Author: Rhys Gregory

Wales’s leading oil distributor is starting its tenth year of trading on a high after a record year of growth. Family-run Oil 4 Wales, which will later this year celebrate a decade in business, has announced its best year of trading. In 2019, the Carmarthenshire-headquartered company has seen its turnover soar to over £121 million up from £114 million, customer numbers grow from 70,000 to 90,000, headcount increase from 98 to 111, and its volume of fuel surge to 160 million litres per annum. The impressive results come after Oil 4 Wales acquired the Pwllheli depot of Rix Petroleum and…

Talented junior chefs from the Culinary Association of Wales have completed their first ever IKA Culinary Olympics in Germany by adding a bronze medal to the silver they won at the weekend. Encouraged by their success in the Restaurant of Nations on Saturday, the Junior Culinary Team Wales, which has an average age of 19, were looking for another medal in the chefs table edible buffet on Monday. The team secured a creditable bronze medal, winning warm praise from Arwyn Watkins, Culinary Association of Wales president. “It was an outstanding performance by a very young junior team who are competing…

Wales has been hit with major flooding and slides as a result of the weekend weather. The most severe impact was upon Rhondda Cynon Taff, and more specifically the Taff valley, which experienced multiple floods and landslides. These incredible pictures show the major shift in the mountain side in Tylorstown. Inspections of old coal tips on the mountains in the Rhondda are underway following a landslide during Storm Dennis. Water levels are subsiding, but South Wales Police continues to liaise with organisations such as the Met Office and Natural Resources Wales to monitor the ongoing situation. Although the severe weather…

Cefn Mably Farm Park on the outskirts of Cardiff has been devastated by the rising flood water in the wake of Storm Dennis. The family-run farm park is popular with young families and those looking to get up close with the great outdoors. The farm has a number of outdoor activities for children, including a climbing area and real ‘diggers’. Visitors can also get up close with the animals. However, the farm park has had to close suddenly due to the damaged caused to its grounds as a result of the bad weather South Wales experienced at the weekend. The…

With Storm Dennis causing devastating damage across the UK last weekend, Towergate Insurance Brokers are advising on what steps to take if your business has been affected, most importantly taking photos and not to dispose of any damaged items until you have sourced advice from your insurers. Storm Dennis brought strong winds and heavy rainfall this weekend, leaving thousands of homes and businesses damaged in its wake. As of 23:45 GMT on Sunday, more than 700 flood warnings and alerts have been put in place across the UK, with eight severe flood warnings outlining a threat to life. 54 flood…

The Development Bank of Wales has invested £200,000 to support the leasehold purchase and refurbishment of the Costcutter store in Knighton, Powys. The purchase of the lease sees new owner John Ewens, 67, returning to his roots a decade after first managing the store. The Knighton store is hugely valuable to the rural community of just over 3,000 people. It is a place where local customers can buy their fresh foods and other household goods without travelling to the nearest supermarket, 16 miles away. John believes the store will help retain and bring new people to the high street: “We…

Tourism leaders from across Swansea enjoyed a birds eye view of the city’s £135m arena scheme. Their spectacular vantage point at the top of the 29-storey Meridian Tower allowed them to see construction work progressing on the site next to the LC. The Swansea Central Phase One scheme is due to open in the second half of next year with the 3,500-capacity arena, almost 1,000 car parking spaces, new parkland, homes, commercial space and a landmark bridge across Oystermouth Road. It is designed to be a catalyst for further Swansea regeneration, the arena alone attracting more than 200,000 of visitors…

Female STEM graduates and aspiring students across Wales are being urged to “step up and smash the gender divide” by applying for an industry-leading masters run by Wales’s top employers. STEM students, and those looking to enter a STEM career, are being called on to get their applications into the Welsh Data Science and Analytics Programme, based in Cardiff, before the looming February 28th deadline. The graduate development programme, which is run by the Wales Graduate Programme and a consortium of leading Welsh businesses including Admiral and GoCompare, is a fully-funded two year masters scheme aimed at fast-tracking graduates into…

Wales will travel to the Rotterdam for their final preparation match before EURO 2020 against the Netherlands. This will be Ryan Giggs’ last opportunity to test his players before they fly to Baku for the final tournament. Both teams played each other in the run up to EURO 2016, during a friendly match in November 2015 at the Cardiff City Stadium. Joe Ledley and Emyr Huws were on the scoresheet in a narrow 3-2 defeat, where Robben’s second goal in the 81st minute proved the difference. Ryan Giggs will hope for a similarly contested match in June, one week before…

Cardiff based We Build Bots has been chosen as one of the ten winners of Tech Nation’s Rising Stars, the UK’s national early-stage tech scaleup competition. The Rising Stars competition is the only national early-stage tech scaleup competition in the UK, and is designed to showcase the most exciting companies at Seed to pre-Series A funding from all areas of the country. Tech Nation’s Rising Stars are on track to become the world leading tech companies of tomorrow – the UK is a world leader in producing successful tech companies, and is now home to 77 billion-dollar businesses, double that…