Author: Rhys Gregory

Half a century’s worth of eye-catching music memorabilia is helping Swansea to celebrate its first 50 years as a city. [aoa id=”1″] The treasure trove of modern musical heritage includes instruments, written memories, posters, records, gig tickets, books, magazines and stage wear. It includes fond memories of local names such as Badfinger, national icons like Adam and the Ants, pop, rock, dance, jazz, choral music – and much more. The exhibition – 50 Years of Music – has just launched at Swansea Council’s Swansea Museum. The hundreds of items of memorabilia – loaned by dozens of Swansea citizens past and…

BUSINESS owners and environmental groups are being invited to help shape the future of green energy in North Wales. [aoa id=”1″] Led by the Welsh Government Energy Service, stakeholders including North Wales Economic Ambition Board, North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council and other pan-Welsh organisations have collaborated to produce a draft energy vision. The partners are calling for project ideas and opinions on how best to decarbonise the region’s economy to deliver a ‘future energy system’ focused on more sustainable systems and processes, notably around transport and construction. The outcome will be the North Wales Energy Strategy and Delivery Plan,…

THE first standalone university-based business incubator in Wales has been opened by a Welsh Government Minister. [aoa id=”1″] Lee Waters AM, Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, officially unveiled the plaque on the new facility – the Startup Stiwdio (Stiwdio Sefydlu) – which has been established in the former Students’ Union at the Cardiff Campus of the University of South Wales (USW). The facility aims to encourage and support entrepreneurship among USW’s student graduate and alumni population, and provide a safe haven in which they can test and develop enterprising ideas. With financial support from the Higher Education Funding Council…

Cardiff-based recruitment agency, RhinoRecruitment.com, has this week announced its expansion into the IT division, launching Rhino IT with sector specialist, Mo Alamgir. [aoa id=”1″] RhinoRecruitment.com has been servicing the recruitment industry for over 15 years and the brand will now boast a dedicated IT department in its head office at The Maltings, Cardiff, placing IT professionals with businesses across the country. This new venture marks the next step in the company’s growth plans, having made numerous business acquisitions and additions to its senior management team in the last 12 months. In the first phase, Rhino IT will cater to…

A house-building company with an innovative business model is ready to kick-start its operation with more than 120 new homes for sale in North Wales and Cheshire. Housing association Cartrefi Conwy has joined forces with Brenig Developments Ltd to form a joint venture named Calon Homes, to create a wholly commercial operation in a partnership that’s believed to be the first of its kind in Wales. Cartrefi Conwy will be using its 50 per cent share of the profits to plough into affordable housing whilst using Brenig’s expertise to “develop much needed quality homes for sale”. The ground-breaking joint venture…

A SMART Partnership between Aston Martin and UWTSD is helping to drive graduate employability through academic and industry collaboration. [aoa id=”1″] The partnership between academic staff, research associates and engineers is aimed at knowledge exchange and collaboration between the University and Aston Martin to develop graduates that are industry ready. Welsh Government Smart partnerships provide financial support to businesses for innovative projects that require academic collaboration – helping to develop new products, and in this instance using automation and digitalisation to remain competitive. Richard Morgan, Programme Director Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering at UWTSD said: “The SMART partnership which we undertook…

Llanbrynmair Forest, one of the largest privately owned commercial forests in Wales, has been brought to the market by Savills. [aoa id=”1″] The 5,342 acre forest is situated in the Montgomeryshire area of Powys, a region well-known for its timber production. Made up of a number of individual plantations brought together under single ownership, the sale represents a rare opportunity to acquire a large-scale commercial forest complex. James Adamson, Head of Forestry Investment at Savills, says “Due to the limited size of the UK market finding a single commercial forest of this scale and productive capacity is very rare…

Inspectors have again praised South Wales Police for its performance in responding to crime and protecting people – rating it among the top forces out of those most recently inspected. The report, published today (Friday, September 27) by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, rates South Wales Police as being: good in effectively reducing crime and keeping people safe; good in operating efficiently and providing sustainable services to the public; and good in the way it treats the public and its workforce. South Wales Police has been described by inspectors as “good at responding to crime and protecting people”. They add that…

The holidays may be over but thanks to Technocamps, school pupils will be taking new skills and experiences into their next term. [aoa id=”1″] Technocamps, Swansea University’s innovative outreach programme designed to give pupils an insight into the world of computer science, delivered a variety of activities to pupils across Wales during the summer holidays. These included programming, app development, games development and robotics. 2019 Robotics Competition The theme of this year’s robotics competition was Disaster Droids with pupils challenged to design and create a robot, capable of providing assistance to disaster-struck areas. This included war zones and areas devastated…

After a successful launch last year, olive’s Chef Awards are back, saluting the unheralded chefs who have been quietly excelling in the background – all nominated by the hungry public. Focussing on the people, rather than the places, the awards commend the hard-working chefs that have dedicated their lives to having a positive impact on the way we eat. Jon White of The Two Anchors in Cardiff has been shortlisted for the Best Street-Food Chef award for their fresh, sustainable seafood. They are located at Sticky Fingers Street Food in Roath. Gareth Ward, chef at Ynyshir near Machynlleth is up…