Author: Rhys Gregory

Global real estate firm, Savills has forecast strong house price growth of 18% in Wales over the next five years, which would make it one of the fastest growing markets in the UK. While housing supply is almost meeting need, there is still a shortfall in the provision of affordable homes in Wales. The predicted house price rises are expected to put further pressure on the sector. Caroline Jones is an associate director in Savills development team in Cardiff, specialising in residential development. She comments: “The value of residential property in Wales is fast catching up with the rest of…

Eggnog the hamster will have a very happy Christmas after all – despite being abandoned in bitterly cold temperatures on the streets of Swansea. The tiny Russian dwarf hamster was found by a family on the pavement outside their home in the Penllergaer area of the city. RSPCA Cymru say it is “shocking” someone would dump a hamster like this – but are “over the moon” that Eggnog has been saved. The hamster was found near a small pile of sawdust, and was making his way down the family’s driveway when they came to his rescue. Sadly, Eggnog was also…

Important work to help improve Swansea city centre will take place from January 6. It will see work carried out to pedestrianise the upper section of Union Street and an adjoining part of Park Street. Alongside work already undertaken on the neighbouring Kingsway, it will help improve walking and cycling connections through the city centre. Swansea Council have commissioned the work. Throughout the work, motoring access to the car parks in Park Street – including all the accessible parking bays – will be maintained at all times via Portland Street. Pedestrian access will remain at all times and business are…

Boys and girls from Swansea had a special Christmas surprise this week when they made a visit to Amazon in Swansea to take part in a Christmas-themed day of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) fun with Barnardo’s. The children, who are cared for by Barnardo’s Cymru, visited Amazon in Swansea with the charity as part of a programme called Amazon Future Engineer. Amazon Future Engineer is one of several STEM programmes run by Amazon in the UK and is aimed at inspiring, educating and enabling 10,000 children to try computer science over the next two years. Amazon’s STEM programmes…

A NEW care consultancy is being launched which provides a unique blend of strategic and operational support unavailable anywhere else in the UK. Raising the Bar in Care has been launched by Sue Jones, from Penrhyn Bay, and Helen Butler and Tina Chapman, based in Grantham, Lincolnshire. The “only business of its kind” in the country, the trio say there is “huge demand” for support and guidance on future-proofing health and social care organisations and services as the industry continues to grow significantly. With more than 20 years’ experience in the financial services and care arenas, Sue says a further…

Retailers in Swansea’s Independents Quarter are praising the City Centre’s Santa sleigh Christmas attraction, for boosting visitor numbers to the area. The Big Heart of Swansea sleigh, which has been provided by Swansea Business Improvement District (BID), drew enthusiastic crowds to Lower Oxford Street last weekend, and it is set to return in the run-up to Christmas, with a £500 competition proving an added incentive for visitors. Christopher Barnes, from Mr Dapper Barbers, nearby, said: “It has been good to see the buzz around the Big Heart of Swansea Santa sleigh, centred on the independents quarter. We have noticed a…

The annual and renowned Merthyr Mawr Christmas Pudding Run saw hundreds gather in Merthyr Mawr, Bridgend, on Sunday 8 December, raising £2,235 for local charities, £835 of which has gone directly to the Welsh homeless charity, Llamau. Organised by the Brackla Harriers running club, the event saw runners brave the chill and the mixed terrain – including some thigh-aching sand dunes and many water features – to raise money for Llamau and other charities, including Bridgend Community Bereavement Support, MacMillan Cancer Support and Action for Children Bridgend. Some runners took home a Christmas pudding as a race memento, and many…

Graeme Carter, of Carmarthenshire-based Red Valley Farms, broke the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for Most pigs-in-blankets made in one minute at Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales’s (HCC) stand at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair on 26th November 2019. Surpassing André Ortolf’s record of making 17 in one minute, set in 2016, Graeme just managed tocomplete 18; meaning each one was made in less than three and a half seconds! Despite rolling a total of 20, Guinness World Records can confirm – to Graeme’s disappointment – that only 18 are of an “acceptable standard”, and can be counted towards…

STARS many of us will be watching and listening to this Christmas could soon be performing in Swansea’s state-of-the-art digital indoor arena. Senior managers at the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), who’ll be running the arena when it’s open, say acts including Snow Patrol, Ronnie Wood and the Pet Shop Boys are among those who feature at their worldwide network of venues. Others include Kelly Jones, the Beastie Boys, Sinéad O’Connor and Emeli Sandé. Main contractor the Buckingham Group has now started work on the 3,500-capacity digital indoor arena on a site adjacent to the LC in Swansea city centre. Swansea…

A CARDIFF man has launched an appeal for help in finding a long-lost sister he has never met after only discovering she existed three years ago. Michael Richards, 64, who grew up in Whitchurch, says he has made it his life’s quest to find his sibling and is appealing for local people to provide clues as to her whereabouts. He believes his sister, who lived in the Velindre Road or Heol Booker areas of Whitchurch and may have been born in Rudry, is possibly deceased but he is hoping to find out more about her life and where she might…