Author: Rhys Gregory

On October 1st, thousands of students will attend one of the UK’s biggest student shopping events – the St David’s Student Night 2019. [aoa id=”1″] Taking place from 4-9pm, St David’s will come to life as excited students from universities and colleges in South Wales and beyond take advantage of the amazing exclusive discounts, great treats and music throughout the centre. Following the success of last year’s event, where over 25,000 students enjoyed the exclusive night, St David’s will stick to the new format; no queues, with everyone who registers receiving a PASS that allows you to enjoy the discounts…

Andrew Logan’s infamous Annual Grand Re-opening and Jewellery Extravaganza returns to his Museum of Sculpture in Mid Wales on Bank Holiday Sunday, August 25. [aoa id=”1″] The museum, located in the village of Berriew, near Welshpool, will be re-opened by special guest Celia Birtwell, CBE, influential and era-defining textile and fashion designer, at 6pm. Each year, the museum ceremoniously re-opens its doors, remembering the first time it did so in 1991.  The Jewellery Shows, part of this annual celebration, are key to Logan’s portfolio of work, have inspired Comme des Garcons catwalk shows and been performed in Azerbaijan, Latvia, Russia,…

Employment in Wales’ technology industry is booming according to new figures out this week, with the number of jobs in the sector up a huge 83% since 2010. [aoa id=”1″] Statistics also show that, on average, 400 more tech sector jobs have been created each month in Wales over the last five years. Meanwhile Wales’ overall employment rate is now 75.0%, a rate higher than London. The figures released by the ONS earlier this week are an encouraging indicator for students who received their A Level results yesterday, providing a wealth of jobs and vocational options for young people entering…

Six employees from the Starbucks store on Fabian Way in Swansea worked together to clean up the rubbish from Swansea beach, helping make sure the sand is ready for Swansea residents to enjoy this August. The group of volunteers was led by Bartek Kusmierz, the Starbucks Barista Champion 2018 for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) who has recently moved to the Swansea store. Bartek was crowned Barista Champion in 2018 after competing in the final competition, which was held in Amsterdam in October 2018. The competition saw 28 National Barista Champions from across EMEA gather to show off…

The Welsh Government, Amazon and Enterprise Nation have partnered up to highlight the brilliance and innovation of Welsh food and drink brands. [aoa id=”1″] The brands will team up with the organisations to take part in a pioneering pop-up shop scheme, called Clicks and Mortar, aimed at helping small up-and-coming online-only brands grow their high street presence. The Clicks and Mortar shop is part of a year-long national pilot programme that is exploring a new model of small e-commerce businesses sharing physical retail space. More than 100 online brands will feature in 10 pop-up shops across the UK, with independent research…

The innovative housing pilot lead by Monmouthshire Housing Association (MHA) in partnership with the Welsh School of Architecture (WSoA) continued this month with a showcase of four bungalows in Abergavenny; designed specifically for over 60s seeking to downsize. [aoa id=”1″] Funded by the Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Fund, the ‘Homes for the Future’ bungalows were designed to offer, a generous living and outside space, complete with a secure private courtyard garden. Built to offer flexibility in the future, the Welsh School of Architecture created two separate layouts with either one bedroom with a separate kitchen or two bedrooms with an…

ETP Property Consultants are reporting steady demand for retail properties in Chepstow and Caldicot – despite the nationwide slowdown.  [aoa id=”1″] While high streets across the UK are rocked by record vacancy rates and plummeting footfall, these towns are proving unusually resilient, with demand from local and national retailers.  Julian Bladen from ETP’s Chepstow office said: “We have let three shops in Chepstow in the last three months. We have another which is under offer freehold which should complete in the next few weeks.  “We are seeing demand from both national and local retailers. If we had more shops on the high street I…

Children at Star Leisure Centre are getting holiday happy thanks to a range of stimulating and healthy activities funded by sponsorship from local engineering firm Centergreat. Working alongside charity Streetgames, Better has organised the Fit, Fed and Read programme on Mondays and Fridays for children aged 8 and above to get active and take part in sport and culture. Sessions start with fruit and toast followed by various sporting activities, indoor and outdoor for a couple of hours before a light healthy lunch. Each attender is given a small journal to record their participation. Deborah Yates, Manager, Better Cardiff, said:…

Swansea City find themselves in an interesting position as they look to fight their way back to the Premier League with a solid performance in the Championship division this season. The Welsh side isn’t expected to be a serious threat to get back to the top flight, but their strategy in attempting to get back this season could be a winning one. That strategy has been to rely on experience throughout the squad, as they hope that experience in big games will propel them back to the Premier League sooner than later. Banking On Experience Coming into the Championship campaign,…

Bridgend College opened its doors today (Thursday 15th of August) in a special results day celebration event. Students studying A levels or equivalent qualifications were invited into the College’s Cyfleoedd hub to collect their results with their peers.  [aoa id=”1″] There were plenty of smiles and cheers as students celebrated their success with family and friends. Amongst these students were some with incredible stories of success and determination.  Charlie Smith came to Bridgend College three years ago after being homeschooled for many years. After initially struggling to adapt to a structured learning environment, she successfully completed a Level 2 in…