Author: Rhys Gregory

Major plans to invest £1.3 billion in 11 transformational projects across South West Wales have taken another big step forward. [aoa id=”1″] The Swansea Bay City Deal’s Joint Committee formally met for the first time on Friday August 31 at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Carmarthen to agree a range of measures aimed at further progressing the City Deal. Taking over from a Shadow Joint Committee that had been in place until this stage, Joint Committee was legally created at the meeting. This means the newly-established Joint Committee can now make formal decisions to continue to drive…

The Nation Radio Cardiff 10K and the family 2K run will take place this Sunday. The family 2K run will start at 9.15am and the 10K run will begin at 10am. [aoa id=”1″] The new route for the 10K race will start on King Edward V11 Avenue, with the runners turning left onto Corbett Road before turning left onto North Road towards the city centre. Those competing will then run up Duke Street, onto Castle Street before turning left down Westgate Street; right onto Wood Street before running up Fitzhammon Embankment. The competitors will then turn left into Dispenser Gardens,…

After a selection and tendering process, Neath Port Talbot Council has announced it will appoint Kier Construction to carry out the next phase of the ambitious redevelopment of Neath’s town centre. [aoa id=”1″] Kier will build retail units on the site of Neath’s now demolished old multi-storey car park to provide space for new national and independent retailers to complement those already trading in the town. The first phase of Neath’s re-development saw the construction of the landmark, 600-space new multi-storey car park which replaced the old multi-storey facility together with a large Wilko superstore. Kier wlll now start work…

TWO special trains have been confirmed to give football fans from north Wales the chance to get to Cardiff for Wales’ next two matches. [aoa id=”1″] Ryan Giggs’ men take on the Republic of Ireland on Thursday, 6th September in the new Nations League. And the following month they take on former World Champions Spain in a high profile friendly. Working in partnership with the Football Association of Wales, Arriva Trains Wales is running special trains for fans from north Wales down to Cardiff and back after both matches at Cardiff City Stadium. [/aoa] The move was welcomed by the…

Techniquest is set to take one giant leap into space exploration thanks to a special project marking the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The educational charity, based in Cardiff Bay, is developing a bespoke show for the centre’s Planetarium to mark the historic event, thanks to new funding from a leading government body. [aoa id=”1″] [/aoa] Techniquest has been awarded £6000 from the Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) to celebrate the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission in 2019. The funds will be used to develop the innovative new show, which will take visitors on a…

According to recent figures by Prudential, 43% of self-employed people in the UK do not have a private pension.

Swansea has become the first city in Wales to benefit from the free InLinkUK from BT service, which already has more than 148,000 subscribers across the UK. It offers the UK’s fastest free public wi-fi plus a range of digital services, including local council and community information. The first 11 InLinks have been installed in and around Swansea’s city centre and will provide ultrafast wi-fi speeds of up to one gigabit per second (1Gbps), the fastest free public wi-fi service available in the UK. The InLinks also provide free phone calls to UK landlines and mobiles, rapid mobile device charging,…

The economic benefit of tourism in Denbighshire is continuing to grow. [aoa id=”1″] The latest STEAM economic impact figures show that in 2017 tourism brought £490.35million into the local economy, an increase of 2.3 per cent on 2016, and of 70 per cent since 2007. Last year tourism supported 6,231 jobs in Denbighshire, while 5.93m people visited the county, an increase of 25 per cent since 2007, for a total of 11.58m days. The number of visitors to the coast increased to 3.16m, as did the number of visitor days spent (6.92m) and the number of staying visitors (900,000). [/aoa]…

Rhug Farm Shop has joined forces with Conwy-based Baravelli to give customers an opportunity to win a hand-crafted unique milk chocolate egg with the Rhug Crest on it, worth £200. Husband and wife team Emma and Mark Baravelli have been hand crafting delicious chocolate for nine years and have been recognised as crafting something very special with a tally of over 40 prestigious food awards. They have created unique chocolate designs for Harrods in London as well as to mark special occasions such as the RAF’s 100 years. [aoa id=”1″] [/aoa] Originally trained in fashion design, Emma’s artistic talents are…

Companies in Wales reported the highest levels of confidence in their own business outlook for six months during August, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. [aoa id=”1″] Asked about prospects for their own business, 30 per cent said they expect trading to increase in the next 12 months, up 20 per cent on July. Overall business confidence in Wales also rose by five points during August to 22 per cent. That optimism impacted employment forecasts, with 14 per cent of firms expecting to increase staffing levels in the next year, up four points on last…