Day: June 14, 2018

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Press release: Welsh Secretary visits West Wales business success stories

From global denim brands favoured by Royalty to a gas terminal helping to boost the UK’s energy security, Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns has visited the west Wales coast today to meet members of the region’s workforce helping to drive the nation’s rural economy forward. (14 June).

The Secretary of State visited premium denim brand Hiut Denim Co – a label recently propelled into the global spotlight when the Duchess of Sussex wore one of their designs during a visit to Cardiff in January.

The Cardigan based family owned firm has since been flooded with worldwide attention and orders, sparking an imminent move to larger premises in the Ceredigion town later this year and a global order waiting list of three months.

The Secretary of State – who supported Hiut when they co-exhibited at London Craft Week with Danish furniture designers Carl Hansen & Son, was welcomed to the company’s HQ by David Hieatt. David founded the brand with his wife, Clare in 2011. Fiercely proud of their Welsh roots, the couple moved from London back to Cardigan and set about breathing life back into the town’s denim manufacturing history when it was home to clothing manufacturer, Dewhirst.

Mr Hieatt introduced Mr Cairns to the team of Grandmasters, so called due to their decades of denim experience at Dewhirst. Each are living examples of the company’s motto of “do one thing well” by singlehandedly crafting each pair of jeans for customers all over the world.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

Hiut is a company that prides itself on doing one thing well – setting itself apart from the highly mechanised industry giants and helping to propel the ‘Made in Wales’ stamp around the world.

With its expansion plans and continued investment in the local economy, Hiut Denim Co is a shining example of a company looking to capitalise on the global demand for their goods – and showing how a little Welsh endeavour can go a long way.

The UK Government is ready to support any Welsh business looking to follow in their footsteps and take advantage of every opportunity available to them to grow and expand into new markets.

David Hieatt, co-founder of ‘Hiut Denim Co said:

Over the last six months, we have gone through the biggest growth period in the company’s life. We are already over 60% up on 2017. This is mostly thanks to the media coverage we received in December 2017 and, of course, since Meghan Markle was seen wearing our jeans in January.

Since then we have hired four new apprentices in the factory. We have also outgrown our current factory and will be moving to a larger factory in the next few weeks. We will be hiring more Grandmasters to work in the factory once we have the new factory up and running.

Hiut Denim Co. is a global denim company making jeans for the creative man and woman of the world. It’s quest is the same as was on day one: To get 400 people their jobs back.

We are fighting for the right to make. This is a maker town. We are passing those skills on to the next generation.

The Secretary of State also highlighted the region’s energy rich landscape with a visit to South Hook LNG Terminal in Milford Haven. The Terminal has been importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar since it was fully commissioned in 2010. With capacity to process around 20% of the UK’s current natural gas needs, it is one of the largest terminals in Europe.

Alun Cairns added:

South Hook plays a crucial role in the fabric of Wales’ energy sector and the facility at Milford Haven is a key element in ensuring UK energy security. Employing just over 200 people in Milford Haven, with the vast majority coming from Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, it is a key employer in the West Wales region.

Qatari investment in London, including the recent introduction of the daily Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Cardiff, shows that the UK is highly attractive to investors abroad, creating jobs and growth at home.

Rob Else, General Manager South Hook LNG Terminal said,

We were delighted to welcome the Secretary of State for Wales to our Terminal, where operational reliability is underpinned by the highest of safety standards.

Mr Cairns rounded off his day with a visit to the studios of Mumph Cartoons near Cardigan. While Wales’ reputation as a hotbed of creative and animation talent has been growing worldwide over recent years, Mal Humphreys has plied his trade as a full-time cartoonist since 1991 with his work gracing the pages of the broadsheets and S4C television screens.

Link: Press release: Welsh Secretary visits West Wales business success stories
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: Sea change for migrating smolts

The Environment Agency has carried out underwater sonar surveys to check for young salmon using a new route across the Tees Barrage gates.

And the results show the juveniles – known as smolts – successfully making their journey from spawning grounds upstream out to sea.

It follows changes to the operation of the Tees Barrage in 2015, which means on every tidal cycle the gates are lowered to allow fish to pass both upstream and downstream.

Surveys have shown the barrage gates are the main route for salmon migrating upstream and the automation of the gates has resulted in an extra 1,500 hours per year of fish passage for returning adult salmon to reach their upstream spawning grounds.

It’s in addition to the other routes that salmon use including the Barrage’s navigation lock, the Denil fish pass, the fish pass in the white water rafting centre, and the main canoe slalom.

Image of Phil Rippon checking the sonar footage

Downstream migration improved

Phil Rippon, Fisheries Technical Specialist at the Environment Agency, said:

As well as improving the routes for returning adult fish we are also looking to improve the downstream migration of these precious fish and maximise the number of smolts reaching the North Sea.

By lowering the main barrage gates at set times, it means that as well as providing an additional upstream route for adult salmon we are providing a much easier route for the young salmon moving downstream as well. It is known that the sooner the smolts reach the sea the better their survival chances are, resulting in more returning adult fish.

Our recent work using an underwater sonar has shown large numbers of smolts using the gates to pass successfully downstream. It’s really positive to see yet more evidence that salmon are spawning upstream and these youngsters have been living in the river for up to 3 years before they move out to the sea.

Every year smolts, which are between 1 and 3 years old, leave the river to start their feeding migrations to the sea – travelling as far as Greenland – where they will spend up to three more years as an adult salmon before returning to the river to spawn.

Smolts are vulnerable throughout their migration and only around 5% of those that leave the river will return to spawn the next generation of salmon.

Underwater sonar footage of River Tees smolts crossing the Tees Barrage

Steering group

The Tees Barrage Fish Pass and Operation Steering Group, made up of Tees Barrage owners the Canal & River Trust, the Environment Agency, Angling Trust, Salmon & Trout Conservation Trust, Tees Rivers Trust, Industries Nature Conservation Association and Tees Barrage International White Water Centre, oversees the monitoring and research of fish and seal populations and carried out action to improve fish passage.

Research to understand the preferred routes through the barrage for fish and how to make it easier for them while reducing seal predation has been the focus of recent surveys.

Last year also saw the use of an acoustic deterrent device (ADD) to deter seals from entering the navigation lock, which showed promising results. Phil added:

We’re working really hard together with our partners to understand how fish naturally try to pass through the barrage and then to make it as easy as possible for them. We’ve changed the way the main gates and navigation lock operate to allow more fish passage, and we’ll be using an acoustic deterrent device again this summer.

We want as many fish as possible to make it upstream to their spawning grounds to ensure the River Tees continues to improve.


Link: Press release: Sea change for migrating smolts
Source: Environment Agency

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Press release: Fruit retailer fined after failing to meet marketing standards

Appearing at Sunderland Magistrates on 11 June, Marc Philip Farnsworth, owner of M Farnsworth, in Bede Precinct, Jarrow, was found guilty of displaying and offering for sale fresh fruit below the minimum standards permitted.

The court fined Mr Farnsworth £1,000 and ordered him to pay full investigation costs of £2,826, prosecution costs of £620, and a £100 Victims Surcharge – making a total penalty awarded of £4,546.

The case was brought following an investigation by the Rural Payments Agency’s (RPA) Horticultural Marketing Inspectors (HMI). The inspectors are responsible for the enforcement of the EU marketing standards for fresh fruit, vegetables, salad crops, nuts and cultivated mushroom, throughout England and Wales, wherever fresh produce is grown, imported, exported, bought or sold. These standards will continue to be enforced after we have left the European Union.

Several visits were made to the Jarrow store, during which inspectors found it was selling apples that were severely bruised– making them unfit for human consumption. Rotten figs and bruised and rotten peaches were also for sale.

Mark Buckle, regional manager for HMI, said:

On visiting the store our inspectors found apples that were so badly bruised they should not be eaten – let alone placed for sale. Repeated attempts were made to engage the store’s owner in addressing the issues, but he failed to take action and it was necessary to progress this through the courts.

We will do all we can to ensure unsatisfactory produce is kept off the market. The fine received here should serve as a warning to others that if they are not labelling products correctly, or selling fruit and veg that is of an unacceptable quality then action will be taken against them.

Link: Press release: Fruit retailer fined after failing to meet marketing standards
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Employment Guarantee

A Bill to require the Secretary of State to guarantee paid employment for six months for claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance, or the jobseeker’s component of Universal Credit, who have been unemployed for six months or longer; and for connected purposes.

Link: Employment Guarantee
Source: Public Bills