Parc Life - Issue 1

Spring 2013 The

Parc Menai

Newsletter Issue 1

Inside Morgan's Financial joins Parc Menai

Fund helps Gaia Tech grow

Keeping our ducks in fine feather

Introducing: Access to Masters Programme

Coming soon to Parc Menai

...and more!

www.parcmenai.com

Welcome

Firstly, I'd like to welcome you to the first issue of the new Parc Life - the Parc Menai Business Park newsletter! After the coldest March in 50 years, spring has finally sprung for North Wales businesses. Sprint

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Secondly, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Sam - and as well as the editor of Parc Life, I am the new website, marketing and social media coordinator at Pebble Hill Property Ltd. If you’re following any of Parc Menai, Pebble Hill Property or St. Asaph Business Park on Twitter, you may (or may not) have been reading my tweets for the past month!

It’s a great pleasure of mine to be bringing the new Parc Menai newsletter to you. My goal is to keep you informed, bring you news and keep you up-to-date with developments in and around Parc Menai. I also hope to teach you a little bit more about the multitude of fantastic organisations about the park – your neighbours.

This is the first Parc Life with many more to come. Big thanks to everyone who has contributed to this first issue and I hope you find the information useful!

Economic Growth Fund helps Gaia Technologies grow! arc Menai-based IT company has increased its turnover by £3m and created 1 7 new jobs over the past 1 2 months after receiving support from the Welsh Government's Economic Growth Fund.

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Gaia Technologies, which specialises in multilingual 3D software for primary and secondary school students, was awarded a £1 20,000 grant from the fund in April 201 2.

"The support from the Economic Growth Fund has allowed the company to take greater risk in developing an innovative 3D learning environment with a variety of content across all the curriculum subjects." - Anas Mawla, managing director at Gaia Technologies.

Morgan's Financial Services joins us at Parc Menai ______________________________________

A big welcome to Morgan's Financial Services , financial planning specialists, who are now located in Unit 1 2, Llys Castan!

"We cover the whole of North Wales and the North West" commented Sarah Morgan, "we chose Parc Menai because of its location and easy access to the Lleyn Peninsula, A55 and beyond."

Two Major Hearing Loss Research Charities Merge ction on Hearing Loss and Deafness Research UK confirmed (2/4/201 3) that the two charities have merged.

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"This enabled us to successfully compete internationally against companies from the US and India. As a company based in North Wales, we are grateful for the support from the Welsh Government, and we would encourage other Welsh companies to apply for the support."

Both charities are known for their groundbreaking work in biomedical research.

The second phase of the 201 3 Economic Growth Fund will open later this year for projects with a funding requirement of more than £1 00,000.

The merger will raise the profile of biomedical research, which will in turn boost funding for further programmes.

Article from Insider News Wales here

Full article on the Action on Hearing Loss website here

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Issue 1 Spring 2013

Keeping our ducks in fine feather

Our resident ducks & swans outside Ash Court / Llys Onnen

any people find feeding the ducks and the swans at Parc Menai to be an enchanting way to interact with the wildlife around the park.

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However, while we may have grown up believing that feeding the ducks was an environmentally responsible and humane way to dispose of our mouldy or stale bread; little do most people know that it is actually potentially dangerous for them!

Junk food!

Bread and similar products such as crackers and chips are great sources of carbohydrates but they offer little other nutritional value for waterfowl and other birds. In fact, bread is the equivalent to junk food for birds. Offered in moderation, bread isn’t harmful, yet too much of it can lead to excessive weight and several other problems.

Why is it so bad?

Not only can bread be fattening to ducks, it can also lead to overcrowding, duckling malnutrition and other dietary issues caused by a carbohydrate-rich diet. Furthermore, it can also cause the loss of natural behaviour. When birds become accustomed to our handouts, they lose their natural fear of humans and become dependant on them. They may also become aggressive in order to get more food.

Alternatives to bread

Ducks and waterfowl can live longer, healthier lives by relying on natural food sources such as aquatic plants, seeds and insects rather than taking handouts from well-meaning humans. If you still want to enjoy the enchanting experience that is feeding the ducks and swans at Parc Menai, there are many healthier alternatives to bread that you can offer them! These include: • Soft peas • Cut grapes • Duck feed pellets • Cracked corn • Grains Following these guidelines, not only can occupants and visitors continue to enjoy interacting with the wildlife, but our resident waterfowl will be healthier and happier too. It's as easy as a duck takes to water!

Attention: Parking on grass verges An ongoing problem at Parc Menai is parking on grass verges. Doing so causes damage and can cost thousands of pounds per annum in unnecessary repairs. I urge all occupants and visitors to please make use of the car parks at all times, thanks!

Issue 1 Spring 2013

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The Wales Coaching Initiative rganisations with 1 0 or more employees have the opportunity to receive fully-funded training for coaching skills with The Wales Coaching Initiative.

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The initiative works to provide the opportunity for individuals in the private and third sector to develop their coaching skills and implement a coaching culture throughout their organisation.

Director of Leadership & Management Wales, Dr Barrie Kennard, explains: “It is important that the ‘train the trainer’ aspect of the initiative to encourage a coaching culture is not forgotten. As we found in our organisational impact research, when coupled with classroom learning coaching allows for more effective implementation of training and development courses.”

Footpaths Resurfaced!

A number of the footpaths around Parc Menai have undergone a refurbishment.

Learning to Inspire and Worth Consulting jointly deliver The Wales Coaching Initiative. Dates for training events throughout Wales and more information about their programmes can be found on their websites.

Individuals who attend the programme will require senior management agreement for them to attend and need to be in a role that enables them to take their coaching skills back into the workplace and develop others to become coaches.

Local dog walker & dog enjoying our new footpaths

Full details here

Introducing

Access To Masters (ATM) Programme ccess To Masters is an opportunity for a student to work on a specific short term project related to your business.

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The ATM programme supports taught masters students on courses which are linked to the Welsh Government’s priority sectors: • Advanced materials and manufacturing • Creative industry • Energy and environment • Financial & professional services • Information & communication technologies • Life sciences • Construction • Tourism

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Issue 1 Spring 2013

The project is led by Swansea University and has been part-funded by the EU’s Convergence European Social Fund through the Welsh Government.

The benefits of participating include the opportunity for the company partner to improve their competitiveness by undertaking ‘project solving’ or ‘technical scoping’ projects, and using the company project as a work trial for potential future employees. It is also a chance to build ongoing links with academic groups and accessing other collaborative funding.

For full details on Access To Masters, visit www.bangor.ac.uk/atm

those in housing need. Cartrefi Cymunedol Working together is success Gwynedd are an independent not-for-profit organisation registered and regulated by the artrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd, a Parc Welsh Government. Being not-for-profit means Menai-based social landlord with homes any surplus income is put back into the business across Gwynedd, has recently launched their so that they're able to continue providing homes new web site. and services and achieve set objectives.

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Working closely with fellow Parc resident WiSS Limited (Intec) the new site was designed to be visually attractive and accessible to as wide an audience range as possible.

Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd has around 6,300 homes and is responsible for the management and maintenance of those properties. Much of their stock is located in Bangor, Caernarfon, Pwllheli, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Dolgellau and Bala while also having property across the county in towns, villages and rural areas. Part of the stock consists of 400 sheltered units for older and more vulnerable individuals.

Achieving Welsh Housing Quality Standard is an important part of CCG's work and they will spend a total of £1 36million on improving homes and ensuring all properties reach the standard by 201 5.

The all new www.ccgwynedd.org designed by WiSS

Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd is a housing association set up in 201 0 following a ‘yes’ vote from Gwynedd Council tenants.

They provide quality, affordable homes and services to their tenants and strive to protect and develop the culture and heritage of the communities they serve as they do so.

As a registered social landlord, their primary purpose is to provide affordable rented homes to

Bag it 'n' bin it!

We urge all dog owners to bag and bin their dogs' waste.

We need your cooperation to keep the business park and surrounding areas clean. Thanks!

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Issue 1 Spring 2013

Llinos Iorwerth, Communications Manager at CCG said: “We are very pleased with our new website www.ccgwynedd.org and have already had positive feedback from staff and tenants. It's great to have worked with local company WiSS and it made the process of updating our site much easier as they, like us, are based here in Parc Menai.”

“We develop close working relationship with our clients and working with Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd has been a real pleasure. We still have lots to do with the site and continue to strive to provide the very best in web site design and user experience. We’re also making final amendments to ensure its usability across a broad range of devices including mobile phones.” said David Waller, Managing Director of WiSS limited.

WiSS has been building web sites since 1 995 and specialises in multi-cultural web sites, having recently completed an Arabic/English site for a PhD student at Bangor University.

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____________________ Promoting the park

We are privileged to be working with the guys at The Laundry Studios , Colwyn Bay on a promotional video for Parc Menai. It will feature footage of the park and some of the tenants and will be displayed on our home page. Keep an eye out for updates!

____________________ Business directory

The business directory on our website is currently being revamped.

The new directory will provide each business with their own profile page, giving more options for tenants when listing their business. There will be 3 different types of profile plans to choose from.

Mat from The Laundry Studios interviewing Rhys at Outlook Expeditions' head office on Parc Menai

Preview of how the revamped profiles are likely to look

Featured Property Ash Court, LL57 4DF

Llys y Fedwen, LL57 4BL

From £86 per week exclusive

From £97 per week exclusive

Various units from 330sq.ft. - 2,575sq.ft.

Various units from 595sq.ft. - 3,799sq.ft.

We welcome contributions for future issues of Parc Life.

Please email your articles to

social@parcmenai.com

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Issue 1 Spring 2013

@parcmenai /parcmenai

www.parcmenai.com

Pebble Hill Property Ltd Unit 3 ­ Conwy Business Centre Junction Way, Llandudno Junction LL31 9XX

Tel: +44 (0) 1492 584343

Tel: +44 (0) 1492 584343