Author: Rhys Gregory

A SOUTH Wales shop assistant has won £10,000 a month for a year after playing The National Lottery for just a second time. Ziyaad Fathe-Aldeen, 31, won the prize after matching the five main numbers in the Set For Life draw on November 25. Ziyaad said he had only played The National Lottery once before, buying a EuroMillions ticket a few months ago. He bought his winning ticket at the shop where he works – the Premier Stop, Gloucester Court, Caerleon, after being inspired by customers buying tickets. “A few of them were buying tickets so I thought I would…

As part of Lloyds Banking Group’s national pledge to lend up to £18 billion to UK businesses in 2020, the Group expects to support firms in Wales with up to £1.1 billion of lending this year, highlighting its commitment to be by the side of British business whatever the future brings. The funding is available to firms across Wales and will support entrepreneurs looking to start a new business, micro-businesses seeking to scale-up and small businesses considering trading internationally for the first time. It will also support established mid-sized businesses and large, multinational corporations seeking further growth. This new lending…

This National Technology Day (January 6th) a veteran RNIB volunteer is encouraging people across Wales to help blind and partially sighted people access life-changing technology. Dickon Oliver, 71, from Wenvoe, has been a Technology Support officer for RNIB for almost 40 years. After originally volunteering for the service in 1978 for some years, he started volunteering again in 2000. Dickon, a retired engineer, is now supporting RNIB’s call-out for Welsh technology enthusiasts to join the volunteering team. There are currently 111,000 people living with sight loss in Wales and this number is set to double by 2050. For many blind…

Everyman, an independent network of boutique cinemas has opened its latest five-screen venue in Cardiff. We went along to see if it lives up to expectations… The new venue features a bar and lounge space, offering elevated views of Cardiff Bay. So far so good. How do you book tickets? Like other well-known cinemas, you can book online at Everyman Cinema or book directly at the venue. The advantage of booking in advance is that you will guarantee your seats. You can view a seating plan of the cinema and pick your seats. However, there is a booking fee for…

Pembrokeshire based performance and tuning enthusiast, Matthew Merrick, has won the Revving Red Carpet, the top customisation competition organised by the Performance & Tuning Car Show. Matthew from Haverfordwest beat 19 of the UK’s top tuned cars to win the chance to have his car displayed at the first major tuning show of the year. Inspired by the Fast and Furious movies from an early age, Matthew’s 2011 Mini R56 JCW has been heavily modified with Airrex struts and an airlift v2 management system. Along with suspension modifications, Matthew fitted 17” custom BBS RS, four-pot Brembo brakes and a genuine…

GOOD causes are invited to share in the success of one of the fastest growing businesses in Wales by applying for a grant from the Edenstone Foundation. The Edenstone Group achieved record results, topping Wales Business Insider’s Growth 100 for a second year running, featuring in the top 10 of the Wales Fast 50 list and Business Live’s top businesses in Wales to watch in 2020. The Edenstone Foundation receives a proportion of the proceeds of every home the Magor-based business sells, with staff also fundraising to support good causes. Over the past year the foundation has gifted more than…

A pioneering £40,000 project is being launched to help prevent homelessness among young people in Gwynedd, after a huge 575% rise in cases over the past 20 years. Homelessness support charity GISDA has been commissioned by Gwynedd Council in a bid to reach young people in crisis, before they become homeless. Councillor Dilwyn Morgan, Gwynedd Council Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said: “When we talk about homelessness, we may often think about people living on the streets in big cities. But the fact is that a number of young people may have no permanent home and are couch-surfing…

Richard Murphy, International Partner and Head of Cushman & Wakefield’s Cardiff office said: “2020 Vision is ironically more difficult than it has ever been, when looking forward to the New Year. The outcome of the General Election brings a degree of much needed political stability, with at least some of the unknowns now being known. However, there remains considerable uncertainty for Wales and the UK as a whole. We anticipate a rekindling of cautious activity within the occupational and investor markets in the first quarter of the year. The latter being driven by the volume of money still available to…

Rapidly-growing self-storage giant Lock Stock are heading way out west to open their 18th storage park at Caernarfon this month. The new facility on the town’s Cibyn Industrial Estate will offer space for over 150 units on a 1.1 acre site. It confirms the Denbigh-based company as the UK’s biggest containerised self-storage company and gives them close to 3,000 units at their sites which extend from Holyhead on Anglesey along the North Wales coast down to Shrewsbury and Newtown in Powys. The Caernarfon move follows the recent openings of storage parks on the Glendale Trading Estate at Sandycroft, adjoining Go Outdoors…

A record number of trainees have accepted pre-registration pharmacist training places in Wales this year, totalling 155 – an increase of 60% from 2019/20. Following an extensive recruitment process 97% of the places available have been filled across health boards throughout Wales.  Recruitment for the pre-registration pharmacists was supported by the promotion of a #Train Work Live campaign and HEIW attendance at university careers events across the UK focusing on pharmacy students who were deciding where to undertake their pre-registration training. Margaret Allan, Pharmacy Dean at Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) said “I am delighted that undergraduate students across…