Author: Rhys Gregory

A new supported employment programme from Bridgend County Borough and delivered by Whitehead Ross Education has seen businesses from across the region come together in a collaborative effort to help boost employment across the county. Quickstart is a 22-week paid work placement funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund aimed at supporting local people aged 16+ who are unemployed. The programme, being delivered by Whitehead Ross Education, is designed to help local people gain valuable experience, enhance their employability skills and increase their chances of securing permanent employment. The programme will support up to 100 participants over the next…

Swansea-based Lyte Ladders (Lyte) has secured additional funding from Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance to support its ambitious sustainability initiative. Its current facility will be expanded by £275,000, taking the overall Group facility to £6.35m. Specialising in premium-grade aluminium and glass fibre ladders and other access equipment, Lyte previously secured funding from Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance, firstly in 2019 to support an investment by private equity house BREAL. More recently it secured funding to support its merger with leading ladder manufacturer, LFI. Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance provides facilities to businesses at a set Loan to Value ratio of…

A local housebuilder has received planning permission from Carmarthen County Council to construct 123 new zero-carbon ready homes in Carmarthen. Persimmon West Wales, alongside its sister company Charles Church, will build the quality new homes on land it acquired with outline planning permission for 250 properties, adjacent to its Parc Y Fron site north-west of the old St David’s Hospital off Ffordd Pendre, where it secured full planning permission for another 93 homes last year. Together, both estates form a strategic site for the local authority in the area. A further reserved matters application will be brought forward in the…

Welsh firms signalled a fall in output at the start of the second half of the year, according to the NatWest Wales Growth Tracker. The headline Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – registered 48.3, down from 49.7 in June to indicate a modest decline in output at Welsh firms. Anecdotal evidence attributed the downturn to previously subdued customer demand. July data signalled a return to growth of new business at Welsh private sector firms, following a modest decline in June. A…

Ukrainian literature will be brought to a global audience of millions once more in a renewed digital partnership between Ukraine’s largest literature festival, Lviv BookForum, and leading charity and international ideas platform, Hay Festival Global. Taking place 3–6 October, Lviv BookForum 2024 aims to create a civic space for a free and tolerant exchange of ideas between writers and readers around the world. In the third year of Russian full-scale invasion, Lviv BookForum will use up-to-date experience of Ukrainians to speak about slavery and the post-colonial experience, the impact of public activism, gender issues and in general how the actions…

Award-winning Mallows Bottling is ramping up production with a significant seven-figure equity investment by the Development Bank of Wales that will more than treble capacity and create 18 new jobs. Established in 2021 by Directors Andrew Mallows and his 28 year-old son Rhys, the Tonyrefail-based manufacturing business provides contract bottling for leading retailers in the international spirits and soft drink industry.  Their 30,000 sq. ft purpose-built bonded facility is accredited with the British Retail Consortium and can fill up to 90 million bottles a year. The investment by the Development Bank will be used to fund the purchase of  a…

Llandovery is set to host a diverse array of brand new theatre productions, created by prominent Welsh writers and theatre makers specifically for unexpected locations within the town centre on Saturday, 28 September 2024. Each production will last 15 minutes and will be held in unique non-theatrical venues throughout Llandovery including a car showroom, a pub beer garden, a fish and chip shop and the castle ruins. Luke Bailey and Ella Peel have created the concept and are organising the event. Both are actors themselves and live locally in the rural town of Carmarthenshire. Luke Bailey said, “The Festival has…

A new radar being built in Scandinavia will be used by researchers at Aberystwyth University to capture three-dimensional measurements of the Northern Lights for the very first time. Dramatic pictures of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) were recently captured across the UK as a significant solar storm struck the Earth’s atmosphere. Space weather forecasters are predicting similar scenes later this week and over the coming months as the Sun nears the most active phase of its eleven-year cycle, the Solar Maximum. Located on three sites across Norway, Sweden and Finland, the new radar array EISCAT_3D is due for completion later…

The Welsh Law Awards are pleased to announce that applications are now open! The Welsh Law Awards recognises the achievements of the Welsh legal sector. The awards are to be held Thursday 17th October at the iconic Hilton Hotel – Cardiff. Now in their fifth year, the awards have added a number of new categories to reflect the growth of the legal sector. Sara Edwards, one of Welsh Television and Radio’s most popular presenters returns to host the Welsh Law Awards. The categories for the 2024 Welsh Law Awards are: Commercial Law Services of the Year Employment Law Services of…

A man and a woman have today been jailed for a total of 48 years for murder.  Lauren Harris, 29, of no fixed abode but originally from the Llandudno area, and David Webster, 43, of Lacey Street, Widnes murdered 65-year-old Mark Wilcox at his home in Colwyn Bay on November 20th last year.  They both appeared before Mold Crown Court today, where they were both sentenced to life in prison.  Harris must serve a minimum of 25 years imprisonment and Webster must serve a minimum term of 23 years before they will be eligible to apply for parole.  Senior Investigating…