NEW figures have revealed a sharper fall in Welsh business activity, with firms cutting jobs at the fastest rate since September 2020.

The latest NatWest Wales Growth Tracker showed that while the decline in new orders eased for the second month running, overall output fell more quickly in May as businesses faced higher costs, weaker demand and growing uncertainty.

The headline Wales Business Activity Index fell to 45.8 in May, down from 47.9 in April. Any reading below 50 indicates contraction.

The drop was the sharpest since September 2025 and placed Wales among the weakest-performing UK areas, with only the East Midlands and Northern Ireland recording faster falls in output.

JOB CUTS DEEPEN

Welsh private sector firms also reported a further fall in staffing levels, with the rate of job shedding the steepest in almost six years and the sharpest of all 12 UK nations and regions monitored.

Businesses said lower new order intakes and the higher cost of employment were behind the reduction in headcounts.

Backlogs of work also continued to fall, suggesting weaker demand was allowing firms to clear outstanding orders more quickly.

ORDERS STILL FALLING

New sales fell for the fourth month running, although the rate of decline eased and was only slight.

NatWest said part of the improvement may have reflected temporary stockpiling by customers amid higher prices and supply challenges, rather than a sustained recovery in demand.

Business confidence also weakened, although firms remained generally optimistic that output would rise over the next 12 months.

INFLATION PRESSURE

The report said input costs rose at the sharpest pace since November 2022, driven by higher fuel, energy and material costs.

Welsh firms also increased their selling prices at a faster rate, with charge inflation reaching its highest level for more than a year.

Jessica Shipman, Chair of the NatWest Cymru Board, said: “May data indicated a softer decline in new orders at Welsh firms, however, some of the uplift in the seasonally adjusted New Business Index stemmed from a temporary bout of stockpiling at customers amid higher prices and supply challenges.

“In fact, activity levels dropped at a sharper pace and employment contracted at a rate not seen since September 2020.

“Although still confident of output growth in the coming 12 months, spare capacity and greater uncertainty led firms to lower their expectations for the year-ahead outlook.”

She added that inflationary pressures were continuing to influence business and customer decisions, with the conflict in the Middle East pushing up material, fuel and energy costs.

EXPORT CONDITIONS IMPROVE

There was better news for exporters, with the Wales Export Climate Index rising from 50.7 in April to 51.1 in May.

That signalled the strongest improvement in export conditions for three months, supported by stronger output growth in Ireland and the Netherlands.

Activity also continued to rise in the United States, although Germany and France remained in contraction.

The NatWest Wales Growth Tracker is compiled by S&P Global from responses to questionnaires sent to Welsh companies in the manufacturing and services sectors.

WELSH colleges are changing the way they tackle misogyny, harmful online behaviour and peer-on-peer abuse through an international project backed by Taith funding.

The collaboration, led by ColegauCymru, links further education colleges in Wales with partners in Canada to share practical approaches to promoting respectful relationships and improving learner wellbeing.

The project was developed following concerns highlighted by Estyn about peer-on-peer sexual harassment in further education settings.

It also supports Welsh Government priorities around tackling gender-based violence, improving learner wellbeing and creating safe, inclusive learning environments.

Five Welsh further education colleges worked with five colleges and universities in Canada through an international Community of Practice, allowing staff to share experiences, develop ideas and look at new ways of addressing common challenges.

Knowledge-sharing visits between Wales and Canada focused on issues including misogyny, harmful online content, peer-on-peer abuse and the need to engage young men in open conversations about relationships and masculinity.

One of the main lessons from the project was the importance of involving young men directly in discussions about healthy relationships, online influence and harmful attitudes.

The work has also led to wider partnerships with She Is Not Your Rehab, a New Zealand-based anti-violence movement, and Our Voice Our Journey, a youth-focused social impact organisation.

Working with these organisations, ColegauCymru delivered regional sessions in North and South Wales to help colleges promote respectful relationships and challenge misogyny.

At one event at Cardiff City Stadium, around 400 young men from across South Wales took part in discussions led by international speaker Matt Brown on misogyny, masculinity and respectful relationships.

Staff involved in the project say it has already influenced how colleges approach learner wellbeing, with greater emphasis on training, early intervention and embedding conversations about healthy relationships into college life.

Siân Holleran, International Project Manager at ColegauCymru, said: “Taith funding has been critical in enabling us to connect with international partners and bring global expertise into a national priority for Wales.

“This has created space for honest conversations, practical solutions and lasting change for both staff and learners, while also positioning Welsh colleges as leaders in addressing these shared challenges internationally.”

Welsh and Canadian participants also delivered a joint workshop at the ColegauCymru Annual Conference, where they shared recommendations and discussed future priorities for the sector.

Susana Galván, Executive Director of Taith, said: “This project reflects Wales’s growing role as a confident, internationally engaged nation. Organisations across Wales are using international partnerships to address shared challenges while developing approaches shaped around the needs of Welsh learners and communities.

“Through Taith, we are supporting a uniquely Welsh approach that combines global partnerships with a strong focus on equity, wellbeing and inclusion; helping ensure that international learning directly benefits people across Wales.

“It also demonstrates the growing international interest in learning from Wales, as we share our expertise while working together to address shared global challenges.”

ColegauCymru has since secured further Taith funding to expand the work, including the development of new bystander training for learners and staff across the further education sector in Wales.

The organisation says the next phase will help ensure the impact of the international collaboration continues to grow across Welsh colleges.

TWO brothers have been found guilty of causing the death of a well-known dad and rugby coach from Powys after their ‘reckless’ race ended in a head-on collision.

Abubakr Yusaf and Umar Yusaf denied that the manner of their driving was responsible for the death of Rhys Jenkins, and the serious injury of his son, however the strength of evidence gathered by Dyfed-Powys Police proved the brothers were to blame.

In an eight-day trial, Mold Crown Court heard how Abubakr, 30 and Umar, 34 were driving home from Aberystwyth to Manchester in separate cars when they started to race one another.

Witnesses said they had seen the brothers complete highly dangerous overtakes along the stretch of road, driving at excessive speed, tailgating, and flashing their headlights at other cars in an attempt to get past.

Shortly after both brothers took a bend in the road on the wrong side of the carriageway, Abubakr’s BMW collided head-on with a Toyota being driven by Rhys Jenkins on the Belan straight. 

As other drivers stopped to help the dad and his son, both the brothers fled the scene in Umar’s Audi S4.

Emergency services attended, and Mr Jenkins was tragically confirmed to have died from catastrophic injuries. His nine-year-old son, who had been a passenger in the car, was air lifted to hospital, where he spent 10 days being treated for his injuries.

Within 40 minutes of the collision, 34-year-old Umar Yusaf drove back to the scene and told a PCSO the person responsible was with him.

The brothers were arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, and an investigation was launched by Dyfed-Powys Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit.

Statements from a number of witnesses described the brothers’ manner of driving as ‘reckless’, ‘erratic’, and consistent with racing.  It was determined that while Umar’s car was not directly involved in the collision, the ‘competitive’ nature of his driving with his brother contributed significantly to the fatal incident.

The brothers were charged with causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and failing to stop after a road traffic collision.

Abubakr Yusaf was also charged with causing death while uninsured, drug driving and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.

Abubakr Yusaf was today found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and causing death whilst uninsured.

Umar Yusaf was found guilty of causing death by careless driving and causing serious injury by careless driving.

They will be sentenced on Monday 27 July 2026.

Speaking about the impact of Mr Jenkins’ death on his family, PS Sara John from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: “The tragic and wholly preventable death of Rhys Jenkins has caused his two young boys and wife to suffer immeasurable grief.

“Today’s verdict has proven that Abubakr and Umar Yusaf are directly responsible for causing the death of Mr Jenkins, seriously injuring his young son and bringing complete devastation to their family. 

“Both defendants have denied responsibility from the outset, despite overwhelming evidence that they were racing each other in a highly dangerous manner.

“Our investigation has been intensive and thorough, and I would like to thank the members of the public at the scene, and those who came forward with information to support the investigation and court proceedings that followed. Their input was paramount to the guilty verdict delivered today.

“I’d also like to thank all the officers and staff involved for their dedication to the case and ultimately securing this result. 

“More importantly, I would like to commend the bravery and dignity shown by Rhys’s family during our enquiries and the criminal justice process – the strength they have shown having to sit through the trial listening to the evidence can only be described as extraordinary.”

Rhys’s wife, Carrie Jenkins, said: “Following the conviction, I would like to thank the court, the jury, the CPS, police and all those involved in this trial, including the many witnesses who came forward.

“The loss of Rhys in such an unexpected and unnecessary way has been devastating, but our focus as a family has been to rebuild our lives, and to make the most of each day, as Rhys would have wanted, with the support of our friends and community. 

“I hope the publicity surrounding the Crown Court case highlights to others the dangers of driving at speed, and acts as a reminder that we all have a responsibility when we get behind a wheel.”  

Joanne Brine, solicitor for Carrie Jenkins said: “This has been an unimaginably distressing time for Mrs Jenkins, coping with a life-changing situation which she has handled with courage and grace as she, her children and their wider family have come to terms with the devasting loss of a much-loved husband and father,

“Nothing will ever heal the overwhelming pain of his loss, but they continue to navigate their future in the best way possible, with the invaluable support of their wider community. 

“We will continue to support the family as they pursue civil redress for the actions which lead to Rhys’ untimely death.”