Author: Rhys Gregory

The outlook is bright according to the results of the latest quarterly Business Barometer survey from Swansea Bay Business Club. Members of the business community from across the region were surveyed, with responses coming from a total of fourteen different sectors, including finance, retail, manufacturing, construction and hospitality – and the findings were notably upbeat. [aoa id=”1″]More than 45 percent of all those surveyed said their businesses performed somewhat better in the last three months than they did in the previous three months. Adding to the positive outlook, 50 percent of respondents said they were expecting to perform even stronger…

One of Wales’ best-known property auctioneers, Marc Morrish, has become the new face of Wales’ fastest growing land, commercial and residential property auctioneers – Auction House South Wales. [aoa id=”1″]Mr Morrish, aged 41 from Penarth, is a regular on the Welsh language property show, Ar Werth, where he was seen successfully auctioning a Cardiff property for £1.6 million – still the largest single property sold by a Welsh auctioneer, beating the record that he already held.[/aoa] With more than two decades experience in estate agency and property sales, including the last nine years as an auctioneer, Mr Morrish brings huge…

Japanese Ambassador to the UK, Koji Tsuruoka, joined Sony UK TEC in celebrating the Japan – UK Season of Culture this week, marking his first visit to the facility. He was joined by Mr Yusuke Ishihara, First Secretary; Mr Yugi Suzuki, Director of Tri-Wall Europe; Ted Kitagawa, Market Development Manager of Tri-Wall Europe; and Keith Dunn OBE, Honorary Consul for Japan in Wales. [aoa id=”1″]The purpose of the visit to Wales was to attend the reception being held by Welsh Government in celebration of the long-standing links and shared history between Wales and Japan. Following his time at Sony UK…

A village in the north of England with a population of 400 has been crowned Britain’s best coastal destination, while some of the nation’s most famous resorts languished at the bottom of the rankings in a new Which? survey. [aoa id=”1″] Thousands of holidaymakers rated their most recent visits to the seaside in a range of categories including quality of the beach, seafront, food, scenery, attractions and value for money. Bamburgh in Northumberland triumphed over better-known and pricier destinations – earning a full five stars for its scenery, wild unspoilt beach received a glowing overall customer score of 89 per…

A brand-new ride has officially opened at Oakwood Theme Park following months of excitement and anticipation. The Pembrokeshire attraction has unveiled an exhilarating new family ride, Dizzy Disk, after announcing it would be joining the 2019 summer season line-up earlier this year. After months of constructing, testing and perfecting the ride to ensure it gives customers the best experience possible, Dizzy Disk is now ready for action. The new addition, which sees riders face outwards as they glide back and forth while simultaneously spinning in circles, has just launched and has already proven to be a hit.

Potholes are an infuriating and costly hazard faced by many Welsh motorists on a daily basis, but the problem has placed one Welsh technology company on the road to export success.  Swansea-based GPC Systems has signed an international distribution contract that will see its 3D modelling solution deployed on the famous Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a venue for NASCAR. [aoa id=”1″]A five-year distribution agreement with American concrete and asphalt maintenance company, ART Concrete Solutions, will see the Welsh software-house’s 3D pothole technology utilised to identify and repair damage at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a venue for adrenaline fuelled stock…

Archaeologists have uncovered a prehistoric ritual landscape that includes a Bronze Age cairn, believed to be potentially larger than its famous neighbour Bryn Celli Ddu — a 5,000-year-old passage tomb aligned with the summer solstice sunrise on Anglesey. The famous Welsh passage tomb might not be as recognisable as Stonehenge, but it possesses a similar alignment where the stones line up with the sun on the longest day of summer. By building the long passage at Bryn Celli Ddu, the sun can creep along it into the far reaches of the inner chamber, an atmospheric moment that many never forget.…

A female entrepreneur from Newport will reveal how she turned a small business running baby and toddler play groups into a successful company with over 40 franchisees when she appears at this month’s Ready Steady Grow – What Franchising Could Do For Your Business workshop in Cardiff. [aoa id=”1″]Helen Gillies, founder of Tots Play, will be one of the guest speakers at the event being hosted by NatWest and Darwin Gray Solicitors at the bank’s Entrepreneur Accelerator in One Central Square on June 20.[/aoa] She will share her journey of launching Tots Play in 2009 and the insights of franchising…

Swansea University has maintained its position as Wales’ top ranked university in this year’s Guardian University Guide. Published this month (7 June), the table ranks Swansea 31st  – the same position as last year – out of the country’s 121 universities by scoring each institution on a range of aspects, such as course and teaching satisfaction, entry scores, spend per student, student-staff ratios and graduate career prospects. [aoa id=”1″]The proportion of students satisfied with their course has increased significantly, with Swansea now ranked 4th in the UK. Swansea is also ranked joint 5th alongside Cambridge University for the proportion of students…

Carmarthenshire is hoping that the return of the Celtic Noir thriller Keeping Faith will continue to raise the profile of the county’s tourism offering and have launched a new Superfan Trail offering die-hard fans the chance to follow in the man character’s footsteps by mapping out filming locations. Series two started on S4C earlier this month with Welsh subtitles and is due to air in English on BBC1 in summer 2019. “Let’s hope that Keeping Faith does as much for Carmarthenshire as Gavin and Stacey did for Barry!” commented Peter Hughes-Griffiths, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Executive Board Member for Culture, Sport…