go out after five minutes she starts saying she doesn’t want to walk, so for her 30 minutes is a big challenge. We are very fortunate, when we went into lockdown…

Mums-to-be whose antenatal classes have had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus are now taking advantage of free online advice from a Swansea University expert. Dr Alys Einion-Waller, Associate Professor of Midwifery and Women’s Health, says her first three-week course of classes has already proved very popular – 12 couples signed up for the first session but now that figure has risen to 33 pairs of expectant parents. The classes in Centred Birth hypnobirthing, a way of using deep relaxation and self-hypnosis in labour and birth, are normally delivered at the University’s Health and Wellbeing Academy. They teach techniques…

Sainsbury’s café and Greggs in Bridgend have donated all leftover food to local homelessness charity Emmaus South Wales before closing due to the current coronavirus outbreak. The two businesses offered their support to the charity, which helps people who have experienced homelessness, by donating perishable food before temporarily closing. Emmaus South Wales shut its five charity shops in Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan following the Government’s announcement on Monday 23rd March, which issued stricter measures and ordered all shops selling non-essential goods to close. The charity’s five shops, which sell second-hand furniture, household goods and clothing, generate the funding…

Businesses and universities across Wales are responding to a nationwide call for action to help supply the NHS and social care with vital equipment to support staff. Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates has urged more to companies to join the effort. Gin distillery In The Welsh Wind, from Ceredigion, has started making World Health Organisation-approved hand sanitiser from its Gogerddan Arms base. Margam-based Rototherm Group, meanwhile, is producing face shields which will be used by healthcare staff, sourced from Premier Plastic Services Ltd, in Bridgend, via Cardiff stockist Amari Plastics Ltd, which paid for the first…