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businessupdate News…


Victoria nailsher business


Newport businesswoman Victoria Barnes (pictured) has swapped working in her family’s butchers business for running her own family- friendly nail salon in the city. The 32-year-oldmumset up Preen Nail


Company after being made redundant following 12 years with the family catering and wholesale butchers She said: “I had completed my first stage


of training with bio sculpture gel while on maternity, Iwas never 100 percent sure if I would return to my Dad’s business and its always good to have another skill. “I was made


redundant in March 2012, and Ihaven't stopped working in my new venture. I've trained with The Edge, bio sculpture, and shellac. “I decided to setup


Preen purely because, I couldn’t see any other way of returning to work and fitting in child care. “I immediately went to sign on to give me


some breathing space, Isoon discovered that there was very little help out there for me, after signing on Iwas told Iwas not entitled to anything, because Ihad worked part time for 2 years Ihad not contributed enough to my stamp, they had ignored the pervious 10. I was directed to careers Wales to retrain with the react scheme, designed for redundancy the government scheme will pay towards retraining, this was ideal as Ibadly needed to add to my skill set, after anumber of appointments Iwas told the Welsh Assembly had pulled the plug on beauty training, another no.


“My husband and Ihave gone it alone


working hand to mouth to grow my business, I have expanded from acouple of clients to 49 regular –and from working in my dinning room to my own beauty room. Icurrently don't employee any staff, but hope to one day. Iwas devastating with my redundancy but sometime faced with the worst brings out the best in us. The business in growing and I’m lucky to have the flexibility to beaworking mother.”


southwalesargus.co.uk/business for more on local business


Contact... Check out


Editorial


Jo Barnes Special features editor Tel: 01633 777240 e-mail:


jo.barnes@gwent- wales.co.uk


Advertising Graham Harris


Senior Field Sales Executive Tel:01633 777135 e-mail: graham.harris@gwent- wales.co.uk


WeFight Any Claim’s James Chorlton is gearing up for another season in the driver’s seat as he prepares to take part in the upcoming National RZR Racing Championship. James, who is sponsored by claims management company,WeFight Any Claim, competed in the 2012 RZR Racing Championship, earning second place in the Solo Classification, and fourth place overall against 42 competitors taking part in the Solo and Team Classifications. James finished the championship’s nine


rounds with 720 points, falling short of the number one spot by 103 points to Richard Avis, who claimed the championship title with 823 points. Following his success in last year’s competition, James is now set to compete in the 2013 Championship, which begins in March. During 2012 James competed in nine


rounds of all-weather, all-terrain RZR racing at top moto-cross and cross country tracks across theUKincluding Wroxton, Llandrindod Wells, Pontrilas, Enstone and Culham. After securing five first place wins in this year’s championship alone, James has established himself as a noteworthy competitor in RZR racing. Described as ‘one of the most determined


RZR drivers in the championship’ by the RZR racing website, James said: “I’ve worked really hard on my fitness and training which has paid


James Chorlton


off over asix race event. I’ve done it all myself putting many hours into my RZR XP900 and despite the knock backs, got back up and now it just feels awesome.” James’ interest in motorsport stems from an


early age, with past experience in quad-biking, motocross and motorbike racing he has now


Tuesday March 5, 2013 Jamesgearsupfor racingseason


turned his talents to one of the latest extreme sports to come under the motorsport umbrella, RZR racing, also known as SideXSide The sport described as the ‘the ultimate 4x4


race experience’ was introduced to theUKin 2012 and is alreadyawell-established and widely popular sport in the US. Drivers compete in four-wheel drive, all-terrain vehicles, which have evolved from ATVs, more commonly known as quad-bikes. The championship comprises of two


separate classes, solo classification for single occupancy drivers and team classification for driver and passenger. James competes in the solo classification of the championship where 40 points are awarded for first place finishes. Each round consists of three races, and a maximum of 120 points in total can be claimed by competitors per round. He said: “Last season was tough, I


experienced mechanical problems early in the year, but this is RZR racing and it’s ahard sport on the machines at the best of times. “Despite the technical difficulties Imanaged


to finish strongly, and this season Iwould like to finish in the Top five once again. Ican guarantee Iwill give it everything Ihave to try and push harder than Idid last year to see if, with some solid driving, and abit of luck if Ican bring home the number one and win the series!”


MCLjoinsupwith freight specialist firm


E


uropean palletised freight specialist Pall-Ex has announced that Newport-based MCL Logistics is to join its UK network.


The haulier this week started covering


the whole of the NP and part of the GL postcode areas for Pall-Ex. MCL prides itself on being afamily


business and has along-standing customer base ranging from multi-national blue chip companies to small individual firms.


Pall-Ex’s network development director


Steven Reed said: “MCL is atransport company that has arecord for reliability and professionalism, which are also the core values of the Pall-Ex Group, making them aperfect fit for the network. “We have already outlined our desire to


introduce awider breadth of UK services in 2013 to complement existing offerings, such as Retail Plus+ and packaging recycling service Eco-Drive. It is having members of the calibre of MCL that will make this happen.” James Howells, managing director of


MCL Logistics, said: “Like ourselves, Pall- Ex is abusiness with ambition and we look forward to building astrong working relationship with both Pall-Ex and the other haulier members over the coming months. “Continual improvement of service levels has always been apriority for the team at


One of MCL Logistics lorries


MCL, and joining Pall-Ex enables us to offer even more to our existing customers and, of course, help to secure new contracts.” As well as strengthening its UK offering, Pall-Ex is continuing with its European


expansion. Networks in France and Poland will begin operating in the coming months, joining the group’s other continental networks –Pall-Ex Italia, Pall-Ex Iberia and Pall-Ex Romania.


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