Author: Rhys Gregory

Former Culinary Team Wales captain Danny Burke is perfecting dishes as he prepares to represent his country in the Northern Europe heat of the Global Chef Challenge. Burke, who lives in Connah’s Quay and co-owns Olive Tree Catering in Runcorn, will be cooking against some of the top chefs in Northern Europe for a place in the final at the Worldchefs Congress in St Petersburg, Russia in 2020. He heads to Rimini, Italy for the competition on February 16 knowing that he will avoid chefs from the Nordic countries because the top 12 teams from last November’s Culinary World Cup…

Schroder UK Real Estate Fund (‘SREF’), the owner of Mermaid Quay, the popular mixed-use destination on the waterfront in Cardiff Bay, has today (21 January 2019) announced proposals for the extension and improvement of the complex’s car park. [aoa id=”1″] The car park, which has been designed by architects Austin Smith Lord, is the latest phase in the fund’s multi-million pound strategic repositioning of the scheme, in line with Cardiff Council’s ambitious vision for the future of the Bay. The demand for enhanced parking facilities comes hand in hand with SREF’s investment into the development of a new Everyman cinema,…

ION Leadership and Chwarae Teg have joined forces for a second time to run a joint leadership programme based in Bridgend. The Women in Leadership programme is aimed at developing female leaders and focuses on developing the essential skills required for managers and leaders in organisations across Wales to facilitate business growth. Delegates who complete the programme will gain an ILM Level 5 qualification. The programme is up to 70% part-funded by the European Social Fund through Welsh Government. Hayley Dunne, Strategic Delivery Lead at Chwarae Teg, said: “We know women are under-represented in leadership positions in Wales. Chwarae Teg…

House prices in Wales have reached an all-time peak, with the average house price across the country now £186,699. The figures have been released today from Principality Building Society’s Wales House Price Index for October – December 2018, which shows the rise and fall of house prices in each of the 22 local authorities in Wales. The new peak in Wales recorded in December is some £2,000 higher than the previous highest average in September 2018. Price growth in Q4 of 2018 slowed down to just 0.3% compared with the previous quarter at 3.6%, however the number of house sales…

Chocoholics in Wales would go to almost any lengths to get their hand on a bar of chocolate, including flouting the law if they had to, according to a new British Heart Foundation (BHF) survey. The figures show that 435,000 chocolate lovers (17% of the population) in the country would be willing to break the law if there was a ban or ration on chocolate by importing chocolate illegally or buying it off the black market. Around 110,000 (4% of the population) say they would leave the country for good. The figures, unveiled as part of the charity’s Dechox campaign…

Kate Methuen-Ley, 42, and Helen Corsi-Cadmore, 37, business partners at Tiger Cardiff Ltd, the joint venture vehicle for Flying Tiger Copenhagen in Wales and Bristol City Centre, have sold their 50% share in the business to Danish parent company Zebra A/S for an undisclosed sum. The pair signed the partnership with Zebra A/S in the autumn of 2013, opening their first store in St David’s Dewi Sant, Cardiff on the 1st December 2013. They went on to open a total of 9 stores across South Wales and Bristol City centre, turning over £6.4 million in 2017. Kate said: “We’ve had…

Economy Minister, Ken Skates has welcomed the European Commission’s approval of an innovative plan, spearheaded by Wales that identifies compound semiconductors as an important sector.   [aoa id=”1″] The plan will unlock €1.75bn of funding for research activities, will bring in up to €6bn in private investment and will ultimately help bring new technology innovations to market.   The project is the first integrated research, development and innovation IPCEI programme to be approved by the Commission, highlighting the  European importance of microelectronics and compound semiconductors.   It is expected to benefit both the Welsh and the wider UK economy by…

The RHS Flower Show Cardiff supported by wealth manager Brewin Dolphin will return to the Welsh capital with a celebration of spring from 12 – 14 April. The show will champion health and wellbeing and celebrate Visit Wales’ Year of Discovery theme for 2019 as it explores some of the finest in Welsh horticulture. [aoa id=”1″] Teaming up with Perennial, presenter of the Sodshow Gardening Podcast, Peter Donegan will create a small private garden offering a relaxing space to enjoy and entertain complete with an outdoor kitchen. The Perennial Garden demonstrates what homeowners can achieve with a small, urban garden…

Leading international intermodal freight forwarder, FSEW, has signed a key new contract with Freightliner, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W), to secure additional capacity on their regular container rail services. FSEW has been working with Freightliner since 2006 offering customers a quick, efficient, environmentally sound freight option. The service has proved so popular over the last 12 years that, as well as increasing its capacity on the Cardiff-Southampton route, FSEW is also able to offer customers rail freight services to Birmingham and Daventry. By increasing its rail capacity, FSEW is able to transport freight by rail straight out…

Gold medallist chef Nick Davies had a special reason to celebrate his 50th birthday, having been appointed the new manager of Culinary Team Wales. Davies, who lives in Llanidloes and works as a culinary craft trainer with Cambrian Training, steps up to manage the globe-trotting team of chefs, having previously been a team member and captain. He takes over from Toby Beevers, who works for PSL Purchasing Systems and lives near Chester, following the team’s silver and bronze medals at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg last November. After taking six years out of the team to run an award-winning…