Author: Rhys Gregory

New initiative Crowdfund Swansea is beginning to deliver benefits to people around the city. Three groups raising funds through the scheme, driven by Swansea Council, have already hit their targets. They are Pontarddulais Cricket Club, the Friends of Hafod-Morfa Copperworks and the Friends of the City of Swansea Botanical Complex. Andrew Stevens, a council cabinet member for better communities, said: “It’s good to see Crowdfund Swansea giving residents new facilities and services. “The projects are rooted in our communities and are driven for people in those communities. “They all offer something important and I hope that many other schemes find…

A college in the South Wales valleys has created its very own record label to provide aspiring musicians with a platform to get their music out to the masses. Coleg y Cymoedd has launched ‘Cymoedd Creative Records’ to give learners studying on its creative music courses the chance to release their own music to the public. Learners signed to the label will see their songs added to leading music streaming platforms, including Spotify and Amazon Music – thanks to licencing and distribution rights arranged by the college – as well as shared across social media. The record label is the…

Cyfarthfa Retail Park, which is owned and managed by Hammerson, has announced a range of new safety measures that it will introduce when the Park reopens. The new safety measures include: Clear signage throughout the retail park reminding consumers of the need to follow social distancing guidance, and to avoid shopping in large groups Enhanced cleaning processes, with a clear focus on key customer touch points Clear graphics for queues outside of stores All customer-facing colleagues to wear protective clothing when in internal areas The Welsh Government has not yet confirmed when non-essential retail stores can reopen, but it is…

A Caerphilly company has switched up production at its factory to create millions of sustainable face shields that will be used worldwide by frontline staff as well to support employees returning to the workplace. Transcend Packaging, a sustainable packaging specialist and the first company in Europe to produce paper straws for major quick service restaurants, has converted operations at its Ystrad Mynach manufacturing base to create protective face shields. Made from reinforced paper boards and recyclable materials, the inexpensive visors are designed for single use and to be recycled. With support from Life Sciences Hub Wales, Transcend has been able…

A retired GP, Dr Mike Bloomfield, is challenging himself to walk 500km over 100 days for leading Welsh charity City Hospice. The 69-year-old co-founded City Hospice, and remains a Vice President of the charity which provides palliative care for 550 patients with life limiting or terminal illnesses in Cardiff at any one time. Dr Bloomfield, who has previously had both hips replaced and quadruple bypass surgery, set himself the physical challenge to raise funds for the charity at a time when its shops are closed and fundraising events are postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently in self isolation at…

The COVID-19 pandemic has particularly hit the food and drink sector. But Welsh producers will get expert advice on coping with the current situation at two special marketing masterclass webinars later this month. The ‘TUCK IN – Marketing in a Crisis’ webinars will be held on June 9th and June 16th. Organised by the Food and Drink Wales Industry Board and the Fine Food Cluster, the ‘TUCK IN’ masterclasses bring together a wealth of expertise and experience from across the marketing spectrum. Previous masterclasses have been very well received by producers, and there has been a tremendous response to the…

A WEEK of virtual talks, workshops and seminars for students and graduates wanting to start a business will be launched on Monday (June 8). The Summer Start-Up week has been organised by colleges and universities across Wales, including Coleg Cambria. Six sessions across the five days will be hosted by Cambria partners and collaborators, including Gareth Jones and Katherine Broadhurst from Town Square Spaces in Wrexham, freelance advisor Mike Corcoran, author and entrepreneur Sid Madge, and Limb Art founder Mark Williams. The free online programme covers numerous topics, from self-employment, networking, and money matters to promotion, protecting your ideas, finance,…

Welsh scale-up Delio has welcomed Mark Redwood and Sally Jones-Evans to its Board. The two new senior appointments share a wealth of experience within the finance industry and will be advising the company as Chairman and Non-Executive Director, respectively.  Delio’s new Chairman, Mark Redwood, has spent the majority of his career in financial services and, as an angel investor, is no stranger to business innovation. Regarded as a pioneer in capital markets software, he has held senior management positions for several companies at different stages – including Thomson Reuters where he headed the multinational conglomerate’s largest operating unit. Delio will…

The GS Verde Group has announced a series of appointments, bolstering their team following a year of growth across all parts of the group. The group is a multi-discipline professional services group, consisting of award-winning law firm Greenaway Scott, and corporate finance specialists Verde Corporate Finance. Two of the latest appointments are within Verde Corporate Finance, which has achieved significant year on year growth including high-profile transactions such as the management buy-outs of S3 Advertising and Santia Asbestos Management.   They have also worked on a number of other company investments, acquisitions and grant fund raises for clients across Wales and…

From Monday, June 8, library users will be able to order a selection of books to collect from one of the four core hubs that have remained open throughout the lockdown period, as the Council embarks on a phased reopening of services from the city’s hubs. Since Libraries closed as a result of lockdown, statistics provided by Bolinda, one of the main providers of e-resources, show a 110 % increase in total loans compared to the same period in 2019. Additional funding has also been provided to libraries from the Welsh Government’s £1m Cultural Resilience Fund to help with adapting facilities…