Author: Rhys Gregory

Overall business confidence in Wales has risen 12 points to 10 per cent, its highest level during 2019, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. [aoa id=”1″] Companies in Wales, surveyed between 1st and 15th March, reported a 26 point rise in economic optimism to 12 per cent, while firms’ confidence about their business prospects slipped five points to six per cent. Together, these give an overall confidence of 10 per cent, the highest since December 2018. This upturn was reflected in hiring intentions, with a net balance of 17 per cent of Welsh businesses now…

The New Theatre has announced that much-loved television personality, author, style guru, presenter and chef Gok Wan will sashay his way into Cardiff this festive season to star in the most spectacular pantomime of them all, Cinderella. Gok will be joined by panto dame royalty in the form of returning legend Mike Doyle and the hilariously fabulous Ceri Dupree as The Ugly Sisters. Gok Wan will play The Fairy Gokmother, offering helpful style tips to The Ugly Sisters and creating the most magical ball gown in panto-land for Cinderella! Cinderella marks Gok’s seventh pantomime appearance for producers Qdos Entertainment, the first of which was the…

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal this week visited Victim Support’s National Contact Centre in South Wales. The centre runs the charity’s 24 hour national helpline, Supportline, as well as several other helplines on behalf of partner organisations. Supportline has been key in helping survivors of major incidents such as terrorist attacks, as well providing out of hours help for vulnerable victims. Patron of the independent charity, Princess Anne, met with staff and trustees, as well as representatives from partner organisations and had the opportunity to talk to call handlers about their work. Sara Brown, Manager of Victim Support’s National…

The South Wales Law Awards is delighted to announce the judging panel for the 2019 South Wales Law Awards. The South Wales Law Awards has assembled the leading law and commercial experts to form the “Independent Judging Panel”. They include: Tim John- Head of Law – University of South Wales Holly Evans- Lecturer & Solicitor at the Legal Advice Clinic  – University of South Wales Hannah Menard- Director of the Legal Advice Clinic – University of South Wales Rhys Gregory- Founder & Editor – Wales247.co.uk Tim John – Head of Law – University of South Wales said: “The University of…

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for fog affecting parts of Wales this morning. Patches of fog will be dense in places this morning with the visibility falling to below 100 metres at times. Drivers are asked to take care when commuting. What to expect Slower journey times with delays to bus and train services Delays or cancellations to flights Regions and local authorities affected Flintshire Wrexham Cardiff Newport

Welsh property developer Waterstone Homes has donated money to a local primary school to build brand new playground shelters. [aoa id=”1″] The housebuilder has donated £500 to Coed Glas Primary School in Llanishen as part of its commitment to supporting and bringing value to the communities that it builds within. The money will be used to construct new outdoor sun shelters for the school’s playground to protect pupils from the sun while playing and learning outdoors during the summer months. As well as the financial donation, pupils from the school also received a visit from the developer’s health and…

Mechanical and electrical engineering consultancy McCann and Partners completed the MEP design for a £5M state of the art fire station at Bristol Airport, which has now been handed over. This is the latest in a series of developments that McCann and Partners have and will be undertaking at Bristol Airport, which has planning approvals in place to handle 10 million passengers per annum. As well as the new fire station, which is located next to the runway and the existing fire training ground, the upcoming developments will include an immigration hall and new airline building, the first of which…

Boutique business advisory firm, Impact Innovation, has established a not-for-profit foundation to support businesses looking to raise fresh capital. [aoa id=”1″] Impact Investment Foundation has launched a free and simple search engine that matches SMEs with an impressive selection of finance market leaders within minutes. The business finance comparison engine is a designated referral platform endorsed by HM Treasury and the British Business Bank. Funder Finder uses simple information to link business users with a wide range of finance market leaders, with funds available from £500 up to £50 million. Asking just 17 questions about the business’ needs, the engine searches over 150 different…

This week, Cardiff-based business intelligence company AMPLYFI attended a Smart Cities trade mission in Taipei to establish new trading links and meet industry experts, with support from the Department for International Trade. The Smart City Summit & Expo showcases cutting-edge technologies and services from the UK that will help create sustainable cities for all. Ranked fourth in innovation capability by the World Economic Forum, Taiwan is set to develop smart cities as part of its economic growth strategy, providing numerous opportunities for UK technology businesses. AMPLYFI has seen accelerated growth over the past 18 months as a result of major…

Cardiff Bus customers are being advised of service changes which are set to come into effect from the end of this month. [aoa id=”1″] The operator is set to alter timetables across its network from March 31st, with customers advised to check all changes before they travel. Timetable changes will affect services 1, 4, 9, 13, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 35, 49, 50, 57, 58, 63, 63A, 95, 100, X45. While there will be changes to routes and timetables on the Baycar (service 6), which will only travel as far as the Wales Millennium Centre and…