Author: Rhys Gregory

Work has completed on the final phase of The Mill development, with the last 157 homes of the 800-home initiative now finished. The £150m development, which has spanned over 10 years since the first phase began in 2014, has been funded by Principality Commercial, the commercial lending arm of Wales’ largest building society, and delivered in partnership with Welsh Government, Tirion Homes, Lovell and Cadwyn Housing Association. Formerly the Arjo Wiggins paper mill site, half of the 800 homes were built specifically for affordable rent through Tirion Homes, including 75 made available as social housing. A total of 358 properties…

A PIONEER in electronics manufacturing is targeting growth and new markets with the support of a university business scheme. Based in Deeside, RAM Innovations has benefited from Bangor University’s Skills and Innovation Voucher (SIV) Scheme, which offers companies in Gwynedd, Anglesey and Flintshire an opportunity to collaborate through the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund. The organisation – which provides services and products to the semiconductor and electronics industries globally, including expertise in embedded die packaging (EDP) – received two vouchers. The first was to conduct academic research with the University’s Biocomposites Centre and Materials Scientist Dr Athanasios Dimitriou, on creating a non-toxic…

A syndicate of 20 business angels led by lead investor Simon Bell has invested £250,000 in the first small business finance assistant powered by Gen AI. The equity investment has been match-funded with a further £250,000 from the Development Bank of Wales’ Wales Angel Co-investment Fund. Founded in August 2023 by Nick Carlton and Dan Mines, Menna.ai helps small business owners to make better financial decisions by combining generative AI with rich real-time data. Nick was previously Chief Product Officer for Confused.com and Coincover while Dan was Chief Information Officer for Admiral Money and Chief Product Officer for European open…

A Rhondda man has been jailed for rape and possessing indecent images. Mathew Pugh, 40, raped a woman while she was unable to consent in July, 2023. Security staff working at a premises near to where the rape happened, contacted police with concerns for the vulnerable victim after seeing her on CCTV. Officers arrived within minutes and found the victim upset. Mathew Pugh was still in the area and was arrested and following an investigation charged with rape. An application for remand was made by South Wales Police which was granted by the court. When Pugh raped his victim, he…

A new weekend ‘Academi for Young Musicians’ has been launched by the music service for Cardiff & Vale, CF Music Education. Developed by, and run in partnership with, tutors with experience of delivering youth music activities at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the new weekly sessions form part of Cardiff Council’s Music Strategy, which aims to put music at the heart of the city’s development and provide a pipeline of new talent for the sector. Council Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas, said: “Access to high quality music education from an early age can provide so many opportunities for Cardiff’s…

Thousands of runners will take part in next weekend’s(note: Sun, Sept 15)Admiral Swansea Bay 10k on Sunday September 15. The 43rd staging of the annual Swansea Bay 10k goes under starters’ orders at 11am on Sunday, and thousands of spectators will see around 5,000 runners take part. Crowds are likely to start gathering at around 8.30am. A number of other races will take place, including 1k and 3k races for juniors, a Mascot race and a 10k wheelchair race. Registration to take part in the event is now closed. Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s cabinet member for investment, regeneration and tourism,…

Work towards a brighter future for Swansea Airport has taken a big step forward. New operator the Swansea Airport Stakeholders’ Alliance (SASA) started work at the facility on Friday after high-level talks with land owner Swansea Council. SASA has taken on the Fairwood Common facility on a temporary basis, with the previous leaseholder agreeing to relinquish its lease. The airport will continue to operate and the council will soon begin a process to find a long-term tenant. Council leader Rob Stewart said: “We’re delighted to have the alliance in place as a temporary new leaseholder. They’ve started running the airport and its members are eager to be successful.” Council joint deputy…

Final arrangements are being put in place for Neath’s historic Great September Fair – one of the oldest chartered fairs in Europe. The iconic fair is made up of two main events, the Fun Fair at Milland Road Car Park and the Street Fair which takes place in the streets in the centre of Neath. The 2024 Street Fair, featuring around 80 stalls, runs this year from Wednesday, September 11th to Saturday, September 14th and the Fun Fair, run as usual by the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain, runs from Tuesday, September 10th to Saturday, September 14th. Traders from all…

After a fantastic summer of sport, nominations are now open for Pembrokeshire’s own celebration of sporting achievement. The prestigious Sport Pembrokeshire Awards 2024 will be held at Folly Farm on Friday November 29th and nominations for the 13 award categories open today (Monday 9th September). The categories recognise the sporting achievements of individuals and teams and the dedication of volunteers and coaches in community sport. Cllr Rhys Sinnett, Council Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, said the Sport Pembrokeshire judging panel had received record nominations over recent years and hoped that would continue. “It has been fantastic to see so many…

A brand new building and external spaces have been opened at Glenboi Community Primary School at the start of the new academic year – to greatly improve its childcare setting and enhance the outdoor play facilities for pupils. The exciting project in Mountain Ash has been made possible thanks to significant funding support being secured from Welsh Government, via its Childcare and Early Years Capital Programme. The project has demolished an older building and replaced it with a new-build that contains excellent facilities – a modern and vibrant play space, an office, a staff kitchen, a food preparation area, and…