Author: Rhys Gregory

Children at eight Carmarthenshire schools will soon start work on manufacturing 3D printed, battery driven cars, culminating in a grand prix style race. [aoa id=”1″] Teams from each participating school will be tasked with printing, assembling, painting and testing the cars before they go head to head in an event earmarked for Carmarthen Park’s velodrome. Schools taking part include Ysgol Gynradd Nantgaredig, Ysgol y Dderwen, Ysgol Teilo Sant, Ysgol Llanybydder, Ysgol Llanllwni, Ysgol Carreg Hirfaen, Ysgol y Bedol and Ysgol Peniel. [/aoa] Each car, based on a Daniel Norée design and adopted by major manufacturers, will be managed by local…

The Council has delivered first-class education facilities fit for the 21st Century thanks to a multi-million pound investment – including brand new schools for Cwmaman, Tonyrefail, Tonypandy and Porth for the new academic year. [aoa id=”1″][/aoa] Thanks to huge joint funding through #RCTinvest and Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools and Education programme, fantastic £85m facilities are being delivered across Rhondda and Tonyrefail in 2018/19 – along with a £7.2m investment in Cwmaman. Pupils will benefit from many of these new facilities when they return from their summer holiday in September 2018, including: The brand new £7.2m Cwmaman Primary School benefitting…

Award winning aluminium manufacturing and installation company AB Glass has launched a new access control division as the company seeks to enhance its comprehensive service offering. [aoa id=”1″] A six-figure investment has been made by the company to develop the division, including the purchase of two new vehicles. Two new jobs have so far been created as a result of the launch, with an access control director, Justin John and access control engineer, Richard Thomas, being appointed. Justin John from Swansea is a fully qualified systems analyst with a business information technology (BIT) degree and vast experience in architectural ironmongery, access control…

Today, Jamelia Davis donned her school uniform and grabbed her book bag as she headed back to school for the first day of term. [aoa id=”1″] Launching the Kellogg’s Breakfast Club Awards, the Loose Woman joined school kids for breakfast as they kicked off the new school year. Encouraging entries to this year’s awards, the noughties popstar discussed the benefits of school breakfast clubs and told of her own experience attending as a child. [/aoa] Mum-of-three, Jamelia, 37, said: “Growing up breakfast club was a key part of our family life and was a great driver in growing my confidence…

The latest NatWest PMI® data indicated a further improvement in growth momentum across the Welsh private sector. Business activity and new orders both rose at steeper rates compared to July, while employment expanded solidly. [aoa id=”1″] However, business confidence regarding future output fell to the lowest level for one year, partly due to uncertainty surrounding the ongoing Brexit negotiations. At the same time, operating costs continued to rise sharply, which led to a further marked increase in selling prices. The headline Wales Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the combined output of the manufacturing and service…

A trailblazing pioneer of the bakery industry has been hailed for his “immense  contribution” over nearly 60  years. Alan Jones, chairman of the hugely successful Wrexham-based Village Bakery, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution Award  the industry’s Oscars, the Baking Industry Awards. The honour was bestowed at a glitzy ceremony at London’s Park Lane Hilton Hotel which was hosted by the popular TV presenter Stephen Mulhern. The good news kept on coming because the Village Bakery also earned praise from the judges after winning the Bakery Product of the year 2018 with their free from Belgian Chocolate Twists as well…

3000 South Wales pupils get back to schools in brand new facilities thanks to Cardiff contractor. [aoa id=”1″] A Welsh construction company is celebrating getting over 3000 pupils in South Wales into brand new accommodation in under two years. BAM Construction, which has had offices in Maindy Road Cardiff since the 1940s, has just handed over £9 million pound Pencoed Primary School in Bridgend. The 600-pupil school becomes the fifth built by BAM in South Wales in the past two years, taking the contractor, which provides work for around 900 people every year, to the 3000 pupils figure. [/aoa] 750…

CONSERVATION specialists have started crucial restoration work to preserve one of Swansea’s most iconic former industrial buildings. Personnel from the city’s John Weaver Contractors have set up site around the Musgrave Engine House on the historic Hafod Morfa Copperworks complex. The project, led by Swansea Council, involves Swansea University and volunteers from the friends of the Hafod Morfa Copperworks. Funded by the council, Cadw and the Heritage Lottery Fund, it will see around £330,000 spent on the site.[aoa id=”1″][/aoa] The building and machinery inside are listed by Cadw as a scheduled ancient monument. It allowed Swansea to continue producing copper…

An independent report has found that since its launch in 2012, Wales’ largest innovation centre, Welsh ICE, has generated a £53 million benefit to the Welsh economy, surpassing its original projection of £36.3m from a similar report in 2015. The 2015 report which was the first to measure and predict ICE’s impact since launching in 2012, found that the Campus had generated a £13.8m GVA benefit to the Welsh Economy. It was also predicted that if the Campus continued performing as it had done, it would go on to generate a further £36.3m, with a possible additional £13.9m if future…

For many businesses, investing time and money into researching and developing their products or services is a significant part of how they operate. Making resources available specifically for the purpose of a research project geared towards innovation can be rewarded by HMRC in the form of Research & Development (R&D) Tax Credits. [aoa id=”1″] Businesses can qualify for R&D tax credits if they can show their project has an element of risk and technical uncertainty and will bring something new to the market if successful. Speaking of the R&D scheme, Nick Park, Partner at Green & Co Accountants and Tax…