News

Who’s the richest in Wales?

Published

10 years ago

May 30, 2014

SUCCESSFUL internet investments have made Sir Michael Moritz the richest person in Wales, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2014. He is one of two Welsh billionaires included in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, which is published in a special 116-page edition of The Sunday Times Magazine on May 18.

Raised in Cardiff but now an American citizen, Moritz is the leading partner at Sequoia Capital, an American venture capital firm. Two key internet flotations of recent years made his name. First, an £8m stake taken in the early days of Google turned into $6.3billion after it was floated; and, second, Moritz repeated the trick with LinkedIn, where an initial investment of £2.85m rose to £912m at the time of its 2011 float. In the past year, Moritz’s wealth has soared by 50% (or £563m) to stand at £1.688billion. With his novelist wife Harriet Heyman he has recently given £18.2m to the University of California, San Francisco, to fund biomedical research PhD programmes. Sir Terry Matthews remains in second place on the Welsh Rich List and is the principality’s only other billionaire, this year worth £1,190m, a gain of £68m in the past 12 months. Best known in Wales for bringing the Ryder Cup to the country in 2010, hosted at his Celtic Manor Resort, near Newport, Matthews, 70, made his fortune in Canada, picking up £1billion from the sale of his Newbridge Networks computing business. He wants to build a convention centre at Celtic Manor and, through his Celtic House International company, invests in high-tech start-up businesses. Douglas Perkins, with his wife Dame Mary, head a Specsavers empire that now extends to 1,650 stores worldwide. Their son, John, is managing director of the operation, but the Guernsey-based couple has overseen huge expansion of the business. They both studied optometry at Cardiff University before opening an opticians in Bristol in the 1960s. They made £2m from an initial 23 outlets, which were sold in 1980. Specsavers was founded three years later and has grown rapidly since to record a turnover of £1.8billion in 2012-13. The 26th annual Sunday Times Rich List – the definitive guide to wealth in Britain and Ireland – is published on May 18 in a special 116-page issue of The Sunday Times Magazine, which profiles the 1,000 richest individuals and families in the UK and the wealthiest 250 in Ireland. The list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It excludes bank accounts, to which the paper has no access. The Sunday Times Rich List 2014 is compiled by Philip Beresford, the leading authority on British wealth, and edited by Ian Coxon. Information from The Sunday Times Rich List.

Crime

Pembroke Dock woman in court for failing to remove rubbish from property

Published

6 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Court Reporter

A PEMBROKE DOCK resident is due to appear before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court later today (Nov 25) for multiple alleged breaches of a community protection notice.

Sheena Deacon, of 13 Wavell Crescent, Pembroke Dock, faces charges under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which carries a maximum penalty of a Level 4 fine.

The charges stem from allegations that Deacon failed to remove accumulated household waste from her property on several occasions. According to court documents, the breaches occurred on September 19, September 26, October 2, October 9, and October 17 this year.

The charges indicate that Deacon, despite being issued with a community protection notice, did not comply with the requirements to clear and appropriately dispose of refuse and household waste from her address.

The Herald will bring updates on the case as it progresses.

News

Welsh Conservatives urge Labour to scrap ‘family farm tax’

Published

6 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE WELSH CONSERVATIVES have announced plans to bring forward a Senedd debate next week (Nov 27) calling on the UK Labour Government to abandon its proposed “family farm tax.”

The tax, introduced by the UK Labour Government, is being criticised as a move that will harm Welsh farming, threaten food security, and increase food prices. Alongside the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme and perceived “anti-farming agenda,” critics argue this new tax amounts to a coordinated effort to undermine the future of agriculture in Wales.

Shadow Minister warns of consequences
Ahead of the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, James Evans MS, condemned the proposal, stating:
“Labour’s family farm tax will put family farms out of business, threaten our food security, and lead to food prices rising. Only the Welsh Conservatives will stand up for our farmers, and that’s why we’re bringing forward a Senedd motion calling on Labour to reverse this decision. No farmers, no food.”

NFU Cymru expresses alarm
NFU Cymru President, Aled Jones, echoed these concerns, highlighting the widespread opposition from the farming community. Speaking about the impact of the tax on Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief, Jones said:
“Earlier this week, hundreds of farmers from across Wales journeyed to London to meet with their MPs and register their deeply held concerns about these misguided and ill-thought-out reforms.

“The proposals unveiled by the Treasury last month to introduce a tax on the passing on of our family farms to the next generation are a massive added burden. They will leave many farmers without the means, confidence, or incentive to invest in the future of their business.

“NFU Cymru reiterates its call for the UK Government to halt these changes.”

The motion to be debated
The motion, set to be debated in the Senedd, reads:
“To propose that the Senedd:
Calls on the UK Labour Government to reverse its decision to impose a family farm tax on agricultural businesses.”

This debate is expected to attract significant attention, with Welsh farmers and rural communities keenly watching for the outcome.

Community

Internet outage for two villages after exchange box destroyed

Published

8 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Tom Sinclair

RESIDENTS of Clunderwen and Llandissilio have been left without internet access following the destruction of an Openreach exchange box just outside Llandissilio village.

The incident occurred yesterday (Nov 23) when the box was reportedly demolished by a vehicle. The damage has resulted in a complete loss of internet services for the two villages, with repairs expected to take at least a couple of days.

Local residents have expressed frustration over the disruption, as the outage affects home businesses, remote workers, and households relying on internet connectivity for day-to-day tasks.

Openreach engineers have cordoned off the site, and work is ongoing to assess the extent of the damage. A spokesperson for Openreach has been contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.

The vehicle involved in the incident has not yet been identified. Anyone with information about the collision is urged to contact the local police.

With repair timelines unclear, affected residents have called for increased communication from service providers to manage expectations during the outage.

“Bringing the community back online is a priority,” a local resident said. “We’re hoping Openreach can resolve the issue quickly and ensure it doesn’t happen again in future.”