Photo BBC TV Cymru’s Scrum V golf team which competed in a Gwalia Housing Trust pro-am tournament at Langland Bay Golf Club. The players are, from left, Mark Shepherd, Ieuan Evans, Paul Barrington and Stuart Davies.

Rugby legends and business figures from across south Wales put their golf skills to the test to raise thousands of pounds for a Swansea-based charity.

Former players Jonathan Davies, Stuart Davies and Ieuan Evans joined teams from 34 businesses at the Gwalia Housing Trust 21st Anniversary Pro-Am Golf Tournament at Gower’s Langland Bay Golf Club.

Sponsored by Cowlin Group, the July 16 event raised over £10,000 which complemented the £200,000 raised in the event’s history. The money helps to provide housing aid for disadvantaged people across Wales.

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It recognises young lawyers who have made a significant contribution to the work of their local Law Society.

Miss Pincott, aged 30, specialises in care work at Swansea firm Peter Lynn and Partners. 

She is a committee member of the Swansea Law Society and is a former president of the society’s Swansea Junior Lawyers Division.

She said: “It is a great honour to win the Basil Richards Memorial Award. I’m thrilled.”

The award is made by the Associated Law Societies of Wales (ASLoW) in memory of former member Basil Richards, of Carmarthen.

He was a long standing ASLoW member and was committed to supporting young solicitors across Wales. He died in 2008 after a distinguished legal career.

Geraint Williams, Wales development executive of the Law Society, said: “The award judges were unanimous in choosing Sophie for the inaugural award against stiff competition. She received glowing praise for her contribution to the legal profession in the Swansea area. ”

Born and raised in Morriston, Miss Pincott attended Pontarddulais Comprehensive School and Gorseinon College before studying at the College of Law in Guildford.

Based at the Peter Lynn and Partners’ Morriston office, she joined the firm in 2003 as a paralegal before rising to trainee solicitor level then qualifying in 2005. She has been a partner since October 2009.

This year she is due to undertake an arduous physical challenge by walking the Great Wall of China for six days with a friend. They plan to raise more than £6,000 for disability charity Scope. 

Miss Pincott lives in Sketty, Swansea.

“Instead of removing one of the few flexible mechanisms left to employers, the Government should be examining how it can make it easier for businesses to employ people so that jobs lost in the public sector can be replaced with jobs in the private sector.

“The Coalition agreement states that a ‘one-in, one-out’ rule will be introduced whereby no new regulation is brought in without other regulation being cut by a greater amount.

“So where are the announcements outlining the regulations to be cut? If the Government wants to be seen as a pro-enterprise administration it needs to address this point and explain what regulations are to be removed.”

It arrived in Cardiff with a quiz duel between Newport TV Egghead CJ de Mooi and  multiple Welsh Paralympic champion David Roberts.

This Sunday (August 1) the public will be able to take part when Games Brain of Britain quiz pods are unveiled at Cardiff’s Admiral Big Weekend celebration. The quiz is also available online.

The Games Brain of Britain is the ultimate test of Olympic and Paralympic Games knowledge. The free quiz challenges sports fans to race for the title of the UK’s expert on the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

De Mooi, star panellist on BBC TV quiz show Eggheads, and Roberts – who has 11 Paralympic swimming golds – met for their head-to-head at the Welsh Institute of Sport, Cardiff, today.

De Mooi said: “With two years to go, £500 million has been raised by National Lottery players for London 2012 – The Games Brain of Britain is a great way to celebrate the landmark.”

Roberts, 30, who lives in Cardiff and trained for 10 years at the Wales National Pool, Swansea, said: “National Lottery funding is vital to Olympic and Paralympic athletes and has made a huge difference to me personally.  The British teams would not have achieved the success we did in Beijing without it.

“Lottery players are helping elite athletes in their preparation for the biggest competition of their lives, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will be a terrific honour to represent GB on home soil in my fourth Games: I can’t wait!”

In total, The National Lottery aims to raise £750 million for London 2012 through sales of games such as Dream Number, certain Scratchcards and all interactive instant win games.

Good Causes money raised will go towards the forthcoming Olympic Games and Paralympic Games – part of a wider lottery contribution of £2.2 billion.

The Big Weekend’s Games Brain of Britain quiz pods will be situated close to Cardiff City Hall and will be open this Sunday (August 1) from noon-10.30pm. Alternatively, to access the quiz online, go to www.national-lottery.co.uk/gamesbrain.

The quiz is made up of three rounds of five questions, answered against the clock. The questions get progressively harder as players move through the test.

Competitors who complete the quiz successfully in the fastest time will be chosen to take part in a national final to find the Games Brain of Britain – and win a holiday of a lifetime to the Olympic Games host city of their choice.

Sebastian Coe, chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympics Games, said: “The £500 million raised by National Lottery players is great news and I’d thank everyone for their support of the London 2012 Games.”

In a specially organised two-mile fun run from Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay, staff donned their trainers and t-shirts and raised their total charity fund to more than £35,000.

Principality’s Louise Hiscott, who organised the event, said: “The Society’s staff are eager to get behind Macmillan Cancer Support, a charity that is particularly close to our hearts, and so we wanted an event that would enable everyone to get involved – whether they walked, ran, dressed up or just came in their work clothes!

“The atmosphere was great and we not only helped to raise much-needed funding, we also helped to raise awareness – something that is hugely important for the charity.”

Sue Pickin, Macmillan Fundraising Manager for South East Wales, said: “Principality Building Society has put a lot of effort into fundraising events so far and I know that Louise spent a lot of time organising the fun run on our behalf. There was a great atmosphere on the day and it was good to see everyone putting some fun into fundraising!”

The fun run is the latest activity in a long list of fundraising initiatives planned for the year by Principality staff, which have already included an 80 foot abseil off the side of the Celtic Manor Hotel, a walk across Wales from Aberystwyth to Shropshire, and the World’s longest true rowing race.

With more than £35,000 raised already, the Society is able to pay for a Macmillan Nurse for eight months, at a cost of £4,076 – and by the end of the year they hope to be able to fund a Macmillan Nurse for the whole of 2011.

More than 100,000 people in Wales are currently living with or beyond cancer and one in three will be diagnosed with it during their lifetime. Macmillan Cancer Support provides practical, medical, emotional and financial support for people diagnosed with cancer, their family and carers.

There are around 200 Macmillan professionals working in hospitals and out in the community in Wales. As well as nurses they include physiotherapists, social workers, pharmacists, welfare benefits advisers, information co-ordinators and dieticians.

The innovative battery-powered vehicle, which was launched in the UK in 2009, beat off stiff opposition to win the award because of its ability to reduce environmental impact through more sustainable management of wastes and resources.

Geesink Norba UK Business Director, Geoff Rigg, said: “It’s very encouraging to see our efforts in developing green technology being recognised well beyond our industry on such a prestigious platform as the National Recycling Awards.

“I feel very proud at what Geesink Norba has achieved with our innovative Plug-in Electric vehicles but it should also bring home to all of us in our particular industry just how important our role is and what an important contribution we have to make to the future.

“The Plug-in Electric vehicles have already proven themselves by producing outstanding fuel and cost savings but we’re still finding new ways to improve their performance. It’s a great use of technology which is leading to a major reduction in carbon emissions and fuel costs for operators across Britain.

The Plug-in Electric vehicles were launched in the UK in May, following six years of testing and development in Sweden. They use electric power to operate the lifting, crushing and compacting systems and were designed to reduce diesel consumption and carbon emissions and cut energy costs for operators.

Geesink Norba Chief Executive Officer, Theo Lemmen, said: “We’ve already won awards and recognition from within our industry for these outstanding refuse collection vehicles but this award took a much broader perspective and considered innovation from all walks of life, so it can leave nobody in any doubt that Geesink Norba is leading the way forward in green and cost-efficient technology. The rest of the world is watching us and asking us to find solutions and that’s what we’re doing at Geesink Norba.”

Since their UK launch, Plug-in Electric vehicles have gone into service with local authorities and private contractors across Europe and produced a range of outstanding fuel savings in different operating conditions. Typically customers can expect fuel savings in excess of 20% and often considerably more depending on the type of rounds in which they operate and the way operators use the vehicle.

The Best New Technology category in the National Recycling Awards was presented by Martin Davies of the sponsors MACH-TECH, and comedian Hugh Dennis who was compère for the evening at the Hilton Hotel in London’s Park Lane on Thursday July 15th.

The judges were Dr Adam Read, the Practice Lead for Waste Management & Resource Efficiency at AEA; Bob Gordon, Head of Environment at the British Retail Consortium (BRC); Dee Maloney, Managing Director of LRS; Duncan Simpson, Director of Sales and Marketing at Valpak Limited; Emma Maier, editor of LGC; Mike Webster of Waste Watch; Kensington & Chelsea Councillor Nick Paget-Brown with responsibility for environmental issues; Paul Sanderson, editor of MRW and Phillip Ward, Director for Local Government Services and Wales with WRAP.

Acorn’s Cardiff office, which specialises in industrial, office and events recruitment, has seen a 20% increase in temporary employment placements on the previous year, while permanent recruitment has also been increasing month-by-month, with as many placements made in the first half of the year as in the whole of 2009.

The agency is providing nearly 500 temporary staff a day from the Cardiff office to businesses across the capital and into the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend.

Operations Director Maria Larcombe said: “The move to the Duke Street office, opposite Cardiff Castle, made us immediately more visible. The bigger premises have enabled us to take on more staff and also to bring some of our training facilities into the city centre.

“Our success is a credit to the hard work and a commitment to excellence by the Cardiff team. We have experienced a significant growth in the number of staff required by our clients who have increasingly turned to us because they value our standards and commitment to them.

“We have a well-earned reputation for being a good employer and a proud, community-centred business. Our clients also appreciate what that means and understand that in hard times it is important to work together to support our local communities as much as possible.”

Acorn Managing Director Matt Southall said: “Business across the board has picked up for Acorn and our new Cardiff office is playing a vital role in that improvement.”

Acorn works with some of South Wales’ leading employers and across the UK places up to 5,500 people into about 750 different client companies each week. The company also delivers training to more than 3,000 individuals and makes 1,500 permanent placements every year.

As part of getting glammed up, many had state-of-the-art tooth whitening.

It gave their partying efforts that little X factor – and was a far cry from the student stereotype of unhygienic bedsit lifestyles experienced by characters in 1980s sit-com The Young Ones.

Staff at Swansea University campus dentist Kee Dental Care reported a huge rise in interest in tooth whitening in the run-up to the uni’s Moulin Rouge-themed graduation ball at the Liberty Stadium.

Practice manager Donna Brown said: “The Simon Cowell effect was amazing. He’s such a high-profile figure that his whiter-than-white teeth are something that today’s young people are trying to match.

“We offered students a range of cost-effective treatments which improve the look of teeth although we do stress that wealthy celebrities may well have spent many thousands of pounds on cosmetic treatments for their own teeth.

“Parents and friends have been buying whitening treatments as gifts for new graduates. Students were thrilled with the results and said they went to the ball with a lot more confidence.”

Kee Dental Care tooth whitening prices range from £45 for a number of strips which can be applied at home to £399 for an hour’s treatment with a dentist. The treatments are professionally applied and fully accredited.

Donna said: “Everyone deserves a bit of pampering after three or four years of study – and male and female students feel it gave them a genuine star factor for the big end-of-year events. Lots came in asking to ‘do a Simon Cowell’ – although none have yet come in with his hair-do!”

Last Wednesday’s graduation ball was a centrepiece of five busy days of formal degree ceremonies. The £25-a-head event featured a red carpet welcome, chocolate fountains, a casino and live music.  Men wore black tie suits, women ball gowns. It was described by organisers as “your perfect way to say good bye.”

The fun featured reception bubbly, 6ft-tall chocolate fountains and a 15ft Eiffel Tower statue. There was professional photography and music from a DJ Daz – a regular at Swansea’s Sin City club, the city’s Mojo Soul Swing Band and nationally acclaimed covers band the Chip Shop Boys.

More info: Kee Dental Care – www.keedentalcare.co.uk.

The 98-bedroom, six-storey hotel will be built at the bottom of Westgate Road, close to the city’s Central Station, with accommodation aimed at both the business and leisure traveller.

Working closely with Network Rail, Sleeperz will develop a highly visible and recognisable landmark hotel on the former Parcel Works site, alongside the car park of Newcastle Station.

Preparation work has already started on site with full construction expected to begin in October. Sleeperz is targeting an opening date of October next year, with the new hotel creating around 25 full-time jobs in the city.

The construction of the company’s second UK hotel follows the announcement of a major £7m investment in Sleeperz Hotels to fund future growth – with the target of achieving a portfolio of 10 hotels by 2015.

Just 18 months after opening the first in a new generation of compact lifestyle hotels – in the Welsh capital of Cardiff – Sleeperz is not only rolling out its plans to build in the capital of the North-East, but also earmarked five further sites for development next to mainline rail stations, including Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester.

Sleeperz Hotels Chief Executive David Myers said the Newcastle development will mirror the same ethos of compact and comfortable rooms at an affordable price in a stylish environment that has proved to be such a success in Cardiff.

“As with Sleeperz hotel Cardiff, we will create quality high specification compact rooms with fresh, colourful and contemporary interiors. All of this will be available to the consumer at room rates, including free wi-fi, from £50,” he said.

“Newcastle is one of the leading UK hotel markets for RevPar room rate performance. The city boasts a very strong leisure and corporate market and there will be few hotels – if any – with the location that this site will give us. We are very excited about this development.”

Mr Myers described the £7m investment in the company that will help fund the building of the Newcastle project as “a major endorsement in the Sleeperz proposition of compact lifestyle hotels in prime city centre locations offering great value for money.”

The equity finance has been raised from the company’s current investors, including Andre Hoffmann, and a new investor, Connection Capital. The debt finance for the Newcastle development is being provided by The Co-operative bank.

Mr Myers said: “Raising finance is very tough in this market, and to secure £7m of investment via bank and equity finance is an exceptional achievement, particularly for a hotel business of our size.

“The finance we have secured will not only fund the Newcastle hotel development, but also provide working capital for the further expansion we have planned. The hotel market is littered with single-site niche businesses that have failed to expand and progress to develop a second hotel.

“There are so many positives in the Sleeperz brand. Not only have we managed to buck the trend in an increasingly challenging market – but in sticking to our ideals of convenience, value and style, are now driving on to growth and expansion.

“Sleeperz brings something new and exciting to the market and, with the backing of major investors, we are here for the future. Our business target is to develop and operate 10 Sleeperz hotels by 2015.”

Just 18 months after opening the first in a new generation of compact lifestyle hotels – in the Welsh capital of Cardiff – Sleeperz has succeeded in raising funding to build a second hotel, in Newcastle, and earmarked five further sites for development.

The equity finance has been raised from the company’s current investors, including Andre Hoffmann, and a new investor, Connection Capital. The debt finance for the Newcastle development is being provided by The Co-operative bank.

Preparatory work for the building of a 98-bedroom, six-storey Sleeperz hotel in the heart of Newcastle is now underway, with full construction starting this October and a projected opening date of October 2011.

Heads of terms have also been secured by the company to develop hotels at five further sites next to mainline rail stations, including Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester.

Sleeperz Hotels Chief Executive David Myers described the £7m investment as “a major endorsement in the Sleeperz proposition of compact lifestyle hotels in prime city centre locations offering great value for money.”

He said: “Raising finance is very tough in this market, and to secure £7m of investment is an exceptional achievement, particularly for a hotel business of our size. The hotel market is littered with single-site niche businesses that have failed to expand and progress to develop a second hotel.

“Sleeperz brings something new and exciting to the market and, with the backing of major investors, we are here for the future. Our business target is to develop and operate 10 Sleeperz hotels by 2015.”

Having opened in November 2008 as the storm clouds gathered on the worst recession in living memory, Sleeperz hotel Cardiff succeeded in achieving over 60 per cent occupancy in its first year. It is currently performing significantly ahead of its competitive set, according to the TRI Hospitality Consulting benchmarking organisation, recording year-on-year sales and profit growth.

The hotel is ranked fourth out of 92 on the Trip Advisor travel review website, and records a 90 per cent guest satisfaction rate on LateRooms.com.

Sleeperz hotel Newcastle will mirror the same ethos of compact, stylish air-conditioned rooms in a prime central location. The new-build development will be adjacent to Newcastle Central Railway Station.

“Newcastle is one of the leading UK hotel markets for RevPar room rate performance. The city boasts a very strong leisure and corporate market and there will be few hotels – if any – with the location that this site will give us. We are very excited about this development,” said Mr Myers.

“As with Sleeperz hotel Cardiff, we will create quality stylish compact rooms with fresh, colourful and contemporary interiors. All of this will be available to the consumer at room rates, including free wi-fi, from £50.”

 Mr Myers added: “There are so many positives in the Sleeperz brand. Not only have we managed to buck the trend in what is an increasingly challenging market – but in sticking to our ideals of convenience, value and style, are now driving on to growth and expansion.”