Caerphilly space for businesses and community initiatives
Y Banc, located in the former Barclays Bank on Cardiff Road, will be the new hub for creative programmes and community-driven projects.
The opening is part of a wider initiative by Caerphilly County Borough Council to transform disused spaces across the region.
The council has been working with Urban Foundry, specialists in repurposing empty spaces for community and business use, for more than a year.
They have already successfully revitalised a location on the High Street in Bargoed, allowing small businesses to test-trade, network, and access support through workshops delivered by industry experts.
Following the success in Bargoed, the initiative moved to Ffos Caerffili, where a number of workshops were held in one of the retail shipping containers.
The sessions were created to meet the needs of local businesses, covering everything from funding advice to TikTok marketing strategies.
Cynefin Caerffili CIC, a creative community-led social enterprise working to transform Caerphilly through collective cultural activity, will be the first to move into Y Banc and director Ceri Davies called Y Banc a 'real game-changer for us'.
Jamie Pritchard, deputy leader and cabinet member for prosperity, regeneration, and transformation, said: "Putting empty buildings to use in our town centres and offering opportunities for community-driven projects and businesses to flourish is a great mix and brings new opportunities to the high street.
"We want this space to be active and full of ideas."
Tara Tarapetian, director of Urban Foundry, said: "It's not just about creating a place to work – it's about creating an environment where people feel empowered to grow their ideas.
"Confidence in the high street, increased footfall, and supporting local businesses to grow the economy are all big outcomes."
The project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and will contribute to long-term regeneration efforts in the county.
There are plans to further expand the project.
To stay up to date with upcoming events at Y Banc or to find out how to get involved, visit the Cynefin Caerffili website.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Meta and TikTok challenge tech fees in second highest EU court
LUXEMBOURG, June 11 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab and TikTok said a European Union supervisory fee levied on them was disproportionate and based on a flawed methodology as they took their fight with tech regulators to Europe's second highest court on Wednesday. Under the Digital Services Act that became law in 2022, the two companies and 16 others are subject to a supervisory fee amounting to 0.05% of their annual worldwide net income aimed at covering the European Commission's cost of monitoring their compliance with the law. The size of the annual fee is based on the number of average monthly active users for each company and whether the company posts a profit or loss in the preceding financial year. Meta told judges at the General Court it was not trying to avoid paying its fair share of the fee, but it questioned how the Commission had calculated the levy, saying it had been based on the revenue of the group rather than of the subsidiary. Meta's lawyer Assimakis Komninos told the panel of five judges the company still did not know how the fee was calculated. He said the provisions in the Digital Services Act, or DSA, "go against the letter and the spirit of the law, are totally untransparent with black boxes and have led to completely implausible and absurd results". ByteDance-owned Chinese online social media platform TikTok was equally critical. "What has happened here is anything but fair or proportionate. The fee has used inaccurate figures and discriminatory methods," TikTok lawyer Bill Batchelor told the court. "It inflates TikTok's fees, requires it to pay, not just for itself, but for other platforms and disregards the excessive fee cap," he said. He accused the Commission of double counting the companies' users, saying this was discriminatory because users switching between their mobile phones and laptops would then be counted twice. He also said regulators had exceeded their legal power by setting the fee cap at the level of group profits. Commission lawyer Lorna Armati rejected both companies' arguments and defended the Commission's use of group profit as a reference value to calculate the supervisory fee. "When a group has consolidated accounts, it is the financial resources of the group as a whole that are available to that provider in order to bear the burden of the fee," she told the court. "The providers had sufficient information to understand why and how the Commission used the numbers that it did and there is no question of any breach of their right to be heard now, unequal treatment," she said. The Court is expected to issue its ruling next year. The cases are T-55/24 Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission and T-58/24 TikTok Technology v Commission.
Western Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
Hair Syrup founder wins Pride of Wales entrepreneur award
Lucie Macleod who founded Hair Syrup was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the recent Nation Radio Pride of Wales Awards. Lucie Macleod, 24, from Newport, established her business Hair Syrup in lockdown. (Image: Hair Syrup/ Lucie Macleod) When she was a university student she had been looking for something that would keep her hair in good condition for a long time, having found a number of products only had the desired effect for a short period of time. She had heard about oil being used as a pre-wash on holiday in Thailand and decided to look into it. Unable find an affordable pre-wash or one that fitted what she was looking for, she made her own using ingredients from local health food shops. (Image: Hair Syrup/ Lucie Macleod) Lucy made a TikTok video about the product and it went viral with more than 600,000 views. People in their hundreds contacted her with just one question: 'Please can you sell me a bottle of this hair oil?'. The business has since blossomed from a 'home grown side hustle' into a business with a projected turnover of £6.5 million in 2025. Although she did nor walk away with a deal from the Dragons, Hair Syrup, which operates out of Goodwick, is going from strength to strength. (Image: Hair Syrup/ Lucie Macleod) This most recent award is one if several accolades won this year and the business is now launching in several international markets. 'Being recognised as Pride of Wales Entrepreneur of the Year is absolutely mind-blowing for me,' said Lucie. 'I am so unbelievably grateful to be recognised as one of Wales' leading entrepreneurs. 'I started my business from my parents' conservatory and never expected it to be anything more than a tiny student side hustle. 'It blows my mind when I look around and see how it's grown over the past few years 'It's even more special that the award is obviously a Welsh award. It's just amazing to see Welsh female entrepreneurs winning these awards, getting their names out there and kind of putting ourselves on the map.' (Image: Hair Syrup/ Lucie Macleod) Nearly 300 people attended Pride of Wales awards ceremony at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall hosted by Nation Radio's Angela Jay and Kev Johns. A special highlights programme from the event will be broadcast on Nation Radio across Wales on Sunday June 15, from 9pm until 11pm and available on the Nation Player Mobile app.
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Shoppers race to nab Terry's Chocolate Oranges are slashed to £1.50 ahead of Father's Day & there's 2 flavours
WITH Father's Day just around the corner, Morrison's deal on Terry's Chocolate Oranges has come at the perfect time. The major supermarket has slashed the price of the beloved chocolate favourite and shoppers can choose from two different flavours. Morrisons is selling the 90g ball in both the original and mint flavours for £1.50, for those with a member's card. The full price of the tasty treat is usually £2 and the reduced price is also cheaper than what Sainsbury's and Tesco sell it for, which is £1.95 at both supermarkets. Even with a Tesco Clubcard, Terry's Chocolate Orange 90g costs £1.75, making the Morrisons offer cheaper. Terry's Chocolate Orange is a much-loved icon in the confectionery world and has been available to buy since 1932. Around 44 million of the zesty treats are sold globally each year, so the brand has to tread carefully so as not to offend die-hard fans with new flavours. Earlier this year, a TikTok account @belongwealth posted a video blowing viewers away, divulging a little-known secret about the household name. The clip revealed that the iconic brand had another delicious product predating the chocolate orange.. the chocolate apple. The poster gave some context to the history of the product, saying: "In 1926, Terry's Chocolate Works, a family run factory in York, released a dessert chocolate apple. "It did pretty well, so in 1932 they released a dessert chocolate orange, which did really well." According to the TikToker, the chocolate apple did not have the longevity of the orange ball we know and love today because during World War 2, the Terry's chocolate factory was taken over to use as a base for building aircraft blades. After the war, the factory was returned to the Terry's. But due to rationing and limitations on cocoa imports, the company phased out the less popular chocolate apple and focused on the much-loved orange. How to save money on chocolate We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar. Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs... Go own brand - if you're not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you'll save by going for the supermarket's own brand bars. Shop around - if you've spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it's cheaper elsewhere. Websites like let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you're getting the best deal. Look out for yellow stickers - supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they've been reduced. They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged. Buy bigger bars - most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar. So if you've got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger. Currently, the Terry's website lists the classic milk chocolate orange, dark chocolate orange, mint orange, plain milk chocolate, toffee crunch orange and exploding candy orange. 2
