Author: Rhys Gregory

The Development Bank of Wales has invested £200,000 to support the leasehold purchase and refurbishment of the Costcutter store in Knighton, Powys. The purchase of the lease sees new owner John Ewens, 67, returning to his roots a decade after first managing the store. The Knighton store is hugely valuable to the rural community of just over 3,000 people. It is a place where local customers can buy their fresh foods and other household goods without travelling to the nearest supermarket, 16 miles away. John believes the store will help retain and bring new people to the high street: “We…

Tourism leaders from across Swansea enjoyed a birds eye view of the city’s £135m arena scheme. Their spectacular vantage point at the top of the 29-storey Meridian Tower allowed them to see construction work progressing on the site next to the LC. The Swansea Central Phase One scheme is due to open in the second half of next year with the 3,500-capacity arena, almost 1,000 car parking spaces, new parkland, homes, commercial space and a landmark bridge across Oystermouth Road. It is designed to be a catalyst for further Swansea regeneration, the arena alone attracting more than 200,000 of visitors…

Female STEM graduates and aspiring students across Wales are being urged to “step up and smash the gender divide” by applying for an industry-leading masters run by Wales’s top employers. STEM students, and those looking to enter a STEM career, are being called on to get their applications into the Welsh Data Science and Analytics Programme, based in Cardiff, before the looming February 28th deadline. The graduate development programme, which is run by the Wales Graduate Programme and a consortium of leading Welsh businesses including Admiral and GoCompare, is a fully-funded two year masters scheme aimed at fast-tracking graduates into…

Wales will travel to the Rotterdam for their final preparation match before EURO 2020 against the Netherlands. This will be Ryan Giggs’ last opportunity to test his players before they fly to Baku for the final tournament. Both teams played each other in the run up to EURO 2016, during a friendly match in November 2015 at the Cardiff City Stadium. Joe Ledley and Emyr Huws were on the scoresheet in a narrow 3-2 defeat, where Robben’s second goal in the 81st minute proved the difference. Ryan Giggs will hope for a similarly contested match in June, one week before…

Cardiff based We Build Bots has been chosen as one of the ten winners of Tech Nation’s Rising Stars, the UK’s national early-stage tech scaleup competition. The Rising Stars competition is the only national early-stage tech scaleup competition in the UK, and is designed to showcase the most exciting companies at Seed to pre-Series A funding from all areas of the country. Tech Nation’s Rising Stars are on track to become the world leading tech companies of tomorrow – the UK is a world leader in producing successful tech companies, and is now home to 77 billion-dollar businesses, double that…

The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company’s Café Môr has been awarded an artisan food award by food and drink journalist and broadcaster Nigel Barden and premium cooking appliance manufacturer Britannia. Set up nine years ago by Jonathan Williams, and joined a year later by Susan Davenport, the company is an ethical seafood supplier specialising in seaweed and laverbread products. Y Bechgyn, a coffee shop, bakery and deli in Llandysul, took second place with its sourdough loaf, and The Moody Cow, a farm shop and bistro in Aberaeron, was awarded third place for its rib eye of beef. Nigel Barden commented on…

Many businesses are beginning the enormous task of cleaning-up following Storm Dennis at the weekend. Some of the worst-hit areas include the village of Nantgarw and Pontypridd in South Wales, with many businesses finding their offices without power and office furniture completely ruined. Despite the devastating scenes, offers of help from businesses in the community are coming in hourly. There are offers of free temporary office space and use of onsite facilities including, kitchen use, desk space and wifi. This was the scene at ARC Group HQ in Treforest on Sunday. Posting on Linkedin, the Managing Director of ARC Group,…

Customers urged to check before they travel and allow extra time for their journey following flood damage to key routes caused by Storm Dennis. Transport for Wales’ Customer Delivery Director, Bethan Jelfs said: “As a result of rail infrastructure damage and continued flooding caused by Storm Dennis, Transport for Wales are still strongly advising all customers to check their journey arrangements prior to travel on Tuesday (18 February) and allow plenty of time. “There has been significant damage to the rail network and limited replacement road transport available, it is inevitable that some services on Tuesday morning will be subject…

A new high tech policing unit has been set up to clamp down on organised crime and drug gangs in North Wales. The 16-strong Intercept Team will be using Automatic Number Plate Technology (ANPR)  to identify the vehicles of gang members and make the region a hostile environment for crime groups to operate in. It comes as County Lines gang activity continues to make headlines, which police have labelled as an “on-going threat” and Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones says is one of the biggest problems facing North Wales. The team consists of two sergeants and 14 constables and…

No further police action is being taken following the death of a man in the Neath area last year. Wayne Pugh, 66, died at an address in Cimla on Wednesday, October 2, 2019. Officers were called to assist ambulance colleagues at the property on Talbot Road at approximately 10.30pm. A 55-year-old who was arrested at the time, and subsequently released under investigation, will not face any further action. Following extensive investigations, Mr Pugh’s death is no longer being treated as suspicious, and nobody else is being sought in relation to the incident.