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Who’s the richest in Wales?

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richmanSUCCESSFUL 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.

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Business

Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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