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Top story
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Wealthiest Welsh get wealthier
The wealth owned by the 50 richest people in Wales has surged by 71 per cent over the past year, the latest Insider Rich List reveals. Improved fortunes for the likes of Admiral Group chief executive Henry Engelhardt, Iceland Foods managing director Andrew Pritchard and Celtic Manor owner Sir Terry Matthews boosted the top 50's collective holdings to £6bn. Hayley Parsons, the founder of insurance comparison company Gocompare, makes her debut appearance in the elite ranking in the November issue of Insider.
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Companies
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Hummus feeds growth at Zorba
Zorba Foods, a dip and sandwich filling maker, is extending its factory in Ebbw Vale to meet a growing appetite among consumers for hummus, the dip made from chick peas.
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Diversification helps Dyfed emerge from difficult year
Dyfed Steels, the steel stockholder and processor headquartered in Llanelli, has posted a pre-tax loss of £896,000 for the year to 31 January, down from its £3.2m profit in the previous year. But financial controller Daniel Thomas told Insider the business' fortunes had improved in 2010 and, after some acquisitions in 2009, had diversified its offer.
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Excelsior unwraps Deeside factory
Excelsior Technologies, a packaging producer, has set up a £20m factory at Deeside Industrial Park in Flintshire. The plant will employ 200 staff, including workers from Excelsior’s operations at nearby Flint and at Salford near Manchester.
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Premiership finds trading tough
Newport-based shipping agent Premiership has blamed "very difficult" trading conditions for its performance during the year to December 2009, which included a £7m drop in revenue. Pre-tax profit fell to £312,571 from £337,127 in the previous year.
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TV dragons change the game for angels
Meredydd Jones, the Wales associate of business angel network Beer & Partners, has told Insider the success of the Dragons' Den TV programme has impacted on the angel industry. Jones, whose firm recently won the Investor Allstars' Private Investor Network of the Year award, said the show had positive and negative implications.
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Property and construction
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"Lack of quality" affects industrial take-up
Take-up of industrial space in South Wales was subdued in the third quarter of the year, according to DTZ, with a lack of prime stock cited. The property consultancy added that future take-up was likely to be driven by light manufacturing and logistics companies.
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Government and politics
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Carrier bag levy cut to 5p
The Welsh Assembly Government has scaled back its planned 7p charge for carrier bags from shops and restaurants to 5p, and delayed the date when the levy will come into force to 1 October 2011.
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Gibson to chair digital board
Simon Gibson, the chief executive of Sir Terry Matthews’ Wesley Clover investment house, is to chair the Assembly Government’s Digital Wales Advisory Board. The group will advise on infrastructure, skills, competitiveness, public service delivery and digital inclusion.
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Gillan seeks business views
Cheryl Gillan, the secretary of state for Wales, is to invite business leaders and academics to join a business advisory group. The body will influence UK government policy, amid signs of discontent in Wales at the way spending cuts are being implemented.
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Community
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Ask The Expert: Resource efficiencies
Tim Lineham, programme manager at Envirowise Wales, offers Welsh businesses his advise on how important resource efficiencies could be to their enterprise.
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Advice
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