Author: Rhys Gregory

Flexible working options are key in making construction a more attractive and progressive career choice for female talent, according to an RICS poll which revealed the top recommendations industry professionals believe will help employers encourage more female talent into the property sector. [aoa id=”1″]Women make up around 14% of the construction industry’s workforce, therefore it comes as no surprise that 48% of respondents to RICS’ poll* voted flexible working options as the top recommendation to help encourage and retain more female talent in the property and construction sector. This was followed by the need for more firms to raise awareness of their…

Farmers in Flintshire have become victims of a professional gang of quad bike thieves, with more than £15,000 of ATVs stolen in one night.   [aoa id=”1″]FUW member John Wrench, a beef and arable farmer, of Beeches Farm,  Hawarden, discovered the theft of his 2011 Yamaha Grizzly 350, worth £2500, at the same time as three other bikes were taken when six farms in the same area were robbed. [/aoa] “The worst thing is that the thieves broke through a security door and roller shutter to get into the shed the bike was kept in, there’s no way we could have prevented…

South Wales Police is investigating a fatal road traffic collision which occurred on the B4265 at Fonmon in the Vale of Glamorgan. At approximately 5.45pm on Wednesday, July 3 a blue BMW 1 series and an orange Kia Picanto collided at the junction with Fonmon. The two occupants of the Kia Picanto were conveyed to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. However despite the best efforts of medical staff the driver of the Kia, Jeanette Macdonald from the Barry and St Athan areas died of her injuries. The other occupant of the Kia, a 19-year-old woman remains in hospital in…

One of the UK’s leading independent insurance brokers has signed up to support Pembrokeshire’s popular charity event, the FootStep Challenge Weekend. Towergate Insurance Brokers is sponsoring the endurance event which incorporates the family-friendly FootStep Run, the TenFoot Swim and the first ever TenFoot Swim and Run. [aoa id=”1″]This is the third time the event, which has been named after the Tenby to Saundersfoot challenge, has been held. Over the years it has grown in popularity; this year 300 people have signed up for Saturday’s swim and swim and run and another 400 have signed up for Friday night’s fun run,…

Property consultancy Knight Frank has reported a challenging start for the industrial property market within Wales in the first half of 2019. [aoa id=”1″] The decision not to progress with the M4 Relief Road and closures announced by both Quinn Radiators, Newport, and Ford at Bridgend – in addition to the ongoing saga of Brexit – has added to uncertainty within the market. Neil Francis, head of the firm’s Industrial & Logistics team in Cardiff, said: “This, coupled with a continued lack of Grade A space, has resulted in just five recorded transactions for occupied industrial space over 50,000 sq…

Portal Educational Training has grown its management team with the appointment of Yvonne Bradley as work-based Learning Contracts’ Manager following a period of major expansion. [aoa id=”1″] Yvonne will manage Portal’s work-based learning contract ensuring that Portal reaches the achievement and attainment rates set by the companies they work with. Yvonne’s appointment comes following 18-months of growth in the business, which has seen its team in North Wales quadruple to cope with demand in the region and triple its overall staff headcount across Wales in the past three years. [/aoa] Speaking about her appointment, Yvonne said: “I am thrilled…

Ceredigion-based Llain Activity Centre has reopened under new ownership three years after closing, with the support of six-figure funding from NatWest. The entrepreneurial family team of Rhodri Davies and Gethin Williams have used £550,000 of finance from the bank to purchase the previously unused activity centre on the outskirts of Llanarth. [aoa id=”1″]Rhodri and Gethin acquired and opened the centre at the beginning of this year and are engaged in a continuous refurbishment programme generated from the centre’s income to transform the rundown site and upgrade the accommodation facilities.  By converting unused buildings into accommodation, Llain Activity Centre can now…

Visitors to Cadw sites will travel through time this summer, as the real characters of Wales’s historic sites return for Legends Live! — a fully-immersive historical events programme. [aoa id=”1″] Announced by Cadw this week, Legends Live! 2019 will ‘pop up’ at six monuments this summer — Castell Coch and the Castles of Caerphilly, Chepstow, Harlech, Conwy and Kidwelly. Summer 2019 marks the third annual return of the authentic interpretation series, which was designed collaboratively by Cadw historians and Past Pleasures — the experts behind interpretation at the Tower of London and Warwick Castle. [/aoa] Each event is unique to…

Some of the world’s best adaptive surf athletes – including former world champions Mark ‘Mono’ Stewart (AUS) and Bruno Hansen (DEN) – are amongst the competitors who have travelled to North Wales to take part in a world-first inland surf competition this week. [aoa id=”1″]The Welsh Adaptive Surf Championship will take place Friday 5 and Saturday 6 July 2019, on the man-made waves of Adventure Parc Snowdonia. It will be the first international adaptive surf championship to be held on an inland lagoon anywhere in the world.[/aoa] Twenty-four surfers – male and female – representing thirteen nationalities will take part…

An extra cash boost has been given to South Wales Police to help tackle knife crime. In May, The Home Office allocated £1.2 million to the force in a bid to make the region safer. The money is being used to extend the ‘Op Sceptre’ knife crime team in Cardiff and create a new team in Swansea to focus on reducing knife crime on the streets of South Wales. Cash will also help fund preventative community-based work with young people, targeted operations and back-office functions to keep the Op Sceptre officers on the streets. Chief Constable of South Wales Police,…