A company which designs and produces some of the world’s finest furniture and bespoke interiors is one of a number of businesses joining Welsh Government on a vital trade mission to Hong Kong and Shanghai next month.

Silverlining, based on Wrexham Industrial Estate, is going from strength to strength, looking to double its workforce over the next five years from 70 to 130 people.

The company is unique, designing, delivering and fitting bespoke ultra-luxury interiors and as a result of its success is now considering setting up its own Academy to train its future workforce.

It exports 98% of its products and will be joining the Welsh Government’s Hong Kong and Shanghai trade mission in March to showcase its exclusive products. It has previously attended a number of trade exhibitions with Welsh Government support. 

Silverlining has won orders from all over the world, usually by referral as a result of work already undertaken and repeat orders, with most projects worth over £2m.

The factory combines advanced manufacturing with traditional cabinet making skills.  Examples of the unique work includes horse hair braided into speakers; leather which is embossed, finished and patterned for a floor in Singapore; straw marquetry inlaid across a surface that shimmers under a finish which may take a year to complete. 

Its current order books are full for over a year, and it often takes more than 18 months to deliver on a single project.  

After outgrowing its previous base in Cheshire the company moved to the Wrexham Industrial Estate, and is now at the point where it is considering establishing an Academy to train and tutor the skills needed to maintain the company’s exacting standards and world-wide reputation. The Academy will not only teach an array of operative skills including cabinet making, marquetry, leather work and finishing, but also design, drawing, project and business management and leadership skills to support the growth.

Silverlining CEO Mark Boddington said: 

“I am committed to North Wales as the headquarters for my company and I am extremely confident that an unprecedented expansion will continue here. The UK is very good at niche advance manufacturing and as a country we need to export more using these talents.

“When we moved to Wales I found the Welsh Government helpful, quick and responsive to our needs and understanding of our ambitions.  The skilled people I needed could be found locally and overall costs were cheaper.”

Commenting on the company’s exclusive products he said: 

“If we simply inlaid wood it would be game over.  We aim to be the very best in the world through a combination of creative design, innovative craftsmanship and advanced materials  and technology– we believe we can become the Rolls Royce of the furniture business in the years ahead.”

Economy and Transport Secretary Ken Skates said: 

“Silverlining is clearly a world class player at the very top of the furniture industry. It’s good to see how it is planning to develop skills here in North Wales so it can expand further, and ensure the exceptionally high standard of their product continues.  

“I welcome their commitment to the region and I am pleased to see they are taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the Welsh Government’s trade missions. I wish them every success in Hong Kong and Shanghai”

Disabled visitors and their carers, children under 5, visitors to Open Doors events and community education and youth groups also enjoy free access to Cadw sites. Full details of all schemes are available on the Cadw website. 

“Our patron saint was famous for advocating doing the little things. Opening our sites free of charge on March 1 serves both as a small thank you to those who have contributed to record visitor numbers over recent years, whilst providing others with an insight into what our majestic Cadw sites have to offer.

“Making sites as accessible and attractive to as many people as possible has been a real priority for Cadw, and with so many sites having recently taken great strides in achieving this.

“From Criccieth Castle to Castell Coch, I’ve had the enormous pleasure of seeing first hand improvements ranging from new visitor centres and vantage points to renovations, improved accessibility and cutting-edge displays – all delivered without detracting from the brilliance of the original buildings. We are so fortunate in Wales to have such a truly unique, world class offering and I’m pleased to see new programmes and initiatives being introduced to compliment this, encouraging yet more people to enjoy, understand and learn about Welsh history.

“Our heritage and our culture belong to us all and I look forward to joining people from across Wales in celebrating it, both on St David’s day and beyond.”

The establishment of this new £30m centre, which is receiving support from the Welsh Government, was announced by the First Minister last July and is expected to create 300 highly skilled and well paid jobs. These recruitment events are part of a local employment drive to help fill the first tranche of vacancies being created.

Supported by the Welsh Government, Coleg Gwent, Newport Job Centre, Careers Wales, and the Career Transition Partnership, the initial three CAF recruitment open days are being held as follows and people are being encouraged to go along:

• 1 March 2018 – Coleg Gwent (City of Newport Campus): 12:00pm – 7:00pm
• 7 March 2018 – Newport Job Centre (Charles Street):10:00am – 1:00pm
• 8 March 2018 – Careers Wales, Ystrad Mynach (Sue Noake Leisure Centre) 10:00am-2:30pm

The new assembly hub is being designed so that CAF can build a range of different trains, including diesel multiple units (DMUs), electric multiple units (EMUs), trams and high speed trains. The employment opportunities are wide ranging – from technicians, engineers and logistics specialists, through to production and testing operatives, to communications, payroll, finance, logistics and purchasing personnel. 

Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning Minister, Eluned Morgan said: “That Newport has been able to secure this new facility, against stiff competition from more than 100 other sites across the UK, is a major coup for the Welsh economy. In addition to bolstering our already impressive manufacturing sector, the job opportunities on offer present a massive boost to the local economy and I would encourage as many people as possible to attend these recruitment events because the scope of vacancies available is wide ranging.”

Richard Garner, CAF’s UK Director, said: “As a dynamic, people-focused and fast growing rolling stock business, we pride ourselves on sourcing the best talent and will invest in developing our people to maintain the high level of expertise and professionalism”.

“We firmly believe our people are our strength and everyone working for CAF plays a vital part in the success of the company. We are on the look-out for talented people to join our team and welcome applications from keen, motivated and enthusiastic individuals who relish responsibility and are looking for an exciting, challenging and rewarding career.  In return for your hard work and commitment, you can expect to join a global brand at an exciting time in our journey and the chance to develop your skills further in a supportive and collaborative working environment.”

The new facility, which will be the first of its type in Wales, will enable the Company to assemble, test and commission new vehicles and will have capacity to undertake future manufacturing projects as well as maintenance and servicing activities.

For more information about the recruitment events please email careers@cafrail.co.uk

NHS Wales Chief Executive, Andrew Goodall, said: 

“Our latest figures show that last month was the busiest ever January on record for our A&E Departments. A&E attendance by those aged 85 and over, was the second highest ever for any month on record. Flu has also had an impact on capacity across our system with the highest rates for six years. 

During this busy time, our NHS and social care staff have continued to deliver emergency and planned care with compassion and professionalism. I would like to thank them for their exceptional commitment and hard work during this extremely challenging period. 

Despite the increased workload, their second highest month of activity on record, the Welsh ambulance service maintained its record of meeting the national target for responding to red calls in every month since the new response model began.  

We have worked closely with health boards and partners to develop plans for the winter period, and invested an extra £60m to deliver emergency care and ensure planned care can continue. Despite increased pressure, the number of people having to wait more than 36 weeks for treatment actually decreased at the end of December and we expect to see reductions in waiting times up to the end of March. More cancer patients were treated within the target time in January to December 2017 than in any previous year.

We continue to invest in social services to support our healthcare system and despite the exceptional demand the numbers of Delayed Transfers of Care were the third lowest December on record. This month, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services announced an additional £10m for social services to support people in their homes and communities and relieve pressure on the NHS. 

We will continue to respond to areas of performance that need to be improved but despite record levels of demand on service, our staff have provided a resilient and professional response to support patients this winter.”

The 2014-2020 Ireland/Wales programme is providing €100m (with €79m coming from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to support collaborative projects in the areas of innovation, adaptation to climate change and tourism, heritage and culture across the Irish Sea.

For more than 20 years EU funding has successfully fostered partnerships across the Irish Sea, to address economic and environmental challenges and to support sustainable development.

The Welsh Government is now looking to develop a successor programme of activity with the Irish government beyond 2020 as outlined in its policy paper “Regional Investment in Wales after Brexit”.

Mark Drakeford said:

“We highly value our relationship with Ireland and we are committed to deepening our engagement outside the EU given the close bond, common values, trade and cultural links between the 2 nations.

“As an outward facing nation, we want to maintain and build on our international networks, including through continued participation in co-operation programmes. We place great value on the ETC programmes, including our cross-border programme with our nearest neighbours.

“They provide the means to find real solutions to shared challenges which transcend borders. We must ensure that we do not lose, but rather sustain, the excellent and creative partnerships which have been built up across the maritime border with Ireland.”

Following talks with his Irish counterpart, the Cabinet Secretary will visit University College Dublin where he will meet representatives of a number of organisations that have benefitted from the Ireland/Wales programme including:

• Acclimatize – a project led by University College Dublin in partnership with Aberystwyth University which aims to combat the effects of pollution on bathing waters, helping to boost tourism and support marine activities
• Ecostructures – a project led by Aberystwyth University, in collaboration with University College Dublin, Bangor University, University College Cork and Swansea University which is developing new methods of  enhancing the quality of coastal structures, including sea-walls and tidal lagoons, through more ecologically-sensitive design
• CALIN (Celtic Advanced Life Sciences Innovation Network) – a project delivering a pan-Ireland-Wales platform for industry driven innovation in the area of Nanohealth via a collaboration between Swansea, Cardiff and Bangor Universities in Wales and UCD, Dublin City University, Trinity, Cork (Tyndall) and Galway Universities in Ireland.