AROUND 150 talented chefs, front of house staff, apprentices and students from across Wales will showcase their skills over three days of competitions at the Welsh International Culinary Championships (WICC) 2025 next week.

The International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales) in Newport will become the Welsh hospitality, butchery, food and drink hub from Monday to Wednesday, as competitors seek to make a name for themselves on the national stage.

Four coveted national titles will be at stake as well as Skills Competition Wales glory at the WICC which hosts a Castell Howell Food Show for the first time.

The WICC is open free of charge to visitors, including pupils of local schools. Visitors can pre-book tickets to experience the dishes cooked in three finals at: [email protected] .

Organised by the Culinary Association of Wales (CAW), the WICC will feature the National Chef of Wales and Welsh Apprentice Butcher of the Year Finals on Monday, Skills Competition Wales competitions on Tuesday and the Vegan and Junior Chef of Wales Finals on Wednesday, followed by the awards dinner in the evening.

WICC skills classes, organised by the CAW, will also be held over the three days.

The National Chef of Wales final will be contested by 10 chefs. Sam Everton from  Llangeler, Llandysul, a catering lecturer at Coleg Ceredigion, Cardigan, will be bidding to win the Junior and National Chef of Wales competitions in consecutive years. The only chef to achieve this feat was Danny Burke, from Connah’s Quay who now runs Olive Tree Catering, Runcorn.

Wayne Barnard from Caerphilly, who works at Llechwen Hall Hotel near Pontypridd, will be hoping to improve on his third place last year while Matthew Owen from Cardiff and Rebekah Wright, from Ebbw Vale, who both work at the Celtic Manor Resort, return for another shot at the final.

They will line up with Celtic Manor Resort colleagues Patrick Millard from Bargoed, Ionut Rosca from Newport, Gareth Jenkins from Fleur de Lis and Pratik Bhandarkar from Newport.

The other finalists are Sam Rust from Swansea, who works at The Grove, Narberth, and Jordan Howorth from Baschurch, who works at Shrewsbury School for Independents by Sodexo and helped the Culinary Team Wales win a gold medal at the Alen Thong Golden Coffee Pot Young Chef Challenge in Sharjah in May.

The finalists will have three hours to cook three courses for 12 diners featuring GI Welsh ingredients and Cygnet Gin. The menu must include a plant-based starter suitable for a vegan diet, a main course featuring two different cuts of GI Welsh Beef and a dessert featuring hot, cold and chocolate elements and a biscuit or tuille.

The Welsh Apprentice Butcher of the Year final will be contested by Kieran Thomas, who works for Albert Rees Ltd, Carmarthen Market and Ollie Holden-Davies, who works for Neil Powell Butchers, Hay-on-Wye.

Sponsored by the CAW and Cambrian Training Company, the competition allows the butchers 30 minutes to cut a whole Welsh Lamb carcass into primal joints and one hour and 40 minutes to create a visually exciting display of products showcasing their skills and creativity.

Rebekah Wright will also contest the Welsh Vegan Chef of the Year final against Celtic Manor Resort colleague Byron Burns, from Pontypool and former National Chef of Wales winner Ryan Jones, from Maesteg, head chef at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. They will cook a three course menu for six diners in two-and-a-half hours.

The competition, sponsored by Henley Bridge, challenges chefs to cook an appetiser with 50% warm components, a main course with a minimum of three components, including microgreens and a dessert including chocolate, tea and two fruit puree products.

The Junior Chef of Wales finalists are Katie Duffy who works at The Halfway, Llanelli who finished third last year, Junior Culinary Team Wales captain Calum Smith who works at Shrewsbury School for Independents at Sodexo and Niruth Wijetunga and Gold Ayinia-Adeyemi, both from Newport, who work at Celtic Manor Resort.

The chefs will have two-and-a-half hours to cook a three course pescatarian meal for six diners with a plant-based starter suitable for a vegan diet, a main course featuring trout and a dessert including one hot and one chocolate element. The competition is sponsored by Cygnet Gin.

The winner will be automatically seeded into the UK semi-final of the Young National Chef of the Year.

Winners of all three competitions, together with the Welsh Apprentice Butcher of the Year, will be announced at the awards dinner.

CAW president Arwyn Watkins, OBE, said: “It promises to be a fantastic three days of competitions to showcase the culinary, hospitality and butchery talent, as well as the quality Welsh food and drink products, that we have here in Wales.

“This time next year, we shall be in the final stages of preparing to host the Worldchefs Congress & Expo 2026 at ICC Wales – the first time this global event will have been held in the UK.

“Hopefully, the WICC will help identify the chefs who will represent Wales in finals at the global event. As the host, Wales has been gifted places in the Global Chef Challenge, Young Chef Challenge, Vegan Chef and Pastry Chef finals.

Sponsors of the WICC are Castell Howell, Cambrian Training Company, Roller Grill UK, MCS Technical Products, Capital Cuisine, Churchill, Cygnet Gin, Henley Bridge, Food and Drink Wales, Kentaur, City & Guilds UK, Essential Cuisine, Ecolab, Hybu Cig Cymru / Meat Promotion Wales, Terry’s Patisserie Ltd, Willo Game, Fresh & Tasty Microgreens, Radnor Hills, Robot Coupe and Friedr Dick GmbH & Co.

Pictured: The Welsh International Culinary Championships will showcase culinary, hospitality and butchery talent over three days.

THE UK is preparing to “hang up” on traditional landlines, prompting urgent calls for action to ensure elderly and vulnerable people remain connected. A new survey has unveiled widespread concerns as the nation transitions from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Digital Voice technology.

Lack of awareness raises alarm

Research by telecommunications provider Zen Internet highlights a significant lack of awareness about the looming switch-off:

• 34% of Britons are unaware that all landline services will migrate to broadband by January 2027.
• 66% worry that older relatives and friends could face isolation without traditional landlines, with 35% suggesting more frequent calls as a solution to loneliness.
• Over-55s—those most reliant on landlines—are among the least informed, with 39% unaware of the change.
• Regional disparities exist, with 70% of Londoners aware of the shift, compared to just 55% in the East Midlands and North East.

The enduring role of landlines

Despite the widespread use of mobile phones, landlines continue to play a critical role in UK households:

• 52% of households still use a landline, and 15% rely on it exclusively—rising to 20% in rural areas.
• Nearly half (48%) believe businesses with a landline number are more trustworthy, while 35% are less inclined to trust those using only mobile numbers.

Landlines offer key advantages:

• Reliable connectivity in areas with poor mobile reception (41%).
• A trusted means of communicating with older family members (39%).
• Superior call quality compared to mobile phones (28%).
• A preferred option for long or formal conversations (29%).

Preparing for the digital transition

The full switch-off is planned for January 2027, and telecommunications providers are urging households to act early. Zen Internet CEO Richard Tang emphasized the importance of preparation: “Our research shows millions of people, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, are unaware of the impending switch-off of the traditional landline service. While the transition may seem daunting, you can retain your landline and number—services will simply be provided digitally through your broadband provider.”

Tang urged proactive measures: “Our goal is to ensure no one is left behind, especially vulnerable communities. Awareness and early action are crucial to making this transition seamless.”

Steps to stay connected

To prepare for the switch to Digital Voice technology:

1. Contact your broadband provider to confirm your eligibility and learn the necessary steps.
2. Check your equipment, as you may need a compatible telephone or router.
3. Educate older family members about the change to keep them connected.

A landmark transition

This transformation mirrors the changes seen 40 years ago when Britain bid farewell to its iconic red telephone boxes. Just as that shift marked a new era, the transition to Digital Voice represents a pivotal moment in connectivity, ensuring the trusted tradition of landline communication continues—digitally.

COUNCIL chiefs called for a minimum 4% increase in funding for each local authority and three-year settlements to avert the risk of a Welsh council going bust.

Andrew Morgan, leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf council, warned of “extreme” budget pressures as he appeared before the Senedd’s finance committee on January 15.

He welcomed a £253m uplift in the overall settlement from the Welsh Government but contrasted the increase against a £559m funding gap in the 12 months from April.

He said: “Clearly, the figures show it actually only meets about half of the actual demand for the coming 12 months, so there is going to be significant pressure on local authorities.”

Cllr Morgan, who is leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, the collective voice of Wales’ 22 councils, added: “It is increasingly difficult to be able to explain to the public that we’ve put council tax up while still reducing services.”

He told the committee: “When it comes to council tax, most local authorities are in the range of 5% or upwards for budget planning at least at this stage.

“We are acutely aware of the pressure on local residents in terms of the cost of living, so it is a real dilemma for local authorities.”

Pressed on whether any councils in Wales could issue section 114 (bankruptcy) notices, Cllr Morgan said: “I certainly don’t think there will be any risk of 114 notices in the coming year but that’s not to say that there isn’t a risk there in the medium to long term.”

Asked about Audit Wales’ warning that councils are financially unsustainable, Cllr Morgan called for a three-year settlement to allow planning beyond a 12-month cycle.

He said: “Welsh Government comes out with a provisional settlement in December, that only gives us ten or 12 weeks for us to line up all our ducks in terms of making budgets add up – that’s what’s not sustainable, I would suggest.”

Anthony Hunt, leader of Torfaen council, described the challenge next year as “orders of magnitude different” due to a better-than-expected settlement from the Welsh Government.

He said: “There will be schools that retain staff, there will be services that can be maintained.”

Cllr Hunt told the committee a flat budget or 1% increase, as first feared, would have had “unthinkable” consequences, with “massive” service cuts and redundancies across Wales.

With councils receiving increases ranging from 2.6% to 5.6%, he made the case for a 4% floor which would be funded from outside the settlement at a cost of about £13m.

He emphasised that the 22 principal councils will never be happy with the wider funding formula because there will always be winners and losers.

Lis Burnett, leader of Vale of Glamorgan council, raised the example of hospital discharges.

She said: “I think we’re probably one of the best in Wales now that we can actually get a care package sorted out for people to go home within approximately three days.

“That has been of great benefit to the health board but it basically means that we’re £10m overspent in our social care.”

Turning to education, Cllr Burnett said: “We’re having to be very, very careful in terms of how we rationalise spending for education. The demands, and the complexity of demand, have gone up exponentially – particularly since the pandemic.”

She said her council was “lowest funded by a long way” in terms of education, adding that there is an appetite for reform of the funding formula.

Nia Jeffreys, leader of Gwynedd council, said her local authority has cut £74m over the past decade, nearly a quarter of its day-to-day revenue budget.

Warning of no easy choices, Cllr Jeffreys told the committee: “The efficiency savings have been made already and we’re in a situation now where we’re looking at real-terms cuts … that means stopping doing things and halting services that people rely upon.”

She said Gwynedd and other councils in north Wales are looking at increasing council tax by 8% to 9%, placing a burden on families already struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.

Cllr Jeffreys echoed calls for an “absolutely vital” funding floor, pointing to additional costs of delivering public services in more rural areas.

Asked about increases in employer national insurance contributions, she put the cost to Gwynedd council at about £4.5m.

Cllr Hunt said councils have been assured that they will be given money towards the cost of the rise for directly employed staff.

He stressed: “That national insurance rise is one of the reasons why there’s more money now for public service organisations. And I think we need to be a bit careful not to welcome funding but complain about where it’s come from – it needs to come from somewhere.”

Cllr Morgan said the biggest concern is the money to cover the cost being “Barnettised” (i.e. based on spending in England) which could leave Welsh councils short.

He told the committee education and social care now make up about 70% of all council budgets, suggesting only so much “tinkering” can be done within the other 30%.

He raised concerns about the “eye-watering” costs of children’s care to councils, with some specialist placements costing a five-figure sum each week for every child.