Author: Rhys Gregory

COLEG CAMBRIA launched a state-of-the-art new training kitchen in partnership with The Savoy Educational Trust. The cutting-edge facility was part-funded by the Trust and is located alongside Iâl Restaurant in the college’s £21m Hafod building in Wrexham. Officially unveiled by Vikki Howells MS, Minister for Further and Higher Education, the ‘inclusive kitchen’ reinforces Cambria’s commitment to deliver accessible opportunities for all and help train the next generation of professionals in the hospitality sector. Maria Stevens, Head of Commercial Operations at Coleg Cambria, said: “We are proud to celebrate our partnership with the Savoy Educational Trust, a collaboration that has helped bring…

Swansea Building Society has achieved the highest growth in total assets and saving balances in its history, supported by record profits. The Society achieved double digit growth in its total assets, mortgages, savings and capital for the fourth year running, despite the difficult economic environment. For the year to December 31, 2024, total assets and savings both grew by 14%, while mortgages grew by 11%. Total assets increased by £86.7m to £693.7 million and savings balances increased by £81.8 million to £647.3 million, while mortgage balances grew by £52.3million to £530.1 million, driven by gross mortgage completions of £111.0 million.…

Scuffed Up, a family-run automotive accident repair business in Swansea has plans set on expansion after saving jobs placed at risk by the closure of a national chain’s Swansea location. With the support of Business Wales, the body and paint repair shop is now driving forward its ambitious growth plans after taking over premises and saving jobs when a local branch of a national chain branch faced closure. Tom Maunder had been working for at the branch facing closure when his family stepped in with the buyout in 2017 to ensure the prevention of staff redundancies. A move that saw…

Police are continuing to investigate the murder of Joanne Penney following a shooting in Talbot Green on Sunday evening. Police were called to an address at Llys Illtyd at 6.10pm on Sunday, March 9, where Joanne was found seriously injured having been shot to the chest. Despite the best efforts of emergency services, she died at the scene. A 42-year-old local man who was arrested on Sunday night, March 9, remains in police custody. On Monday, March 10, four more people were arrested in the Leicestershire Police force area in connection to the incident – a 21-year-old woman from Oadby,…

A Flintshire man has been jailed for taking sexualised images of a child. Nicholas Cummins, 39, of Hafan Glyd, Shotton, took images of the child partially clothed at a derelict former hospital site in Denbigh, telling her the images would be used to win a competition. Following police investigations, he was found to have more than 8,000 indecent images of children on his devices, including images of two other victims. Despite admitting making indecent images, he denied inciting a child to engage in sexual activity but was convicted by a jury at Mold Crown Court in January. He appeared before…

Extra trains are being put on to allow Welsh football supporters to get home from a key World Cup qualifier this month. Wales take on Kazakhstan in their first match in group J on Saturday 22 March at 19:45 in Cardiff, hoping to book a place at the 2026 World Cup finals. To support the event, Transport for Wales is running additional trains to north Wales from Cardiff and also extra trains to support the Wrexham v Stockport match in League 1 on the same day. Supporters from north Wales got a further boost as pre-planned engineering works that weekend…

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has committed to investing in Education, Social Care, its towns, villages and highway network after the 2025/26 budget was agreed at a meeting of all Councillors. Around 71 per cent of a £331 million budget will go on schools and Social Services to meet growing demand in these areas. But money will also be spent on improving roads, repairing potholes and upgrading public spaces to offer residents better quality of life and more opportunities. More than £4.5 million has been allocated for highway enhancements, while the Council recently secured £20 million of Levelling Up money…

Nominations for this year’s Mayor of Neath Port Talbot Citizen Awards, which recognise unsung heroes from across NPT who make a real difference to our communities, close at midday on Wednesday, March 19th, 2025. Kindly supported by Trade Centre Wales and Tata Steel UK, the eagerly awaited event takes place at The Orangery, Margam Country Park, on Friday April 4th, 2025. Tata Steel UK Public Affairs and Community Manager, Lewis Clark, said: “Tata Steel UK is thrilled to once again be a main sponsor of the Mayor of Neath Port Talbot Citizen Awards, which are a         …

Newport’s new leisure centre will provide a strong foundation for the health and wellbeing of residents. And work to create strong foundations for the building has begun. Following several weeks of preparatory work on the site, the latest stage of the construction involves piling work for the new centre’s foundations. Due to be opened to the public next year, the new centre will include a modern leisure pool, with fun elements including a “lazy river”, slides and play equipment, as well as a teaching pool for children’s swimming lessons and exercise sessions. It will also have modern changing facilities, a…

Three high street banks have achieved special recognition as part of a Welsh Government scheme to protect payments to SMEs on large scale public sector construction projects. Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds have all been declared Nominated Service Providers, after meeting new criteria for the Project Bank Accounts (PBA) initiative. PBAs are ring-fenced bank accounts which ensure supply chain construction businesses involved in public sector schemes receive payment in five days or less. This helps ease cash flow when traditional payment timescales for subcontractors not using PBA’s can be up to 90 days. PBAs also protect payments against insolvency. SME’s using…