Author: Rhys Gregory

Flawsome! Drinks have every reason to celebrate after securing a business deal with a multinational premium supermarket retailer in the Middle East. Cardiff based drinks producer, Flawsome!, which makes cold-pressed juices from imperfect fruit and vegetables, will see its products available to buy in the well known Spinneys stores in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This latest news is a great boost to the company at such a challenging and uncertain time for all food and drink producers. Next month, around 28 stores will initially stock Flawsome! lightly sparkling range which includes Apple & Rhubarb, Sweet and Sour Apple, and…

With the festive trading season beginning, Amanda Dorel, regional director for Wales at Lloyds Bank, considers the outlook for the nation’s retailers as they approach their first ‘Covid Christmas’. October often feels a little too soon to be talking about Christmas. I, for one, am among those who might roll my eyes at seeing festive products lining the shelves before Halloween. However, for Wales’ independent retailers, Christmas will have been under consideration for months – even against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ‘Golden Quarter’ of October to December has never been more important to the hopes of businesses…

Swansea Building Society has added key workers from a number of sectors, all of whom have played a critical role in helping the UK through the COVID-19 pandemic, to the list of professions that are eligible for enhanced terms. The Society’s ‘Professional’ Mortgage product offers a lower interest rate to individuals in a range of professions ranging from accountants to engineers to solicitors to architects. Now, in recognition of the critical role keyworkers from many professions played in the country’s battle with COVID-19, the Society has added 11 additional professions to its list of those eligible for the product. Bank…

Five Transport for Wales stations are nominated to take part in a competition to find Britain’s favourite railway station. Voting began at 09:00 on Monday 12 October in the World Cup of Stations, a series of Twitter polls organised by the Rail Delivery Group. 48 stations across Britain have been entered in the first round, including five stations in Wales. In the Wales group, Cardiff Central, Newport, Swansea and Pontypridd will compete for one place in the semi-finals, while Chirk is part of the group made up of stations that won the Best Station awards at the recent National Rail…

Bangor University and Coleg Cambria have today announced a new commitment to working together more closely in North East Wales.  The University is the largest HE provider in North Wales and uniquely placed in its research, innovation and education and training capabilities at the HE level.  Coleg Cambria has a highly successful track record in delivering Further and Higher Education programmes with particular success in working with employers in North East Wales. The two organisations have signed a Joint Statement of Intent which sets out aspirations to work together across the skills levels and to link the skills agenda in…

Building firm J.G. Hale Construction has been joined by members of Powys Council at a topping out ceremony, placing the final tile on the last roof of a 32-unit development on the council’s land north of Heol-Y-Ffynnon in Brecon.  J.G. Hale Construction’s contracts manager, Andrew Collins, was joined by Powys County councillors Rosemary Harries, Matthew Dorrance and James Evans, along with Nina Davies, head of housing and community at Powys County Council, to ceremonially mark the important milestone at the Brecon site. The £5.1m development is Powys County Council’s first affordable housing development for social rent in over 40 years, and provides a mix of…

A road in the Vale of Glamorgan has been recognised in the ‘Constructing Excellence in Wales’ Awards 2020, as the St Athan Northern Access Road was awarded the ‘Civils’ Project of the Year. The new £15m road was opened by Economy, Transport and North Wales Minister Ken Skates on 30th September 2019. It was funded by the Welsh Government and built by Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd, from Abergavenny. The road provides access to Bro Tathan Business Park – home to major occupiers including Aston Martin Lagonda, eCube Solutions and Bristow Helicopters. It therefore acts as an important economic link, enabling…

Education Minister Kirsty Williams has today (Tuesday, October 13) published an updated action plan setting out the next steps in Wales’ reform journey, ahead of the introduction of the new Curriculum for Wales in 2022. The action plan, known as Our National Mission, shows the steps the Welsh Government has taken in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its response to the independent report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) last week. The document highlights the progress made since 2016 when the first iteration of the action plan was first published in 2016. Key achievements highlighted…

The Welsh Government is to give Local Authorities the power to fine people parking on pavements. Ministers are backing the recommendations of an independent expert group to give Councils additional civil enforcement powers to fine problem parkers. “The current law is not as clear as it could be” said Deputy Transport Minister, Lee Waters MS, who set up the taskforce. “There is no specific offence of parking on pavements, and though the Police can enforce the existing criminal offence of causing ‘unnecessary obstruction of any part of the highway’, it is rarely enforced”, he added. The Welsh Pavement Parking Taskforce…

A new scheme is being launched in Wales to help children understand and manage their mental health and wellbeing through reading. The programme, which has been developed by leading health professionals alongside children and their families is being brought to Wales by UK charity, The Reading Agency in partnership with Welsh Government and public libraries. For World Mental Health Day on Saturday 10 October, The Reading Agency and public libraries are rolling out Reading Well Books on Prescription for children in Wales, with book collections and supporting resources made available in both English and Welsh.  The booklist responds to the…