Author: Rhys Gregory

Following the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Ester McVey’s, announcement yesterday (4 September) that she supports the pensions dashboard, Stuart Price, Partner and Actuary at Quantum Advisory, has reacted

A Cardiff-headquartered speciality bakery manufacturer has secured an additional £15 million finance package from HSBC UK and its other banking partners to support the acquisition of gluten free bakery business, Ultrapharm Ltd. [aoa id=”1″] Finsbury Foods, which produces a broad range of high-quality bread, cake and snack products, has agreed an uplift on its current £45 million revolving credit facility (RCF) to make the acquisition. This takes Finsbury’s total borrowing to £60 million. The existing £45 million RCF was agreed by banking partners HSBC UK, RBS and Rabobank in February 2018 to provide the business with a range of working…

Hospital corridor art galleries which raise cash to benefit patients have sold their 1,000thpicture. ‘Langland Hut with Ball’ by Rhona Tooze was bought by Jonathan Bishop from Fforestfach, Swansea, as a present for his wife. ”It always puts a smile on her face.” he said. The corridor galleries at Singleton Hospital in Swansea were created in 2007 when property manager and founding member of the arts and heritage team, Fiona Edwards, took over their management. [aoa id=”1″] Fiona was determined that the uninteresting corridors should be more uplifting and welcoming, while raising money for the benefit of patients. As a result,…

DRS Facilities Management, a Swansea-based company that provides specialist engineering solutions to the facilities management sector, has appointed a new managing director.  [aoa id=”1″]Mark Phillips started his new role with DRS in July 2018. Originally from Swansea, he previously worked as project director at Honeywell, and boasts over 30 years’ experience in electrical, IT services and building services control. He is a qualified electrical engineer with a degree in IT and has worked across the UK providing expertise in IT infrastructure installations. His work spans from projects at Heathrow and Stanstead airports to one of the largest pharmaceutical projects in…

Multi-disciplinary business advisory firm Greenaway Scott Group has appointed a new head of its Swansea office, topping off a year of “unprecedented” growth. [aoa id=”1″] Leanne Thomas, who is an associate director within the firm, has been appointed to oversee the office, lead the expanding team and continue to drive growth going forwards. Miss Thomas has been integral to the success of the firm’s Swansea office since she joined in 2017. She is the lead advisor for many of the office’s West Wales based clients, including internationally renowned medical advisory company The Bevan Commission, and has completednumerous lucrative investment rounds…

M&S stores across South Wales have partnered with Macmillan for the ninth year to support local people living with cancer. [aoa id=”1″] M&S stores in Cardiff will host a Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Mornings alongside colleagues across the country to bring communities together and raise crucial funds to help people with cancer live life as fully as they can. Last year, stores in South Wales raised over £66,000 to fund Macmillan professional roles in local hospitals and within the local community, such as nurses, occupational therapists and dieticians. Local M&S stores will join forces again this year, along with M&S…

Transport Secretary Ken Skates has stepped in to improve the efficiency of the UK Border for arriving passengers at Cardiff Airport. It comes after the UK Government deemed the national airport for Wales ineligible for financial assistance. [aoa id=”1″]A Welsh Government safety and security grant of £1million will enable the purchase and installation of latest-technology e-gates, which allow travellers with biometric passports to move quickly through border checks and avoid long waits for manual document inspections. They will be installed and fully operational by March 2019. Although Cardiff Airport was one of the first airports in the UK to introduce…

A Gwynedd town’s network of CCTV cameras run by local volunteers has had its biggest success when it tracked a thief stealing £38,000 of goods from a Barmouth business. [aoa id=”1″] It is just one of the crime-fighting triumphs that has turned the seaside resort into one of the most law-abiding in North Wales. The 48 ‘eyes in the sky’ run by Gwarchod Bermo Watch have seen crime detection in the town rise by 70 per cent and attracted a £2,500 grant from North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones. He visited the town at the height of the…

A group of green-fingered youngsters and pensioners have joined forces to give a blooming marvellous makeover to a housing estate in Llandudno. [aoa id=”1″] Members of Llandudno Youth Club were recruited for an intergenerational planting project with older tenants to add a splash of colour in St Andrew’s Avenue. They filled around 30 flower tubs with begonias, marigolds and a host of bedding plants at the estate which is managed by housing association Cartrefi Conwy. The scheme came about as a result of a partnership between Cartrefi Conwy, North Wales Police and the youth club. [/aoa] According to Nerys Veldhuizen,…

A couple from Rhyl, North Wales, cycled 360 miles from London to Amsterdam, to raise over £2,100 for the national disability charity, Sense. 42-year-old Lee Bailey and 44-year-old Natalie Bailey, were inspired to raise money for Sense, who have been supporting their 16-year-old daughter, Megan, who has global developmental delay and is visually impaired. The charity has helped Megan with her educational needs in the last decade, and arranged summer holidays for the family, enabling Megan to take part in activities and make new connections. The couple departed from Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London on Wednesday 29 August and…