Author: Rhys Gregory

A drugs gang has been sentenced to more than 150 years behind bars at Newport Crown Court this week.  20 men from across South Wales, and English cities including Liverpool, Gloucester and Plymouth were arrested and brought to justice as part of Operation Jackdaw, a Tarian operation targeting a conspiracy involving the supply and distribution of Heroin. Sean Doolan, 32, ran an Organised Crime Group (OCG) based in Liverpool which was involved in the distribution of 150 kilograms of Heroin to various parts of the United Kingdom worth an estimated street value of £14 million. The distribution network of the…

St Tydfil Shopping Centre is delighted to have welcomed Plantbased Natural Foods to its Indoor Market, which has launched the first vegan and gluten-free friendly takeaway in Merthyr. [aoa id=”1″] Owners and couple Mark Evan Oakley and Natalia De Celis were joined by renowned Welsh actor William Thomas, who has had starring roles in Gavin & Stacey, Doctor Who and Torchwood, to officially open their new venture on Monday 28th October. Mark and Natalia are looking forward to bringing something new to the town and educating customers about the benefits of a plant-based diet. The menu includes falafel wraps, pittas,…

Monmouthshire-based vehicle recovery, Maintenance and recovery truck distribution business, Caldicot Group has a appointed a Group National Sales Manager to grow its UK-wide offering in the transport industry. Lyndon Welsher, 44, originally from Newport, now Magor-based has taken on the role after 17 years in the motor trade industry, most recently for Volkswagen Group. His new role will entail selling and growing Poland’s TEVOR Recovery Trucks into the UK market – the Caldicot Group is the UK’s only approved distributor of the renowned European recovery brand. Lyndon will also be procuring new business opportunities for the Caldicot Group by securing…

Work has started on a new super bakery that will be four times the size of the one it’s replacing after it was destroyed by a fire. The Village Bakery are creating the 210,000 sq ft production facility in Ash Road on Wrexham Industrial Estate which the company say will be the most modern in Europe. Groundworks contractors are already on site and building work is due to start in the next month or so. The site is just around the corner from the bakery that was devasted by the blaze on August 19. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and the…

Swansea University and the Welsh Government has this week (30 October 2019) announced a £5.6 million investment in LegalTech and Access to Justice, as well as in countering terrorist and criminal use of the internet. Backed by £4 million of funding from the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, Legal Innovation Lab Wales will be a unique research and innovation facility housed in the University’s Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law. The project will deliver a range of sector-leading facilities, including: A cyber-threats research suite, with data research laboratories and facilities that support collaboration with partners such as…

The Brexit impasse is contributing to perceptions that the Commercial Property Market in Wales is in the downturn phase of the property cycle, according to the Q3 2019 RICS Commercial Property Market Survey. The latest results show the highest proportion of Welsh respondents sensing the overall market is in the downturn phase of the property cycle since the series began in 2015 (+55% up from +29% in Q2), with anecdotal evidence suggesting that Brexit is having an increasingly detrimental impact on market activity. This is a similar picture to the UK as a whole, where +62% of respondents said that…

TheCityUK National Conference 2019, in partnership with PwC, is an opportunity for delegates to join senior policymakers, practitioners and academics to discuss critical issues and growth opportunities for financial and professional services across the UK. The conference theme is ‘Making an Impact’, with keynote speeches focusing on how the financial and related professional services industry supports people and businesses across the UK. Event headliners include The Rt Hon the Lord Heseltine CH, Richard Theo, UK Government FinTech Envoy for Wales, and Chief Executive Officer for Wealthify, Economy Minister Ken Skates AM and the Rt Hon Alun Cairns MP, Secretary of…

If you’ve caught a bus in south Wales, you’ve heard Sara Owen Jones – one of the best-known people you’ve never seen. While thousands of bus users across South Wales hear her soothing tones daily, her identity has up until now remained a mystery. Since bilingual next stop announcements were introduced on buses as part of the Welsh Language Standards, Sara, who works at Traveline Cymru’s call centre in Penrhyndeudraeth, has been the voice of buses. The Welsh speaker from Porthmadog, is the voice of several operators including Newport Bus, First Cymru Buses and New Adventure Travel. Traveline Cymru took…

One of the UK’s leading employment screening companies, CBS, has recently taken big steps to improve its services after a woman complained her employment screening check made her feel ‘identityless’ and upset. After taking a 21-year employment break to raise a family, Debbie Brady had been offered a part-time position at RDT, a Kent-based insure-tech software house that has a long-term partnership with CBS for vital employment screening. As someone that did not claim any benefits or earn her own salary, all of Debs’ household bills were in her husband’s name, meaning the paper trail was very limited to show…

Ship Street Advisors and ADAPT Real Estate, acting on behalf of Jersey based investor UKRO, has acquired the long leasehold interest of 6 Park Street in Cardiff from clients of Mayfair Capital Investment Management in an off-market transaction for a price of £10 million. The property at 6 Park Street extends to 50,983 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation over six floors and is fully let to Media Wales, which is owned by Trinity Mirror, and Deloitte. Constructed in 2008, it is situated adjacent to Central Square, Cardiff’s prime office development, which is the site of the new BBC…