Author: Rhys Gregory

A North Wales bakery has been honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise after achieving record overseas sales. The prestigious award was bestowed on the Wrexham-based Jones Village Bakery for its spectacular short-term growth in exports over the past three years. Recent successes have included breaking into new markets in Australia, the Middle East, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Norway. Eighteen months ago, the firm’s growing global reputation earned it a lucrative contract to supply pancakes to Australia after investing £2 million in a new, state-of-the-art pancake production line. The initial agreement was to supply three types of American-style pancakes,…

A housing association has launched a plan to help stem the tide of rural depopulation in north Wales. Grŵp Cynefin, which operates across the six counties of north Wales and north Powys, has revealed it’s intending to build 300 new homes by 2028. Central to its newly-launched  corporate plan  is to increase the stock of affordable housing, boost the local economy and support the Welsh language at the same time. The strategy, called A Place to Belong, also includes decarbonising thousands of existing homes. That process has started already with £12 million being spent on green, energy saving measures in…

Small importers have warned that reciprocal tariffs on the US market would “wreck” their business plans, research by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows. The UK’s largest business group has today published data that shows how 1 in 3 (33%) would scale back orders if the UK Government strikes back and taxes goods headed from the US for UK customers. This comes after President Donald Trump imposed 10 per cent tariffs on almost all UK goods, alongside massive 25 per cent tariffs on steel and cars, sparking fears the UK Government could hit back with tariffs of its own. If reciprocal tariffs…

A Cardiff-based project management, quantity surveyor and cost consultancy practice has announced record results for the first full year of trading following a shareholder buyout in 2023. TC Consult has recorded its most successful financial year to date [year ending January 2025] in its 19-year history, achieving a turnover of £904,000 – a 12% increase on the previous year – while maintaining a strong EBITDA margin. The company, known for its expertise in project management and quantity surveying, has attributed the record-breaking performance to enhanced customer relationships and continued investment in innovation and talent. In the past year, the consultancy…

A father from Caerphilly is raising money for Tŷ Hafan to thank them for their ongoing support through the most difficult time of his life. Ashley Murphy, 33, tragically lost his daughter Mila in August last year. She passed away in hospital when she was just five days old. Since then, the children’s hospice has been working with him, his wife Lauren and five-year-old son Quin, to help them through some of their darkest days. He’s now taking on some incredible challenges – including running the Brecon Carreg Porthcawl 10K in July and the Cardiff Half Marathon in October –…

Digital agency, Dark Arts, is harnessing the power of AI to preserve and enhance the digital visibility of culturally significant Welsh music catalogues that are at risk of being lost in today’s algorithm-driven era, where engagement and revenue are dependent on streaming platforms and social media. Through the Creative Wales funded Optimise Music Wales project, Wales-based Dark Arts is deploying its purpose-built digital tools and industry best practises to increase the visibility of 20 of Wales’ most storied musicians, including Tom Jones, Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals, and Charlotte Church. Artists with vast, culturally significant catalogues face an…

The Green Lady in Caerphilly has been named the UK’s Smartest Pub in the first week of The Marston’s Big Pub Quiz, winning £1,000 for Disability Can Do Marston’s has teamed up with Paddy McGuinness on a search for the UK’s smartest pub. Marston’s Big Pub Quiz welcomed locals into over 200 pubs across the country to put their general knowledge to the test, for the first week on Thursday 1st May. Locals at The Green Lady in Caerphilly came out on top, securing the title of this week’s Smartest Pub in the UK, with an average player score of…

The RSPCA is encouraging young photographers in Wales to enter its prestigious photo competition to showcase their talent and love of animals and nature – as last two winners have hailed from Wales. The RSPCA Young Photographer Awards has now opened for entries (Tuesday 6 May) and will close on 13 August. Last year, more than 4,000 children and young people with a passion for photography, animals and nature entered the competition. Now budding photographers aged 18 years and under are being asked to submit their photos capturing the animal kingdom on a camera or mobile device as the competition officially…

The Welsh food and drink industry has made a significant impact recently at FHA, Food and Beverage, Singapore. Asia’s premier food and hospitality event featured a showcase of the best of Welsh produce, along with wider activities from the Culinary Association of Wales, resulting in substantial interest from buyers across the region. The event featured a range of exhibitors, including Dairy Partners and Morning Foods, with both flying the flag for Welsh products available in the region. Located in Singapore, FHA, Food and Beverage, is strategically positioned as a gateway to Asia, offering access to key markets including south-east Asia,…

A man from Carmarthenshire has been jailed after he was convicted of sexual offences against two separate victims. 37-year-old Geoffrey Jones, from Llanelli, was under investigation for separate allegations by a victim when they disclosed that they had been raped by Jones on several occasions between 2017 and 2019. At the same time, another victim reinstated their case, wherein an attempted rape took place during a night out in Swansea in 2015. Jones has been convicted of four counts of rape in relation to one victim and one count of attempted rape and digital penetration in relation to his other…