Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Ammanford's Alexandra Roach and Swansea’s Cerys Matthews (educated in Llanelli) and will be among the stars taking part in S4C's New Year's Eve show. Matthew Rhys and Bryn Terfel will also feature in the show which looks back at 2013. The Heno and Prynhawn Da presentation team, led by Angharad Mair, will look back at the major events of the year, chronicling both the successes and heartbreaks of a memorable year. See link for Carmarthen Journal story.

Good news from Burry Port delivery and courier service Celtic Couriers today. Here's their press release -  Today, Wednesday, April 3, is our busiest day in 2013 and the fourth busiest in our history. An amazing total of 2082 parcels are being delivered and collected. The busier days in the 'record-breaking' list were all in the run-up to Christmas, 2012. "This is great news for us and it is great that we are keeping up the momentum," said Celtic Couriers general manager Gareth Jenkins. "We would like to thank all our customers for helping us on our busiest day of the year so far in 2013. “We’re consistently busy and always keen to make sure we deliver for our customers. “We like to think that we live up to our motto of being frequent, fast, efficient and flexible, providing an award-winning ‘handled with care’ delivery service. “The fact that we get a lot of repeat business is testament to our determination to keep customers happy and, literally, keep o...

Kevin Green, Burry-Port-based multi-millionaire and star of TV’s Secret Millionaire, said – “Universal Credit' is said by Government to become law from October 1 next year. This will have a major negative impact on the private rented sector as all benefit money will be paid directly to tenants and all grouped together in one lump through the Department of Work and Pensions. “It will be a major headache for landlords as some tenants have no idea how to budget. They will even be responsible for paying a percentage of council tax, even though their benefit allowance is being cut. Potentially, this could lead to mass evictions as tenants fail to pay landlords the rent. “The end result will be very costly to Government ultimately as they are obliged to cover the cost of emergency housing for evicted tenants. Many landlords may go bust as a result. It is a worry for landlords and I suspect many will make the decision not to rent at all to housing benefit tenants. “Interest rates l...

David Butler, director of Carmarthen-based-chartered accountants and business consultants Clay Shaw Butler, said - “We are seeing an increasing number of graduates flooding the market seeking work experience and looking for small/medium enterprises locally to gain work experience and training and to acquire an accountancy professional qualification. Living locally minimises their costs as they live with mum and dad. Often these skills are lost in small Welsh towns and we welcome the opportunity for taking advantage of this opportunity. “In view of the increased Annual Investment Allowance up to £250,000 from the 1 January 2013, many businesses will take advantage of this to move forward their businesses, take the associated tax savings and in turn help growth within the economy. Likewise. the reduction in the Corporation Tax Rate reduces the tax burden tremendously. “More than 75 per cent of executives now engage in social media believing this to increase their business turnover ...

Philip Lewis, managing director of the award-winning architectural firm the Lewis Partnership, of South Wales, said - “Cooperation and partnerships are the words which crop up again and again as we look forward to 2013. Increasingly, we are finding benefits from partnerships and alliances with construction firms and consultancies. “There is a big drive to produce eco-friendly, sustainable and environmentally-friendly buildings. If you can show evidence that you can work in tandem with other businesses to produce such buildings then your chances of securing more work are greatly improved. “We are now finding that local authorities are building up alliances which offer greater economy of scale and value for money for the taxpayer. “For example, the Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea City councils are forging their own new framework organisation to pick key contractors. “Securing places on local authority frameworks can be crucial. Investment in the right management an...

Ivor Skinner, director of Burry Port-based courier and delivery firm Celtic Couriers, said – “The logistics industry as a whole continues to feel the effects of the price of fuel combined with a hardening of the insurance market, resulting in higher premiums for fleet operators. “However, the outlook for express overnight parcels business in 2013 is optimistic. “The advent of internet shopping has seen volumes continue to rise year on year. “With this growth comes a number of challenges, not least the ability to achieve first time deliveries, particularly to private addresses. “There is also the thorny issue of who picks up the tab for returns. Retailers cannot push all the problems on to the distribution companies and expect them to absorb all the costs. This is most definitely a shared issue. “With the introduction of route optimisation there is now an ability to reduce our carbon footprint by reducing the number of miles we travel and thereby reducing the amount of fuel we ...

Happy New Year (Blwyddyn Newydd Dda) one and all. Sorry if the blog has been underpowered in recent days. Normal service is now resuming.

Simon Buckley, chief executive of the Llandeilo-based Evan-Evans brewery group, said – “2013 is going to be one of the hardest years for some time for the licensed trade. “Increasing gloom is spreading across the industry, with increased duty on beer planned for the budget and rocketing prices for raw materials. “Pub selling prices are continuing to drop. “There is little doubt that there will be significant rural pub closures in 2013 and many small brewers will not survive. “As far as we are concerned, we have modest plans for 2013 - to increase production across a wider customer base and to bring on line our long awaited bottling plant and new internet beer company. “Margin is the key word for 2013. With increasing unemployment and no short-term Welsh Government initiatives for growth, I think that, for many, 2013 is going to be bleak. “But we are in the market-place, profitable, and now building on what is a great brewing tradition and quality offering. “Will consumers come out to...