Author: Rhys Gregory

The brightly coloured, highly festive Santa’s Express steam train has an elf driver plus two carriages stuffed full with 24 presents and a Christmas tree – complete with 20 baubles. All made with a total of nearly 300,000 LEGO® bricks. The incredibly detailed, full contact models – which took 8 BRICKLIVE builders 1,664 hours – 3 months to build – will be on display in Tacoma Square in the heart of Mermaid Quay from Saturday 30 November 2019 to Sunday 5 January 2020. Visitors will even be able to climb aboard the train for the perfect Christmas selfie! The display is visible any time, but access to sit on the train will only be available 10am – 6pm…

People across Swansea are being asked for their views on a draft plan that aims to help deliver a greener city. Their ideas and thoughts will help the emergent Regenerating our City for Wellbeing and Wildlife strategy become reality. It aims to help deliver: a greener city, with fewer hard surfaces, to help create a city centre that is a more attractive place in which to live and more resilient to climate change; more use of nature to provide space for wildlife, bring people pleasure and offer an improved experience for visitors and traders. The draft – developed in partnership…

A new awards scheme has been launched to shine the spotlight on those making a difference to, and championing, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) in Wales. Entries for the inaugural Wales STEM Awards are now open, with the ceremony due to take place on 1st May 2020 at City Hall in Cardiff. The awards have been established to celebrate those leading the sector in Wales, those businesses creating an impact on the Welsh economy, those addressing the STEM diversity gap and skills shortage, and those inspiring and raising aspirations of the next generation. There are fifteen categories to enter: STEM…

Business confidence in Wales rose eight points during November to 10%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. Companies in Wales report higher confidence in their business prospects at 15% and higher economic optimism at 5%. Together, this gives an overall confidence of 10%. Businesses’ hiring intentions showed that a net balance of 8% of businesses in the region expect to hire more staff during the next year, on par with last month. Across the UK, overall confidence rose three points to 9% as firms’ optimism about the economy rose 10 points to 7%, although their…

A 20-year-old man has been charged following a road traffic collision in Ely. Keaton Collard appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court yesterday on Tuesday, November 26 charged with a number of driving offences in relation to the collision which happened in Pethybridge Road on Wednesday, November 20. A young girl was injured following a collision with a motorcycle which happened at around 4.20pm. Collard pleaded guilty to charges include causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop after a road accident. He was remanded in custody for sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court on December 10. A 16-year-old boy also…

Aberystwyth University has launched the 2020 edition of its annual student enterprise competition, with £10,000 at stake for the winning entry. InvEnterPrize provides an opportunity for entrepreneurial Aber students to develop and pitch a business idea or social enterprise idea to a panel of distinguished Aberystwyth University alumni. The winning entry will be able to invest its winnings in equipment, facilities or professional services to turn an invention or business start-up idea into reality. In addition to the £10,000 prize for the overall winner, there are two additional prizes in specific sectors this year. The best proposal in the bio-sciences,…

A Welsh Government Minister has seen for himself the developments at the University of South Wales (USW) Startup Stiwdio (Stiwdio Sefydlu). Lord Elis-Thomas, Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, visited the facility – which has been established in the former Students’ Union at USW’s Cardiff Campus – and met the entrepreneurs starting new creative and digital businesses. Stiwdio is the first standalone university-based business incubator in Wales. It aims to encourage and support entrepreneurship among USW’s graduate and alumni population, and provides a safe haven in which they can test and develop enterprising ideas. With financial support from the…

Coincover, the leading Cardiff-based cryptocurrency protection and insurance company announced their new product, Cryptocurrency Wills. Providing a unique and dedicated solution to cryptocurrency estate planning, the product – which is a world-first – solves one of the key issues preventing cryptocurrency going mainstream: what happens to Bitcoin when you die? Bitcoin is like no other asset; without a robust retrieval mechanism once it’s lost, it’s lost forever. It is estimated that around 4 million Bitcoins (worth around Thirty Billion Dollars,) have been lost as a result of people dying and without adequate plans in place. Founded in 2018, Coincover – which…

A retired 104-year-old domestic science teacher has been reunited with one of her former pupils at the care home where they now both live. Great great grandmother Rhiannon Grey Davies and 86-year-old Joyce Jones were “surprised but delighted” when they bumped into each other at Pendine Park’s Gwern Alyn Home in Wrexham. They first met when Joyce went to Acrefair Secondary School where Rhiannon was a member of staff during the Second World War in 1944 when she taught her pupils how to eke out their families’ sparse food rations. In the 1960s Rhiannon became a pioneer of Welsh language…

Wales’ leading first aid charity are pleased to announce the appointment of Helen Smith as their new Chief Executive Officer. Helen has been a pivotal part of the organisation utilising her skills as Director of Finance for the past five years. Since acting as CEO since February 2019, Helen will now take the lead on the diverse arms of the charity and encourage an innovative, efficient and commercial approach while continuing to deliver the organisation’s strong care and social objectives; ensuring maximum impact across communities throughout Wales. Announcing the appointment, Prior for Wales, Sir Paul Williams, said: “The Board of…