Laurence and Ben discuss funding for Welsh music businesses, the acquisition of a prominent retail brand and backing for a hotel project.
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00:00Funding for Welsh music businesses, the acquisition of a prominent retail brand
00:05and backing for a hotel project. That's all coming up in today's business briefing.
00:15My name's Lawrence Caldannon. My name's Ben Butler. Well, morning Ben.
00:19Morning. With the intro, one thing that caught my eye is Welsh music.
00:22So more than £500,000 of Welsh Government funding that's being made available to music
00:28businesses across Wales for improvements to their facilities and operations.
00:32Okay, great. So it's more like bars and studios as opposed to the artists,
00:38because of course Wales is so well known for its love of song.
00:41Yes, indeed.
00:42I'm thinking of the rugby, the bread of heaven.
00:46And various singers, Katherine Jenkins, Tom Jones, of course.
00:50The Manic Street Treat Preachers.
00:52The Stereophonics as well.
00:53Yeah, no, fantastic.
00:54So, okay, so there's investment into where this music's performed.
00:57Yes, and it's coming from Creative Wales.
01:00So they've announced a new round of its music capital fund.
01:03So it's like a Welsh Government agency.
01:05Okay.
01:05And the fund is open until midday on 26th of June.
01:08Right, okay.
01:09And it's welcoming applications from small and medium-sized music businesses.
01:14So grants are between £10,000 to £40,000.
01:18And just to give a bit of a picture, last year,
01:2017 music businesses, they received more than £715,000 in grant funding.
01:26So these included Porters in Cardiff and the Bank Vault in Aberystwyth.
01:31Are you familiar with Porters in Cardiff?
01:33I actually have done a story about Porters.
01:35Yes, from your time in Wales.
01:36Yeah, I remember speaking to Douglas Friedley about Porters.
01:40Yes.
01:40It was like a really well-known place.
01:42Iconic Welsh.
01:43Long-standing.
01:44I think they would do jazz nights.
01:45They would have open mic comedy nights and so on.
01:47So it moved, didn't it?
01:49It moved to a new location.
01:50And perhaps that funding will help with them getting set up there.
01:53Yes, absolutely.
01:54And I'm sure going forward, there's going to be,
01:57you know, we'll hear of more venues that will benefit from this funding.
02:00Well, excellent.
02:01And, you know, if you've got a nation of singers,
02:03you need to have venues and places for them to record.
02:06So great, great to see.
02:08Keep an eye out.
02:09Yeah.
02:09And I imagine that will prove popular with our readers.
02:11Yes.
02:12Another area which is popular with our readers is hotel developments.
02:16Yes.
02:16And we've got news today about the scheme itself isn't new,
02:21but the fact that it's got some backing.
02:23So Oak North, the sort of challenger bank,
02:26is backing plans for a new moto by Hilton,
02:31or it could be motto by Hilton.
02:32It's quite a premium brand.
02:34It is a premium brand.
02:35And also there is, there aren't many,
02:38I think there is, this is one of the first ones in the UK.
02:42It's actually going to be quite close to where we're sitting now.
02:45Right.
02:46It's in between us and the sort of Etihad and Co-op Live.
02:51So it'll be great for...
02:52Prominent city centre location.
02:55Prominent city centre location.
02:56So great for travellers, but also great for the corporate sort of users.
03:00Yeah.
03:00But you know, we saw just this week with Bruce Springsteen playing in Manchester.
03:07Yeah.
03:08I actually saw the great man in his hotel and there was a huge demand for hotels.
03:13So things like Co-op Live, also the AO Arena,
03:18there's so much to get on with in Manchester, is driving demand for these hotels.
03:23And the £15.7 million loan from Oak North, that's going to fund the construction.
03:30I think it's scheduled to take about 25 months, be ready for the back end of next year.
03:36Well, that's not too far off.
03:38Yeah, yeah.
03:38And it's also that the funding will sort of help with initial operational costs.
03:44And development is being spearheaded by Dean Street Developments and Assured CMS.
03:49So I look forward to that.
03:50No.
03:51I love it when stories that we're talking about here suddenly physically in the city.
03:57So that would be a great moment to see.
03:58It's always good to see, yeah.
04:00Now, you've got some interesting news about a retail brand,
04:04which I actually, forgive my ignorance, had thought it had disappeared.
04:08No, I was the same.
04:09It's now returned.
04:10So Comet.
04:10Comet, yes.
04:12So Comet closed its physical stores back in 2012 after entering administration.
04:18But it was revived in 2020 as an online-only e-commerce retailer to tap into the kind of pandemic boom in kind of online.
04:27Of course.
04:28It was huge, wasn't it, then, with people sort of acquiring devices.
04:31Yeah.
04:32Do you remember Comet from when you were younger, like going into the actual stores?
04:35Absolutely.
04:36I mean, Comet, it would be if you wanted a new TV-
04:38That's where you'd go, yeah.
04:39That's where you'd go, yeah.
04:39And you'd go there and you'd maybe go to Curry's.
04:42Yeah.
04:42But I suppose that landscape has been completely and utterly disrupted in the last 20 years.
04:47And I think on that note, Onbuy is trying to tap into that as an online marketplace.
04:52So, Onbuy is the one that's acquired Comet from Misco Technologies.
04:58Okay.
04:58So it's set to get more than £10 million into the iconic British retail brand.
05:03And you might remember back in January 2025, Onbuy confirmed it was moving its HQ from Bournemouth to London.
05:10Yeah, that was a really interesting story.
05:11I can remember their CEO was sort of saying that the council hadn't quite delivered what they'd said.
05:17Yeah.
05:17You know, I'm sure the council has got another story to tell.
05:20But they've moved their headquarters, haven't they?
05:22Yeah, so, yes.
05:23And they're going to be relaunching the brand, the Comet brand, in the fourth quarter of this year.
05:29Right, okay.
05:30Just in time for Christmas?
05:31Just in time for Christmas, yes.
05:32Black Friday and things like that.
05:33Which is always a key time for retailers.
05:36Excellent.
05:37So the move forms part of its long-term growth strategy.
05:40And the company's tapping into the £25 billion consumer electronic sector.
05:46So, you know, it's a big sector.
05:48Comet is known as a household name, which once dominated consumer electronic sales.
05:54And from Onbuy's point of view, the move is aiming to position it as a serious challenger
05:58to the likes of Amazon and Curry's.
06:01So, yeah.
06:02A big acquisition there.
06:04Yeah, yeah.
06:04And it's interesting, isn't it?
06:05It shows you the power of brand.
06:07Yeah.
06:07Because, you know, Comet has gone physically but been back for a few years online.
06:11But still, it's a brand that resonates.
06:12Yeah, and we've seen that with some other brands as well, haven't we?
06:15Yeah, absolutely.
06:15So, best of luck to Onbuy and their Comet acquisition.
06:19Yes, absolutely.
06:20We've had UK roof running all week.
06:23So it seems appropriate that we conclude with a property story.
06:27Again, it's in Manchester.
06:28Yeah.
06:29And it's a two-acre site in Old Trafford.
06:32Yeah.
06:32That's not the crickets or the football ground.
06:34Right.
06:35But it's been acquired by Chancery Gate.
06:38Yeah.
06:38And they're looking to speculatively develop a new scheme with a gross value of about £15 million.
06:46Wow, so that's a big, big development.
06:48Yeah, great development, about one mile from Manchester City Centre.
06:53It's going to be developed to the sort of the best environmental spec that you can have.
06:58And Chancery Gate have said that it should create up to 60 jobs.
07:02Great name for the development, Urban X.
07:04Yes, certainly one that stands out.
07:06Yeah, yeah.
07:07There's some real economic benefits there with the jobs and the investment.
07:10Absolutely.
07:11And, of course, a site that's going to be developed up and then you'll get all the economic
07:14accuracy nearby.
07:15It's good to see, because obviously with the hotel as well, there's lots of,
07:17you know, development going on in Manchester.
07:20Lots going on in Manchester.
07:21And actually going off UK Reef, lots going on everywhere.
07:24Yes, everywhere.
07:25People putting schemes forward.
07:26So I think, you know, we mentioned earlier this week how the property market is confident,
07:32despite all the things you read about tariffs and global economic turmoil.
07:37So it's good to see and long with that continuing.
07:39Absolutely, yes.
07:40Anyhow, to read more about those stories, you can go to insidermedia.com.
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07:52That's everything from us.
07:53See you next time.