Government announces help for retailers

Economy Minister Edwina Hart has announced the Welsh Government has extended and enhanced the Wales Retail Relief scheme for 2015-16 to help retail businesses cut up to £1500 off their rates bill.

 

orth Wales South East Wales South West Wales Last year more than10,500 retailers benefited from the scheme which cut annual rates bills by up to £1000.

Edwina Hart is encouraging eligible retail, food and drink businesses to take advantage of the additional savings offered in the current financial year by the Wales Retail Relief scheme.

The Minister said: “The Welsh Government introduced Wales Retail Relief last year to help retailers across Wales, many of which were experiencing difficult trading conditions. I am pleased that more than 10,500 businesses benefited from reduced rates that helped cut their costs and improved their bottom line.

“I hope many more businesses will take advantage of the extended and enhanced scheme that we have launched this year and I would encourage them to contact their local authorities that are administering the scheme on behalf of the Welsh Government.

“Our town and village centres need successful traders and Wales Retail Relief contributes to the package of Welsh Government support aimed at developing vibrant and sustainable town centres.”

Ratepayers that stand to benefit from this relief will be occupying properties that have a rateable value of £50,000 or less, that are wholly or mainly being used as retail premises - shops, restaurants, cafes and drinking establishments.

The relief is available until 31 March 2016 and offers up to £1,500 subject to state aid limits. Business that benefited from relief last year can also apply for the current relief.

The announcement came during High Street Week, the highlight of the Welsh Government’s ‘Support Your High Street’ campaign, which encourages people to make use of the excellent shops and businesses available on their doorstep.

* Detailed guidance is available on our website here: Wales Retail Relief.

Concerns over self-catering businesses raised by AM

Speaking in the Assembly Chamber this week, North Wales AM Mark Isherwood has twice raised the concerns of North Wales businesses that  Welsh Government proposals for changes to the non-domestic rating of self-catering businesses will have “horrendous unintended consequences for truly genuine Welsh businesses”.

 

Mr Isherwood (pictured below) raised the matter in this week’s Business Statement, and the following day with the Economy Minister.   

Speaking in the Business Statement he said: “Could I ask you to bring to the Chamber the Welsh Government’s proposals for changes to the non-domestic rating of self-catering businesses in Wales before you lay your proposed Order on this, expected imminently, certainly before Christmas?

 

“You will be, no doubt, aware that the Wales Association of Self Catering Operators, the only membership body specifically representing self-catering operators in Wales, has said that any proposed measures enacted by the Welsh Government should enhance the positive contribution self-catering makes to the Welsh economy and that translating the concept of 70 days’ occupancy and 140 days’ availability into firm rules should allow for mitigation in those unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstances where bone fide businesses are unable to meet either criterion for reasons clearly and certifiably outside of their control.

 

“I’ll quote one operator only, although I’ve been deluged from North Wales: ‘The Welsh Government proposals have horrendous unintended consequences for truly genuine Welsh businesses that are beyond their control. It will be the death knell for small self-catering and many other businesses in the heart of rural Wales, especially north Wales.’”

 

The Minister for Finance and Government Business Jane Hutt AM told Mr Isherwood  to write to the Minister for Economy, Science and Transport about this, but the following day Mr Isherwood raised it directly with the Minister in the Chamber.

 

He said:  “In a letter they sent to all AMs on August 31^st, the Wales Association of Self Catering Operators expressed concern about the way the Welsh Government perceives self-catering in Wales and that the Welsh Government is insufficiently aware  that self-catering in Wales is an important business sector in its own right, employing large numbers of people, supporting local suppliers and benefitting local rural economies.”

 

Mr Isherwood added:  “The Minister’s dismissive response was alarming and I will now be writing to her in the hope of a better response. As someone in North Wales with 18 properties told me ‘these are not second homes, this is a letting business.’”

Mind Body and Spirit Fair this weekend

A Mind, Body & Spirit Fair will be held this weekend in the Community Hall next to St Collen's Church in Llangollen.

On both Saturday and Sunday, from 9am-4pm, there will be stalls, free talks.

Admission is free.

Anna buzzing about new ice cream

 

* Launching new Honey ice cream ready for Llangollen festival is Anna Taylor.

 

An ice cream maker is buzzing about a new flavour it's launching.

 

Chilly Cow Ice Cream will be unveiling the honey and lavender variety at the popular Hamper Llangollen food festival on Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18.

 

Anna Taylor who runs the company based at Llanychan, near Ruthin, will be using honey farmed just down the road from her by enthusiastic beekeeper Brian Dacre, a carpenter who makes hand-crafted bee hives as well as farming bees.

 

Anna, who started Chilly Cow Ice Cream just 15 months ago, has seen her business grow from having just a handful of customers to 45 outlets.

 

She said: “Brian’s honey is pure gold, just delicious and there’s big demand for it, plus it’s local to us, so perfect for using in a new flavour of ice cream. I am about to start work on developing it and testing to create a unique new flavour. The idea is to combine it with lavender, which will be an ideal foil for the honey. I plan to launch it at Hamper Llangollen so I can offer foodie lovers the chance to taste it before they buy.”

 

The popular event in Llangollen’s Royal Pavilion is recognised as one of the UK's top 10 food festivals.

 

Cadwyn Clwyd has provided financial support over the past few years to ensure the festival's long term viability, this was funded through the Rural Development Fund for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Welsh Government.

 

The honey and lavender flavour is the latest in a growing range of ice cream produced by Anna in a specially converted building at Stryt Fawr Farm, the family home where her husband, David and his father farm a herd of 75 Brown Swiss diary cows.

 

Anna said: “The Brown Swiss cows produce a rich, creamy milk, with high buttermilk content. It’s great for ice cream. We are so lucky to have them. Their milk makes a far nicer ice cream product than any other. I know I’m biased, but I love it.”

 

The idea to start producing ice cream professionally came after she had a go at it as a dessert for herself and David and their two children, Harry, seven and Ellie, five.

 

Anna said: “We started making a small quantity and it was so delicious that we decided to take the idea further. We looked into production costs, had some batches made up professionally using our milk and recipe and they were so good that we decided to go for it and set up a manufacturing unit here at the farm.”

 

Helped by local authority grants and advice from small business support organisations, the couple converted a former garage into a brand new production unit and it was not long before Anna had become a full time ice cream maker.

 

She said: “I used to have a job as a mortgage advisor and at first I thought I would be able to make ice cream part time and continue with the job I trained for during the rest of the week. But demand grew so quickly that was just impossible.”

 

Anna now has a part time employee who helps with the ice cream manufacturing, while she herself is also there most of the week, as well as taking to the road to distribute her orders across the region on a Friday.

 

She supplies delicatessens, pubs, hotels and food shops from Rossett to Llandudno.

“We also supply the shop at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, which I’m really proud of,” she said.

She also sells ice cream tubs direct from the farm.

 

Her growing flavour range includes traditional favourites such as vanilla, strawberry ripple, and chocolate, more unusual sticky toffee fudge, lemon meringue, chunky chocolate mint, and exotic flavours like mango and passionfruit and cherry cheesecake.

 

She said: “I taste all the flavours myself to make sure they work and I never sell any flavour that I’m not totally happy with. One of our most popular varieties, though, is the one called Just Chilly Cow, which has no additional flavourings at all – it is made purely of our own fantastic milk.”

 

Anna is a big fan of food festivals, like Hamper Llangollen and is also a member of the Clwydian Range Food Trail, which includes small artisan food producers around the region.

 

She said: “It is great to be part of the trail as I get to meet so many other excellent local producers and often we can help each other out by including each other’s links on our websites. Word of mouth also helps spread the news about all our products. That’s why Hamper Llangollen is so good. Once people have tried our ice cream there, they will often go home and tell friends and family about it, which is a great way of getting our brand more widely known.”

 

For more information about Chilly cow range visit www.chillycow.co.uk and for details about Llangollen Food Festival-Hamper Llangollen 2015 visit www.llangollenfoodfestival.com

Aldi has "no news" about taking over Llan supermarket

* Work continues on the new supermarket off the A5.

ALDI says it has “no news” about any possible interest in the new supermarket being built in Llangollen.

And one of the area’s Welsh Assembly Members said he understands talks about a possible tenant for the 34,000 sq ft building off Berwyn Road are continuing.

The two statements obtained by llanblogger come after a week of intense speculation that a bargain retailer would be taking over the store, on the former Dobson & Crowther printworks site, in the wake of Sainsbury’s withdrawal from the scheme earlier this year.

Since then the store giant has been trying to find a tenant.

Word on social media was that it would be Aldi but llanbogger has been unable to have this either confirmed or denied by official sources.

All a spokesperson at the public relations company representing the German-owned company would say was: “I have spoken to Aldi and there is no news on a possible store in Lllangollen.

“Obviously, if this changes I’ll keep you updated, but currently there is nothing to report.”

Clwyd South AM Ken Skates told llanblogger that Sainsbury’s had informed him on Wednesday of last week that they are “continuing to discuss with interested parties.”

llanblogger broke the news back in May that Sainsbury’s had pulled out of plans to take over the new supermarket, dashing hopes for 130 promised jobs.

The company blamed tough trading conditions for the move.

A spokesman said at the time: “Following a review we have decided we will not be going ahead with the store on the site in Llangollen.

“We have not taken this decision lightly and are very disappointed we are not able to open a new shop in Llangollen.”

* llanblogger will continue to look for a definite answer on who the new tenant will be.

AM calls for urgent statement on GP "crisis"

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called for an urgent statement from the Welsh Government on the GP "crisis" facing North Wales.

 

A leading doctor warned this week that more than half of GP surgeries in North Wales are at risk of closing in the next 12 months.

 

Speaking in this week’s Business Statement, Mr Isherwood said: “Can I again raise the very important, critical matter, where the Vice-Chair of the North Wales Local Medical Committee has today raised a crisis that must be dealt with urgently, if thousands and thousands of people across North Wales are not to suffer?

 

“North Wales Members know already, although we’re sworn to confidentiality, that further closures are in the pipeline that will already affect thousands more patients.

 

"We know that the Chair of the North Wales Local Medical Committee said that both GPs and out-of-hours surgeries are facing ever-growing pressure and that the closure of community hospitals and cuts to minor injuries clinics are responsible for the current crisis facing GPs and accident and emergency departments in North Wales.

 

“I’ve been writing to the Minister about this after meeting GPs in North Wales for nearly two years, highlighting their concerns about the inability to recruit, the British Medical Association description of the impending crisis in North Wales and, of course, the Royal College of General Practitioners’ campaign highlighting this and its causes, including the shortage of beds in community hospitals.

 

"Given the imminent crisis that we’ve been warned about for years and years, what is your Government going to do about it? Please can we have an urgent statement?”

 

The Minister for Finance and Welsh Government Business, Jane Hutt, replied: “We have just announced a new package of support for GP practices and agreed a new two-year contract with GPs. I do believe also, in terms of our work, which is very important, with the General Practitioners Committee Wales and health boards, to encourage ways in which we can ensure that access to primary care has improved, that that is making a difference.”

 

Mr Isherwood added: “If all the problems have now been addressed by the Welsh Government, why do they think this warning was issued today? As GPs in North Wales told me 20 months ago when I met them to discuss the Royal College of General Practioners Wales’ ‘Put Patients First – Back General Practice’ campaign,  top of their serious concerns was recruitment, where the average age of GPs in North Wales was over 50 but that they couldn’t recruit, and other concerns included the shortage of beds at community hospitals.”

Skates drives into school bus row

An Assembly Member says it’s ‘time for common sense to prevail’ as the battle to reinstate an axed school bus continues.

Clwyd South AM Ken Skates has previously called on Denbighshire County Council to reverse the decision to cut the service to Ysgol Caer Drewyn – a plea which fell on deaf ears.

He has now requested a meeting with council chief executive Dr Mohammed Mehmet in a bid to find a resolution to the situation.

More than a dozen families now face walks of between one and two miles along Green Lane, the busy main route for traffic travelling to and from Ruthin.

Mr Skates said: “The parents who don’t drive now either have to pay for 10 taxis a week or walk their children up to two miles each way twice a day along a route which the council until recently deemed hazardous. They feel that their children are being put in danger. 

“I recently obtained a copy of the council’s risk assessment of the route for a constituent, and every parent who has seen it disagrees with the findings.

“Locals will tell you that Green Lane is in need of traffic-calming measures as it is, and I would invite the council officers who don’t think there’s a problem to put themselves in the shoes of the parents and walk the route during the morning rush hour. Let them see how easy it is to walk a half-hour journey while pushing a pram and keep their other children safe when there are no pavements. I’ll happily join them.”

Mr Skates says he will invite Corwen councillors Huw Jones and Simon Watkins along to the meeting if granted a platform by Denbighshire.

The Labour AM added: “I know Huw and Simon have been working hard on this too, so it’s important we work together to get the right result. This is already creating huge difficulties for parents, and I know the school is concerned about the children’s safety.

“The council says it’s ‘following guidelines’, but I’m afraid people see that as an attempt to deflect the blame for this vital service being withdrawn. They are exactly that – guidelines. Each case should be judged on its own merit, and it’s time for common sense to prevail.”