Author: Rhys Gregory

The winner of the Wales Technology Awards 2024, Optimise-AI has secured a significant six-figure investment led with equity of £300,000 from the Development Bank of Wales alongside £320,000 from seven angel investors and £120,000 from co-investors Carbon13. Established in 2023 by Prof Yacine Rezgui as lead inventor and Chief Executive Nick Tune, former Global Technical Engineering Director at ATKINSRealis and Commissioner for the National Infrastructure in Wales, Optimise-AI is a spin-out of Cardiff University that has developed AI software to optimise energy and carbon management of non-domestic buildings. Optimise-AI was selected by Carbon13 to take part in its prestigious venture…

Wales’ first regenerative ocean farm, Câr-Y-Môr, has purchased The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company. The purchase, completed on July 4, 2024 and announced this week at The Royal Welsh Show, will expand Câr-Y-Môr’s selection of seaweed and shellfish products with an exciting new range of seaweed deli produce. The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company was founded in 2012 by local entrepreneur Jonathan Williams, inspired by his love of food, the beach, and the sea. Its deli products grew from recipes created at Café Mor, the award-winning solar-powered mobile street food kitchen Jonathan set up in 2010. Over the years, The Pembrokeshire Beach…

Occupier demand for commercial property in Wales fell in Q2 after rising through the first quarter of the year according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Commercial Property Monitor as the industrial sector continues to outperform both office and retail. A net balance of -17% of surveyors in Wales reported that occupier demand fell at all-sector level through the second quarter of the year. Looking at the subsectors, demand for both office and retail space was reported to have declined, with net balances of -25% and -27% respectively. Occupier demand for industrial space was noted to have…

Rhodri Thomas has been appointed as the new Head of British Heart Foundation (BHF) Cymru, where he will lead the charity’s operations and activities throughout Wales. Rhodri joined The British Heart Foundation in 2017 and has held a variety of roles in Wales and across the UK and brings a wealth of experience to the role, which Rhodri held on an interim basis in 2022/23. On his appointment, Rhodri said: “I’m delighted and excited to be taking up this latest role at BHF Cymru at a time when our lifesaving work has never been more needed.  I joined the BHF…

Welsh Government have this week confirmed a review into the regulation and enforcement of spreading of organic materials on land in Wales. The objective of the review is to consider the current regulatory frameworks and identify ways in which they – and their application – could be strengthened to improve river water quality. Alongside this is a specific review of the anaerobic digestion (AD) industry, including its impacts on water quality. These reviews will complement the planned four yearly review of the Control of the Agricultural Pollution Regulations by considering the wider regulatory framework. The announcement has been welcomed by…

Members, families, and friends of Cwmtrwch RFC will embark on a final push this week to walk or run 2,013 miles (a distance representing the charity’s founding year) in July in aid of the charity Popham Kidney Support. Cwmtwrch Rugby Club, established in 1890 and based in the Upper Swansea Valley, is a storied Welsh rugby union team. Known for its rich history and numerous achievements, the club currently fields a Senior XV competing in the WRU West Central 5 division. Every year, the club selects a charity to receive proceeds from its fundraising efforts. This year, their partnership with…

An Abergavenny man has been disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years after he was caught on camera beating his dog. Matthew Luke Russell of Underhill Crescent, Abergavenny, appeared at Newport Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 23 July for a trial. He faced two offences, in that he caused unnecessary suffering to a pitbull type dog called Brad, by inflicting blunt force trauma and physical violence, and secondly caused unnecessary suffering to a pitbull type dog called Mercy (pictured) by failing to provide veterinary care and attention for her chronic ear disease. Russell pleaded guilty to the first offence (on 23…

A new interactive multimedia exhibition which will run at Bangor University’s arts and innovation centre, Pontio between 8-18 August will invite the public to consider how we see the landscape around us based on what we know about it and who is telling us about it. Through archive material, art, and sound, the ‘Changing Eryri’ exhibition in Pontio’s White Box will explore how our perception of a landscape such as Eryri can evolve, depending on who is in charge of the narrative and how that makes us feel. Focused within the boundaries of the historic Penrhyn Estate, the exhibition forms…

Funding worth close to £330,000 is helping to boost high street businesses across Swansea. Businesses in the city centre, Gowerton, Winch Wen and Morriston are among those benefiting from Swansea Council grants through the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund. Funding that’s been made available to 31 high street businesses includes pre-start grants, website development grants, growth grants and carbon reduction grants. Among the businesses benefiting from growth grants are Grandad Needs His Medicine –  a sandwich shop based on Oxford Street; XP Gaming Bar on Castle Street; the No 18 Vegan Café Bar on Brynymor Road; the Brew and Bloom…

South Wales Police is looking for thieves who took two metal plaques from the Memorial Gates at the entrance to Neath’s Gnoll Estate Country Park. The marble gates and series of plaques which form the memorial commemorate those from the area who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. A council spokesman said: “This is a despicable crime – a heritage crime – and one which shows complete disrespect for the local armed service personnel who bravely gave their lives in the wars. “We would appeal to anyone who knows anything about the disappearance of these plaques…