Car that's the Genesis of an interesting idea

* The flagship Genesis GV80 SUV.

* The cockpit.

* The Genesis GV70 estate.

Genesis first drive by Steve Rogers

It’s the first book of the Bible and my favourite rock band, and now a spanking new car brand.

New to the UK that is, Genesis has been around the Far East and North America for five years and is the product of Hyundai which wants to break into the European premium car market.

So this is a posh Hyundai? Wrong. The Korean outfit, which also runs Kia, is bank rolling the operation and although the H word is rarely used the cars will use some common under the skin parts and the Kia Stinger platform.

The question you are asking is where are the grand motor mile showrooms? There aren’t any. Instead city centre Genesis studios will be set up but the buying operation will be online with the customer getting a virtual tour of the models, buys one and gets a personal assistant who looks after them in a cradle to grave operation.

The car is delivered on a covered transporter, has five years of warranty, roadside assist and servicing. Any problems call the buddy who will have the car collected and leaving a courtesy car while yours is sorted.

This sort of operation is gaining popularity in the second hand market and, perversely, could benefit from the effects of the pandemic with people reluctant to have too much face to face contact.

Since the beginning of the year the Genesis line-up has grown to five models, G70 saloon and shooting brake, GV70 SUV and the flagship G80 saloon and GV80 SUV.

If you need convincing that Genesis is a premium brand step inside the all wheel drive GV80. Apart from looking good it has lashings of luxury, with bang up to date technology, the 14.5 inch centre screen is particularly impressive, and the car will park itself remotely from the key fob outside the vehicle.

Engine choice is 2.5 litre petrol or three litre diesel mated to an eight speed automatic gearbox, with prices starting at £56,715 and £56,815 respectively.

This is a big car with a big road presence and enough room for an optional third row of seating. As expected it glides along motorways and smooth A roads but is too twitchy on twisting B roads. Select sport mode and the ride is more settled.

Safety features right across the range are about as good as it gets and the one that impressed most is the cameras in the speedometer and rev counter dials. It reacts when indicating changing either the left or right hand dial to a camera giving a clear view for overtaking and returning to a lane.

There is also a head up display for speed, speed limit and navigation directions.

Genesis 70 models are more mainstream competing with Audi A4, Mercedes C-Class, Jaguar XE and BMW 3 Series. Saloon and shooting brake have elegant lines and will be offered with a 197bhp 2.2 litre turbo diesel, again with a lot of standard equipment. The shooting brake is just over 46 grand.

The new brand is clearly designed to scare the pants off the opposition with high levels of trim, equipment and ground breaking technology. Will it succeed? It is going to be a slow burn but at least its masters have not set unattainable targets for the UK operation.

Nissan’s premium Infinity brand failed here and DS, part of the new Stellantis empire, is only ticking along, but considering how Hyundai and Kia have become dominant forces in a relatively short time you would not bet against Genesis succeeding.

Fast facts

GV80 Luxury Line

AWD 7 seat

59,600 71,300 tested

2.5 litre turbo petrol 300bhp

8-speed automatic

0-62mph 7.7secs; 147mph

31.4mpg combined

Boot 727-2144 litres

SG Estates helps Old Vicarage residents enjoy advent calendar

SG Estates recently made a donation to the Old Vicarage nursing home for an advent calendar which gives the residents a personalised gift on their day.  

The residents made the boxes with a picture of them on. 

Here, SG's sales and marketing manager Cate Jones hands over one of the boxes to one of the residents.

Welsh Ambulance Service gets extra £34m of funding

Health Minister Eluned Morgan has announced more than £34m of extra funding to support the Welsh Ambulance Service through the coming winter months.

It includes £11m to extend military support for ambulances until the end of March – the number of personnel will increase from 100 to 250 early next year.

£15m will fund the replacement of 111 emergency vehicles to improve fleet reliability and availability.

The new fleet will include 39 replacement emergency ambulances, 12 new emergency ambulances and 23 rapid response vehicles.

And more than £8m has been made available to support emergency ambulance services, and non-emergency patient transport services. This is made up of:

1. £5m for the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust:

• 36 additional frontline ambulance clinicians to enable a doubling of existing clinical support desk capacity to provide advice over the phone to 999 patients
• Additional capacity to support winter response, including non-emergency patient transport services
• Support to co-ordinate the response to pressures in the urgent and emergency care system
• A ‘make ready depot’ at Singleton to increase ambulance vehicle availability in Swansea Bay

2. £2m for non-emergency patient transport services and the recruitment of mental health practitioners to support people with mental health issues over the phone.

3. Further funding to support mental health patients through a transport pilot delivered by St John Cymru Wales.

This funding complements £9.8m previously allocated to Regional Partnership Boards to support people to return to their local communities after admission to hospital. This will help improve hospital patient discharges and ease the pressure on hospital beds.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: "Ambulance services and staff in Wales are under great strain due to the impact of the pandemic and winter pressures.

"We are determined to support the NHS – and them – in every way we can. Investing in the ambulance service shows our commitment to ensuring people can access high-quality emergency care when they need it the most.

"Ambulance t clinicians and staff have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. I want to thank them for everything they have done to care for people."

Jason Killens, chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: "Winter is traditionally our busiest period, and when you factor in the pandemic and its record levels of demand and staff absence, we have to redouble our efforts to provide a safe service to the people of Wales.

"The trust and its partners are working hard to find long-term and sustainable solutions to the issues across the entire health and social care system, but in the meantime, we have to look at short-term measures to bolster our capacity as best we can."

Santa picks winners of Christmas scarecrow competition

* Above and below: the six winners. 

Six winners have been chosen in this year's scarecrow competition run by the Llangollen Christmas Festival Committee. 

Santa was out on his rounds to do the final judging and to drop off £20 cash prizes to each of the winning creations.

He said: "Once again people have made some fantastic scarecrows which made judging as difficult as ever but I think we had some really worthy winners.

"I'd like to thank all those who put in the effort to take part."   

Tougher anti-Covid measures force railway to cancel Mince Pie Specials

Latest tougher measures to combat the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 announced yesterday by the Welsh Government have forced Llangollen Railway to cancel its popular Mince Pie Specials train services.

In a post on its Facebook page the heritage attraction currently fighting to get back on track from its financial crisis says: "Following the Welsh Government update advising of further restrictions in Wales from the 26th December 2021, we are unfortunately no longer in a position to be able to run the Mince Pie Specials.

"For customers who have pre booked tickets we would ask you to please bear with us.

"The timing of the Government announcement means we will be unable to issue any refunds before the New Year as the office will be closed from the 24th December until the 4th January.

"More information regarding refunds will be issued in due course."

The Mince Pie Specials were featured only yesterday on the BBC TV evening news.

Covid-19 update from Welsh Government

Latest update on the Covid-19 situation from the Welsh Government (dated December 22) is:

• New measures will be introduced from 6am on Boxing Day to help keep Wales safe.
• The measures are a revised version of alert level 2 to respond to the new omicron variant and are designed to help keep businesses open and trading and protect customers and staff.
• https://gov.wales/strengthened-measures-to-keep-wales-safe-as-omicron-strikes
• Watch the First Minister’s press conference: https://twitter.com/WelshGovernment/status/1473628454058749959
• Written statement: https://gov.wales/written-statement-review-health-protection-coronavirus-restrictions-no5-wales-regulations-2020-0
• First Minister’s statement to the Senedd: https://record.assembly.wales/Plenary/12589 

• A further 301 cases of omicron have been confirmed in Wales bringing the total to 941 cases: https://phw.nhs.wales/news/public-health-wales-statement-on-cases-of-omicron-variant-of-coronavirus-in-wales/   
• Health Minister Eluned Morgan has published a written statement about Covid-19 vaccination for children and young people: https://gov.wales/written-statement-covid-19-vaccination-children-and-young-people
• Covid-19 vaccination programme – stock and distribution figures: https://gov.wales/covid-19-vaccination-programme-stock-and-distribution
• Staying safe at Christmas – BSL version: https://gov.wales/staying-safe-at-christmas-bsl

 

• Alert level two summary: https://gov.wales/alert-level-2-summary
• New rules for Wales from 26 December (Easy Read): https://gov.wales/new-rules-wales-26-december-2021-coronavirus-easy-read
• Covid-19 contacts – guidance for health and care staff: https://gov.wales/covid-19-contacts-guidance-health-and-social-care-staff
• Self-isolation – updated guidance: https://gov.wales/self-isolation
• Contact tracing – what to do if you test positive: https://gov.wales/contact-tracing-if-you-have-tested-positive
• Contact tracing – what to do if you are identified as a close contact: https://gov.wales/contact-tracing-if-you-are-identified-close-contact
• Coronavirus information leaflet – other languages (Albanian to Yoruba): https://gov.wales/coronavirus-information-leaflet-alternative-language-versions
• Using the Covid Pass for international travel: https://gov.wales/use-nhs-covid-pass-international-travel
• Get your Covid Pass: https://gov.wales/get-your-nhs-covid-pass
• Covid-19 treatments: https://gov.wales/covid-19-treatments

Coronavirus in numbers

• The latest figures published by Public Health Wales show there were 4,662 newly-reported cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 566,995 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Wales since the start of the pandemic.

• There were three deaths reported by Public Health Wales. The total number of deaths reported by Public Health Wales is 6,525.
• These figures are updated daily at: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/public.health.wales.health.protection/viz/RapidCOVID-19virology-Public/Headlinesummary   

• The number of people who have received a Covid vaccine in Wales is published every weekday by Public Health Wales.

o   The latest figures show 2,484,739 people have received their first dose.

o   2,292,930 people have had two doses of the vaccine.

o   To date, 1,406,629 people have had their booster dose of the vaccine.

o   https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/public.health.wales.health.protection/viz/RapidCOVID-19virology-Public/Headlinesummary

o   For more information about getting your Covid-19 vaccine: https://gov.wales/get-your-covid-19-vaccination

o   Can you support the vaccination programme? More information for NHS staff and volunteers at: https://heiw.nhs.wales/jobs/nhs-wales-covid-19-vaccination-team-returning-healthcare-professionals/

What to do if you have symptoms of coronavirus

• The symptoms of coronavirus are a high temperature, a new, continuous cough and a loss or change in smell or taste.
• If you have symptoms of coronavirus, however mild, you must self-isolate at home for 10 days from when your symptoms started.
• If you are fully vaccinated or aged five to 17 and live with someone who has Covid-19 or has symptoms you must self-isolate until you have a negative PCR test.
• If you are not fully vaccinated and someone you live with has Covid-19 you should self-isolate for 10 days.
• Guidance about self-isolating: https://gov.wales/self-isolation
• You can book a test at https://gov.wales/apply-coronavirus-covid-19-test
• You should continue to isolate while waiting for a test result.
   

Where to find the latest information

• Wales is currently at alert level zero. More information is available at: https://gov.wales/coronavirus  
• Staying safe this Christmas: https://gov.wales/staying-safe-christmas
• Our latest Coronavirus Control Plan, setting out the longer-term plan for Wales is at: https://gov.wales/coronavirus-control-plan-autumn-and-winter-2021-update  
• Information about coronavirus is available on the Welsh Government’s website at https://gov.wales/coronavirus and https://llyw.cymru/coronafeirws
• For more information about getting your Covid-19 vaccine: https://gov.wales/get-your-covid-19-vaccination
• Can you support the vaccination programme? More information for NHS staff and volunteers at: https://heiw.nhs.wales/jobs/nhs-wales-covid-19-vaccination-team-returning-healthcare-professionals/

 

£120m available to help Omicron-hit businesses in Wales

Businesses in Wales impacted by the rapid spread of the Omicron virus will be eligible for emergency financial support under a new Welsh Government support package.

The Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething, has announced the details of the £120m funding which will be available for retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism business and their supply chains affected by the move to alert level two, as announced by the First Minister on Wednesday 22 December.

Under the latest package, retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism business who pay Non Domestic Rates will be entitled to a payment of £2,000, £4,000 or £6,000 depending on their rateable value. Businesses will need to re-register their details, through a quick and easy online process, with their local authority in order to receive their payments. Registration will open via local authority websites from the WC 10^th of January

The Welsh Government has decided to extend this support to non-essential retail so that smaller shops, and Travel Agents will be supported and our high streets can continue to thrive. In England, support is not available to non-essential retail.

In addition, impacted hospitality and leisure businesses and their supply chains will be able to apply for top up funding from a new Economic Resilience Fund (ERF). Eligible businesses can apply for grants of between £2,500k - £25,000, with grants dependant on their size and number of employees. The application window for ERF will open in week commencing 17^th January 2022 with payments starting to reach businesses within days.

Local Authorities will also administer a Discretionary fund for business and sole traders who do not pay rates. The fund will provide £500 to sole trader and freelancers and £2,000 to employing businesses in impacted sectors.  Further details to follow on business.wales.

An eligibility checker which will help businesses to gage how much they can expect to receive under the new support package will be available on the Business Wales website by the start of 2022.

Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething, said:

“We fully understand the continued challenges faced by businesses, however we are facing a very serious situation in Wales. A wave of infections caused by the new, fast-moving and very-infectious omicron variant is headed our way, this means taking early action to try and control its spread – and limit the impact on Welsh businesses.

“Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve provided over £2.2bn of support to businesses throughout Wales to help them manage their way through difficult circumstances.

“We will continue to monitor the impact of the spread of Omicron on businesses in Wales, and will consider whether additional emergency funding is needed in the new year.”

Business.Wales will be updated with details, frequently asked question and support guidance.