Author: Rhys Gregory

It’s close to 250 years since the first building society was formed and despite widespread demutualisation’s at the end of the 20th century, traditional building societies still hold a sizeable share of the mortgage market and there is no sign of them slowing down, according to local building society, Swansea Building Society. [aoa id=”1″]In 2018, the UK’s 43 societies lent £68.9 billion, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA), with net lending up 12% on the year before. As a result, the BSA says that building societies now grant nearly a third (31%) of all new mortgages.[/aoa] It’s not just the…

Lesley Griffiths AM, the Welsh Assembly’s Minister for the Environment, Energy & Rural Affairs together with children from Mount Stuart Primary School in Cardiff Bay visited Mermaid Quay this week (17 June 2019) to mark the launch of the new REFILL Mermaid Quay scheme …. just in time for National Refill Day (19 June 2019). [aoa id=”1″]Refill is a UK-wide campaign to reduce plastic pollution by making refilling a water bottle as easy, convenient and cheap as possible, with Refill Stations on every street. The Refill app shows you where you can refill your water bottle for free.[/aoa] A total…

Work has commenced on South Wales’ only comprehensive scaffolding training facility.  Led by the Construction Wales Innovation Centre (CWIC) in partnership with Construction Industry Training Board Wales (CITB), the new centre will be located at a purpose developed facility on Fabian Way in Swansea Bay.  The new facility means that students based in Wales wishing to gain extensive scaffolding training will no longer have to travel to England or beyond to acquire a full set of skills. [aoa id=”1″]The Building is currently undergoing approximately a £1.5million refurbishment to create an Access Hall of 2,000 m2 including classroom and IT facilities. The…

The coordinator of the Porth branch of Men’s Sheds in Rhondda, Gerwyn Davies, says that being involved in the social project has changed his life. [aoa id=”1″]Men’s Sheds is a social enterprise that was set up to support the growing number of people suffering from feelings of loneliness, isolation and suicidal thoughts with the aim of restoring a sense of purpose in their lives. National Loneliness Week takes place between 17-21 of June 2019 in an attempt to reduce the stigma around loneliness.[/aoa] Before retiring, Gerwyn worked as a team leader. He said: “I had a full life, I had…

It includes images from an official booklet that fans bought when they sang and danced to rock legends The Who at the Vetch Field in 1976. There’s an evocative booklet called Those Saturday Nights that tells the story of Townhill’s old Tower Ballroom. Other items include an old newspaper advertisement for The Kingsway’s Top Rank venue promises: “A top-line band; luxurious surroundings. Disc jockey. Dancing to suit all tastes.” The items are among those being submitted by music fans eager to contribute to a unique exhibition and film, both being created this year to help Swansea mark its first 50…

Transport for Wales has signed a £1.9 million contract with multinational information equipment and service company, Fujitsu, to upgrade ticket office machines and mobile handsets across the rail network. In addition to this, the partnership includes a five year support and maintenance agreement for the new hardware, which is worth an additional £5.1 million. [aoa id=”1″]As the first train operator in the UK to commit to the upgrade, the rail company’s new Star Ticket Office Machines(TOMs), installed by Fujitsu, will provide a more efficient ticketing system for customers at railway stations, enabling tickets to be issued faster. [/aoa] The machines will…

Connexas Group has secured a contract to provide its innovative telematics platform, complete with vehicle tacking, driver behaviour and on-board camera technology, to the entire fleet of vehicles operated by one of the UK’s leading independent food wholesalers, Castell Howell Foods. [aoa id=”1″]Based in Carmarthenshire, Castell Howell Foods operates a fleet of 282 vehicles, including 178 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), delivering fresh and processed food products to customers across the UK. Operating a number of set routes, as well as ad hoc journeys, the fleet covers an average 61,000 miles per week.[/aoa] Previously operating with multiple fleet management systems across…

Welshpool-based Cambrian Training, one of the Wales’ leading work-based learning providers, is urging employers who are creating new job opportunities to consider applying for support from the Jobs Growth Wales (JGW) before the programme ends. [aoa id=”1″] The programme aims to help growing businesses across Wales to create sustainable job opportunities for unemployed and job ready young people between the ages of 16-24 years old. New recruits will be paid at least the national minimum wage for a minimum of 25 hours a week and the programme reimburses half of their wage cost for the first six months. [/aoa] The JGW…

On Wednesday 12th June 2019 the annual South Wales Business Awards were held. Hosted by one of Welsh television and radio’s most popular presenters Sara Edwards, at the Bear Hotel – Cowbridge. The South Wales Business Awards is the business awards ceremony of the year, celebrating the best in Welsh Business. After a tremendously difficult judging process, the winners are as follows: Young Entrepreneur of the Year – Beth Sims – Beth’s Bake Best New Start-up of the Year – Hensol Castle Distillery Retail & Tourism Business of the Year – London Hub Fashion Female Entrepreneur of the Year – Catherine Butler – Hugh Phillips…

The inaugural Wales Transport Awards 2019 has launched its search to recognise the industry’s outstanding contributors in Wales. This comes at a time when Wales’ transport infrastructure is high on both the government’s and the public’s agenda. The awards, co-founded by Liz Brookes from Grapevine Event Management, will celebrate the best of the Welsh transport sector and will take place Friday November 1st at Holland House Hotel, Cardiff. [aoa id=”1″]With plans for the government to invest millions of pounds in streamlining Wales’ Transport systems, the industry is thriving and is an integral part of Wales’ economy, employing over 40,000 people.…