But despite the high-profile investment of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the hospitality industry here, and across Wales, is struggling amid a series of challenges.
“We’ve been in a little bit of a bubble because of the media attention brought by Wrexham football club. But it’s not the whole answer,” Mr Regan told Sky News.
Image: Sam Regan. Pic: Joe Bickerton
‘Major implications’
Mr Regan, who is also chair of the regional tourism partnership, says international visitors are bringing “much higher spends” to Wrexham than a domestic market, but this may not be the case in the long-term.
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The challenges facing the hospitality industry are not exclusive to Wales – they include rising food costs and higher utility bills.
But at an already difficult time for the sector, business rates relief for Welsh retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are being slashed.
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In the last financial year, businesses were eligible for 75% off their liability, but this year that’s been reduced to 40%.
“The average business in Wrexham is going to be affected to the tune of about £8,000 by the decision not to give the 75% and keep the 35% back for other purposes in Wales,” Mr Regan added.
There is a concern from some that businesses will look to base themselves in England due to the difference in support.
“Anecdotally, I’ve heard evidence that a gym chain has been looking at Wrexham as an option and also Shrewsbury, which isn’t a million miles away, and they’ve opted for Shrewsbury ultimately because business rates relief is significantly different,” Mr Regan said.
“We’ve got businesses in Wrexham, where you could cross the road, literally cross the road from one café to another…one’s got 40% rate relief from 1 April, and the other’s got 75%.
“That’s got major implications on small businesses.”
‘Pips squeezed out’
The total amount the Welsh government is spending on business rates support for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses will go down this year.
In 2023-24, £140m was invested but this year it will invest only £78m.
Rhys and Charlotte Williams own the 66-bed Dunoon Hotel and two restaurants in Llandudno, Conwy county.
Mr Williams told Sky News the cut in business rates relief means he will have to pay over £20,000 more this year – an increase of around 66%
“£20,000 is a big number when you’re also still dealing with rising costs after the energy hikes last year, and the big uplift in costs across the board,” he said.
Image: Rhys and Charlotte Williams. Pic: Rhys Williams
Mr Williams said it felt like the hospitality sector in Wales was “having the pips squeezed out” of it.
“If I was in England, as a business I’m going to be paying just over £13,500 next year,” he added.
“So suddenly hospitality in Wales is being put on the back foot against its immediate competitor, and life is tough enough already without having that thrown on you.”
He said the business saw a 350% increase in its energy bills last year and it would be a “long old slog” to gradually exit those contracts over the next six to 18 months.
“You get a very real sense, particularly up in the North, that the South is just another country that has its own set of priorities, political and economic or otherwise, from the North. And the North is just stranded,” he added.
Image: Yan White. Pic: Cowshed
‘Hard to continue’
Yan White is director of The Queer Emporium in central Cardiff.
He told Sky News he had recently been looking at the possibility of setting up a branch in Bristol.
“We know that if we go to Bristol and do a pop-up, we’re likely to make more money and even though we’re a non-profit, that is still something we have to think about,” he said.
“We’ve looked at opening a second store somewhere like Bristol potentially. But a big part of that reason is because we kind of would need it to keep us buoyant.”
He said the Welsh government was “cranking up the handles” by cutting support and was making it “incredibly hard to continue operating”.
“It’s going to cost us a few extra thousand a year, which on our turnover as a non-profit, that is quite significant. That’s not a small amount,” he added.
“I do worry that what we’re basically seeing is a huge bubble that’s about to burst.”
‘Doing all we can’
A Welsh government spokesperson said they were aware of “the ongoing cost-of-living and cost-of-doing-business crises”.
“We are doing all we can, with the resources and powers available to us, to provide support in these difficult times..
“We provide a range of permanent non-domestic rates reliefs, worth £250m annually and fully funded by the Welsh government.
“This includes small business rates relief, which supports ratepayers for around 70,000 properties across Wales, of which over 50,000 receive full relief.
“We are also providing a fifth successive year of support for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with their rates bills, at a cost of £78m.
“This builds on the almost £1bn of support provided in rates relief schemes to these sectors since 2020-21.”
The Welsh Conservatives say pubs and restaurants in the country are facing “real hardship” and have committed to maintaining business rates relief “so businesses can be properly supported”.
Plaid Cymru say the reduction in business rates relief was a “perfect storm” when coupled with other pressures and that the existing business rates system “simply does not work”.
Two men have been arrested by armed officers after multiple people were stabbed on a train.
The train was stopped at Huntingdon station, in Cambridgeshire, after police were called at around 7.40pm on Saturday.
Cambridgeshire Police said a number of people have been taken to hospital, while a “large-scale response” was deployed by the East of England Ambulance Service.
Video shared online which appears to have been filmed from a railway bridge shows a huge police response with armed officers running along the platform towards the train carriages.
Image: Gavin saw injured passengers
Witnesses told Sky News the stabbings started around 10 minutes after the 6.25 train from Doncaster to London King’s Cross left Peterborough and passengers sounded the emergency alarm.
One man who was on the train told Sky News he saw someone coming though his carriage saying: “They’ve got a knife, I’ve been stabbed.”
“They were making their way through the carriage to get away from the suspects. They were extremely bloodied,” said the man who gave his name as Gavin.
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He said by the time the train pulled up “they were basically on the floor”.
“That person ended up collapsing on the floor. They were taken to an ambulance pretty much straight away,” he said.
Gavin said passengers were ushered out into the station and “there were multiple people who had been stabbed making their way down”.
But he said one of the suspects had also come off the train and was “running rampant as well”, and was “waving a large knife” before he was taken down by armed officers with a taser.
Image: Pic: Police at Huntingdon train station
London North Eastern Railway, which operates East Coast Mainline services in the UK, said all lines are blocked around Huntingdon station, with major disruption expected until the end of the day.
Police said the A1307 has been closed on the approach to the town centre and the incident remains ongoing.
Cambridgeshire Police said in a statement: “We were called at 7.39pm with reports that multiple people had been stabbed on a train.
“Armed officers attended and the train was stopped at Huntingdon, where two men were arrested.
“A number of people have been taken to hospital.
“The incident remains ongoing and the A1307 has been closed as you approach the town centre.”
Huntingdon MP Ben Obese-Jecty said in a post on X he was “aware of the incident” and “trying to establish further information”.
“My thoughts are with the victims and those involved,” he wrote.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the “appalling incident” was “deeply concerning”.
“My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response,” he wrote on X.
“Anyone in the area should follow the advice of the police.”
The Home Secretary said she was “deeply saddened” by the incident in Huntingdon and urged the public to “avoid comment and speculation at this early stage”.
In a statement on X, Shabana Mahmood said: “Two suspects have been immediately arrested and taken into custody.
“I am receiving regular updates on the investigation.”
Speaking to Sky News at the scene, Huntingdon MP Ben Obese-Jecty said: “When I first arrived here, I’ve simply never seen as big a response to an emergency incident as there were in terms of police, fire and ambulance.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said on X: “Horrific scenes in Huntingdon, in what seems to be a brutal mass attack by two perpetrators.
“My thoughts are with all those injured or affected and the emergency services responding The police and government should provide an update on what happened and who has been arrested as soon as possible
Tory party chairman Kevin Hollinrake also described the scenes as “horrifying”.
“My thoughts are with the victims and the emergency services responding to this incident,” he wrote on X.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
A Land Rover was spotted leaving Royal Lodge – the home of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor – on Saturday morning, as more US politicians call for him to testify before a congressional committee.
Emails released on Friday in unsealed court documents shed new light on Andrew’s correspondence with Epstein.
Months after the paedophile financier was released from prison in 2009 for prostituting minors, Andrew wrote that it would be “good to catch up in person”.
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3:07
Will Andrew have to give evidence on Epstein?
The pair were pictured together in New York’s Central Park in December 2010, in a meeting Andrew later claimed was to end their friendship.
In Congress, the House Oversight Committee is investigating the Epstein affair, and several of its members have invited Andrew to come and give evidence, presenting it as an opportunity to clear his name.
Meanwhile, Virginia Giuffre’s family have called for Andrew to be “investigated” over her claims that – as a teenager – she had sex with Andrew on three occasions after being trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell.
Andrew has always denied the claims. Ms Giuffre sued in 2021 and the case was settled outside of court for a sum believed to have been around £12m.
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1:48
Virginia Guiffre’s family sends message to King
Andrew set for six-figure sum
Andrew could be in line for a six-figure payout and an annual payment as part of his “relocation settlement” after being forced out of the Royal Lodge, the Guardian reported.
One option includes an initial six-figure sum followed by an annual payment, which would be paid from the King’s private funds, and is thought to be several times his £20k-a-year navy pension, sources told the newspaper.
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He will move from Windsor to private accommodation in Sandringham, Norfolk. But on Saturday, people in Sandringham had mixed views about the move.
One man told Sky News he would be unwelcome: “This is a lovely, peaceful area. His reputation now is tarnished, and, I don’t think it’s right.
“This is where the royals come for Christmas… and come throughout the year. And, I don’t think people local really want to see him here.”
But another man was more sympathetic: “He hasn’t been found guilty of anything in my view. So and people forget that he was a war hero in the Falklands. That’s all gone now, isn’t it? Nobody’s thinking that he’s done any good.”
Public supports Charles, poll shows
A poll has revealed the public supports the King’s decision to strip Andrew of his titles and remove him from the Royal Lodge.
Of the 4,739 people surveyed by YouGov, 79% said it was “the right decision” to “strip Andrew Mountbatten Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) of his prince title”.
But when asked about the speed of King’s response to the Andrew-Epstein revelations, 58% of respondents said the monarch moved “too slowly”.
Police provide update
The Metropolitan Police has given Sky News an update on allegations that Andrew asked a royal close protection officer to “dig up dirt” on Virginia Giuffre in 2011.
On Saturday, the Met said: “Following recent media reporting on the actions of officers in relation to this matter, we are considering whether any further assessment or review is necessary.”
Meanwhile, the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), issued a statement regarding allegations that Andrew’s royal close protection officers had obstructed lawyers serving a lawsuit from Virginia Giuffre in 2021.
The IOPC said: “We have not received any referrals in relation to this matter at this time.”
Graham Smith, from the anti-monarchy group Republic, told Sky News: “The problem that the royals have is that there’s going to be more information coming out, more scandals, more accusations and more emails.
“The idea that essentially… he’s [Andrew] told to live in a very large house, given a half million pound stipend, and told to use his own name, is any kind of punishment, is absurd in most people’s eyes.”
In the next few days, the King is expected to submit the royal warrant, affecting the dukedom, and letters patent, which will formally remove Andrew’s entitlement to use the title prince and HRH style.
A few years ago, another resident started a petition to change the name of the road, and somebody covered up part of the street sign.
“I think we should change it,” Shirley told us, “but don’t ask me what to.”
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Image: Shirley is one of the residents calling for the street to be renamed
After a few minutes weighing up the options, she settled on Prince George Drive.
“At least that looks to the future,” she added.
Linda Boden has lived on the road even longer – she and husband Phil moved here after getting married 45 years ago.
“We have actually had the conversation this morning, that the name of this road will get changed,” Linda said.
Phil told us he wasn’t bothered about the name. “It’s just a name, it’s not the man… I can’t tell you what I think [about him] without swearing you know.”
Image: A bird’s eye view of Prince Andrew Drive
Cheryl, who lives nearby, told us what really mattered to her were the victims of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal – particularly the late Virginia Giuffre.
“That poor girl needs justice,” she said. “It is ridiculous it has gone on this long to be perfectly honest. That poor family are still living with it.”
I asked where her sympathies lay within this long-running royal scandal and Julie was unequivocal.
“With anybody who has been sexually exploited,” she said bluntly.
Julie believes Princess Anne Drive would be a better name for her neighbours’ road.
“She’s one of the better ones,” she added.
Image: Julie lives on the nearby Queen Elizabeth Way and suggests a renaming that would stick to the royal theme
Changing the road name would be a logistical headache for local authorities and residents, with some telling us it did not bother them and they would not fancy the extra paperwork to amend things such as household bills and driving licences.
But Postman Gary told us every time he’s making deliveries on Prince Andrew Drive, he feels for the residents.
“We have a little giggle because we know they don’t want it named that anymore and I wouldn’t either if I lived here. It’s probably time it changed.”
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1:33
‘Huge’ part of royal statement you might have missed
We did not find anyone on Prince Andrew Drive who disagreed with the King’s decision to remove his titles and oust him from his home in Windsor.
The monarchy needs to retain the support of the public across the UK – that’s one of the reasons the King has taken such decisive action at this point in the scandal.