Author: Rhys Gregory

The new works will be among the highlights of the critically-acclaimed Bangor Music Festival which gets under way at the city’s Pontio centre on Friday, February 8. According to the festival’s artistic director, Dr Guto Pryderi Puw, a senior lecturer in music and Head of Composition at Bangor University, the two-day event will be a unique opportunity to explore some new and stimulating music. A number of the new scores written by university music students will be performed with high-energy boomwhackers – lightweight, hollow, colour-coded, plastic tubes which are tuned to a musical pitch by length. Dr Puw said: “The…

Swansea BID (Business Improvement District) has appointed a new ambassador, who will be a champion for the BID area businesses, giving further support by listening to their concerns and views, in a move designed to help the City Centre flourish. Kate Williams, who has a background in retail and hospitality, and is an experienced youth worker in Swansea, steps into the role at a pivotal time for the City Centre – with its ongoing regeneration making a positive mark upon the area. Kate’s focus is to get out and about every week and regularly meet with the 800-plus BID area…

As we enter the dreary month of January following the festivities of the Christmas period, most of us have probably set ourselves some new goals or targets to aspire to in 2019. [aoa id=”1″] Whether these goals have been part of an overly ambitious New Year’s Resolution to change your life or be a new you – or even part of a less ambitious aim of having a ‘dry’ January – we all know that very often we never actually achieve our goals. Whilst we may have the best of intentions to change something in our lives, we know from…

The quartet clinched their final places at the Welsh International Culinary Championships (WICC) at Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, Rhos-on-Sea on February 28 after closely fought semi-finals at NPTC Group of Colleges in Newtown. Oliver Thompson, 20, from The Bull, Beaumaris and Thomas Martin, 22, a sous chef at 13 Market Street, Caerphilly, who were Junior Chef of Wales finalists last year, will get a second chance to win the coveted title. Joining them will be Sion Hughes, 20, Carden Park, Chester and Daniel Britton, 21, from Celtic Manor Resort, Newport. The other semi-finalists were Calum Smith, 17, and James Jarvis, 18, from…

South Wales Police is appealing for witnesses following a fatal collision in Maerdy, Rhondda, yesterday morning (Sunday 13 January, 2019). Officers were called to the scene on Oxford Street shortly after 8.30am, after a white Ford Transit van collided with a parked Iveco Daily van. Despite the efforts of the emergency services, the 73-year-old driver of the Transit died at the scene. His family have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers. Anyone who witnessed the collision, or saw the van being driven along Oxford Street prior to it, is asked to contact the Road Policing Unit…

The latest NatWest Wales PMI® data signalled a further loss of growth momentum in December, with business activity increasing at the slowest rate in the current 29-month sequence of expansion. At the same time, new business growth eased to only a fractional pace that was below the UK average. Softer client demand meanwhile led staffing numbers to increase at the slowest rate for five months and backlogs contracted further. Ongoing Brexit uncertainty weighed on business confidence, which remained subdued in the context of the series history and below the UK average. The headline Wales Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted…

The Welsh Government is working with global technology company Thales to establish a £20m cyber centre which will sit at the heart of its Tech Valleys programme, Economy Minister Ken Skates has announced. [aoa id=”1″] The National Digital Exploitation Centre (NDEC) will be the first research and development facility of its kind in Wales, and will provide the perfect setting for SMEs and microbusinesses to test and develop their digital concepts. It will also provide a research lab in which big multi nationals can develop major technology advances and will connect Wales to major tech centres across the UK and globally.…

The fifth annual Cardiff Business Awards have launched, with businesses across the capital being given the opportunity to gain recognition for their achievements over the last 12 months. Launched in 2015, the Cardiff Business Awards have grown in prestige and importance to become firmly established as one of the leading business awards, not just in Cardiff, but throughout the whole of Wales. Luis Sanz, Managing Director of Celsa Steel UK, winner of the overall Business of the Year 2018, commented: “Hard work and perseverance. If the basic core of your business idea is good, these two things will deliver success.”…

An award-winning Swansea student has pledged to use his experience to help others progress towards success in their future careers. [aoa id=”1″] Student nurse Sam Richards won the nurse title at this year’s prestigious Student Leadership Programme Awards run by the Council of Deans of Health and the Burdett Trust for Nursing with judges praising him for demonstrating outstanding leadership skills. Now Sam intends to continue to use those talents by signing up to join the advisory panel for Swansea University’s new Student Leadership Academy (SLA) which is being developed by Beryl Mansel, senior nursing lecturer with the College…

An accountant from a Cwmbran firm has been given the Emma Linton Memorial Award in recognition of her outstanding exam results. Kate Fearns, of Green & Co Accountants and Tax Advisors, received the prestigious award from the University of South Wales in Newport, after her impressive ACCA exam results. This is the fifth time an employee of the firm has received a special award in the space of five years. Speaking on behalf of the firm, Partner Barrie Kenyon said: “Once again we are thrilled that a member of our team has been recognised by the ACCA. Kate has been…