Author: Rhys Gregory

With cigarettes costing £10 a packet and nearly of quarter of Welsh residents living in poverty, ASH Wales is asking, ‘Who Can Afford to Smoke?’. This week the tobacco control campaign group will call for action to tackle smoking among Wales’ most deprived communities, where up to a quarter of residents smoke. It has warned that smoking contributes to the deprivation facing many families across Wales and says that quitting the habit would lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty. To find ways of tackling the problem experts from across Wales are gathering at the annual Wales Tobacco…

A metal pressings company in South Wales has secured a £1,155,000 finance package from HSBC UK to purchase a new 400-tonne pressing machine. [aoa id=”1″] Aberdare-based CSM Pressings, which manufactures and designs pressed metal products and powder coating, has used the funding from HSBC UK to purchase the new equipment which will enable the company to manufacture larger components, in turn helping it to attract and secure larger business deals. CSM Pressings specialises in the manufacture of steel components for a number of well-known automotive companies, as well as supermarket shelving fixtures for many well-known supermarket chains across the UK.…

A BAFTA award-winning south Wales creative agency has set its sights on growth through export sales, following increasing demand for its services overseas. [aoa id=”1″] Cardiff-based digital marketing agency Atticus Digital, which specialises in virtual reality and 360˚ video production, has seen its export sales more than triple in the last four years, with exports now accounting for around a quarter of its business. The company is now placing a drive on exports and has announced ambitions to double its exporting activities within the next five years as part of wider expansion plans. Established in 1998, Atticus originally provided traditional…

A Kimnel Bay based company that manufactures sophisticated precision tools for Rolls Royce and other automotive and aerospace companies is to create 23 new jobs as a result of Welsh Government support. Economy Minister, Ken Skates visited Consort Precision Diamond in Conwy to discuss the expansion plans, which will be supported by £200k from Welsh Government. [aoa id=”1″] The Minister also spoke to the company’s management team about the types of challenges they are facing in the run up to Brexit, and urged them to take advantage of the range of support offered to Welsh business to help them prepare…

Police in Porth are appealing for the public’s help to locate missing man, Christopher Davies. Mr Davies, 52, was last seen at approximately 5pm on Sunday, February 17th, at his home in Tonyrefail. He is described as approximately 6ft 1in tall, of average build and with a bald head. He was possibly wearing black jeans and a grey hooded jacket, and distinctive navy and multi-coloured trainers when he went missing. He is also believed to be in possession of a large black coat, a woolly hat a tent and a sleeping bag. Officers and family members are growing increasingly concerned…

A private landlord has been ordered to pay over £12,000 for the appalling conditions at his property which he rented out in Riverside. [aoa id=”1″] Robert Hope-Ross, from Camp Hill Road, Nuneaton in Warwickshire pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court last Thursday (February 14th) to 19 offences relating to his property on Neville Street in Riverside. The three-storey Victorian terraced property was occupied by seven people and, following a complaint by one of the tenants, officers from the Shared Regulatory Service visited on July 26th, 2018 to find a catalogue of problems at the property. [/aoa] There was no fire…

The partnership with the 2019 Urdd National Eisteddfod, which runs from 27 May to 1 June, is part of the University’s commitment to Welsh language and culture. [aoa id=”1″] More than 15,000 young people are expected to take part in competitions including song, dance and performance. The University will have a major presence on the ‘Maes’, or Eisteddfod site, as well as supporting some of the most high-profile events. Cardiff University’s Dean for the Welsh Language, Dr Huw Williams, said the University was fully committed to supporting Welsh language and culture as part of its strategy. “Part of our ‘civic…

Economy and Transport Minister, Ken Skates has awarded the contract securing air travel between Cardiff and Anglesey for the next four years to the company that has ensured regular flights for last two years.   [aoa id=”1″] The new Public Services Obligation (PSO) air service contract has been given to Eastern Airways, who since March 2017, has established stability and restored passenger confidence achieving significant growth on the route of around 40%, bringing visibility to the service amongst new and existing passengers.   Transport Minister, Ken Skates said:   “Wales needs to be better connected. Eastern Airways shares our ambitions…

The latest pub closure figures from CAMRA reveal that 23 Welsh pubs have closed between July and December 2018, prompting the real ale consumer’s champion to renew calls for government action to Save Our Pubs. [aoa id=”1″] CAMRA is increasingly concerned that pubs across Wales are missing out on vital protection afforded to them across the rest of the United Kingdom within the planning system. Whilst England now requires developers to seek planning permission before demolishing or converting a pub to another use, Wales has been left behind. CAMRA is also concerned that pub closure figures across the UK remain…

The chairman of an organisation that is supporting the restoration of the Montgomery Canal is appealing for volunteers to come forward to help with surveying and engineering works. Michael Limbrey, Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust chairman, is urgently trying to find a surveyor to survey a half-mile section of dried out canal through to the Welsh border. “We want to restore the dry section of canal towards Pant but first we need a detailed assessment of what has to be done,” he said. “We already have the equipment and volunteers who will help but we need a surveyor to take the…