Author: Rhys Gregory

A high-tech campaign has been launched to help bring £1bn of new investment to Swansea. It harnesses the latest in virtual reality (VR) expertise to help convince global investors that the city is the place to live, work and enjoy a quality lifestyle. Swansea Council wants to create a partnership with them to drive the city forward by developing seven key sites. The Shaping Swansea campaign was launched by the council on March 4. Event guests at the city’s National Waterfront Museum enjoyed a vision of the city’s future through goggles as a three-minute VR film walked them through the…

Five groups of entrepreneurial students from across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire have won a competition which aims to nurture West Wales’ young business talent in the regions’ thriving industries. In its inaugural year, the Regional Enterprise Competition challenged students from Coleg Sir Gâr, Coleg Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire College to pitch a business idea to a group of judges as individuals or in groups in one of five categories – Tourism, Food, Retail, Care or the Creative Industries. The sectors were chosen as they represent the most prevalent industries across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. The competition was organised by Big Ideas…

The Welsh Government has extended an innovative programme which uses IT to connect schools in rural areas, making the programme available in schools in Powys and Carmarthenshire.   The ‘E-sgol’ programme uses video technology to connect classrooms so pupils from one school can join classes at other schools remotely, enabling students to access a greater range of subjects at GCSE and A level. The project allows teachers to provide pupils with live feedback, while pupils can participate in the lesson as if the teacher were in the same room.  The system can also create links with universities to provide enrichment…

A 16-year-old boy has today been convicted of manslaughter following the death of Mark Winchcombe in Neath Abbey on 1st September last year. The boy was found guilty following a trial at Swansea Crown Court. Detective Superintendent Darren George, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “My thoughts remain with Mark and his family who have shown great dignity and respect during this difficult time. “Mark’s life was needlessly cut short after he went to the aid of another person in the street. “This case yet again sends out a clear message of how disorderly behaviour can end in tragedy.…

The Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill will open at The J-Shed in the popular SA1 area of the city and is expected to start welcoming guests in the early summer. Regarded by many to be the greatest ever UK chef, the famed restaurateur has led the UK gastronomy scene for over 30 years and is regarded by many to have single-handedly dragged it to being at the forefront of modern cooking.  Having helped kick-start the careers of many famous chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal and Jason Atherton, all of whom trained under him, he has now confirmed…

Loganair, Scotland’s Airline, has reacted to the closure of Flybe by announcing plans to safeguard UK regional connectivity by taking up 16 routes formerly flown by Flybe. The airline will be adding nearly 400 new flights each week and has opened a special recruitment line for former Flybe employees seeking to continuing their aviation careers with Loganair. The 16 routes – from existing Loganair base airports at Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Newcastle – will be launched progressively over the next four months. Loganair’s Chief Executive Jonathan Hinkles said: “The collapse of a long-standing airline like Flybe marks a desperately…

Nine people in Swansea are celebrating today after winning £1,000 each thanks to their lucky postcode. The Siloh Road neighbours netted the windfall when SA1 2PE was announced as a Daily Prize winner with People’s Postcode Lottery on Thursday 5th March 2020. People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Danyl Johnson sent his well-wishes to the winners. He said: “What a great surprise to start the day! Congratulations to our winners, I hope they go out and treat themselves with their winnings.” A minimum of 32% of ticket sales goes directly to charities and players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £500…

On Tuesday 3 March at 8.54am New Quay RNLI’s Mersey class lifeboat, the Frank and Lena Clifford of Stourbridge was paged to assist a 16m, 60 ton whelk fishing vessel, approximately 24 miles north west of New Quay, in moderate sea conditions and winds of force 5-7. Following a Pan Pan call requesting urgent assistance, the volunteer crew of New Quay’s all-weather lifeboat launched immediately and located the stricken fishing vessel after a journey of nearly two hours into Cardigan Bay. Dan Potter, New Quay RNLI’s Coxswain said, “We launched in good time into uncomfortable but manageable seas. By 11.00am…

Chairman of the Lord’s Taverners Wales, Andrew Gibson, and former Welsh cricketer Robert Croft have presented Gwent school Ysgol Bryn Derw with a specially adapted minibus to enable pupils to engage in more community activities.

UK airline Flybe has gone into administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk, after a bid for fresh financial support failed. Flybe has hit the headlines over the last few months as they sought to secure financial support to keep the airline operating. Flybe narrowly avoided going bust in January. The airline had been in talks to secure a £100m lifeline and were seeking changes to Air Passenger Duty taxes in order to save the firm. Flybe is blaming the collapse of the firm on the coronavirus outbreak and lower demand for air travel. This situation may lead many passengers to…