Chief Exec's Blog

If any of you have been in the city centre or near Swansea Arena this week, the fact that it’s been Swansea University’s student graduation week will have been very hard to miss. I was fortunate to be among those attending Tuesday’s occasion, where hundreds of students collected their degree certificates and other honours in front of proud family and friends. There was a lot of positive energy. There are often questions asked by members of the public about the value of students and what they bring to Swansea. Our universities, colleges and their students are part of the economic lifeblood of Swansea. But it’s not just the financial contribution they make. You can’t overestimate either the value to our reputation or our economy of these graduate advocates for our city. It was great to see them speaking about their time in Swansea with so much warmth and passion that many now regard it as home. Those who leave to make their way elsewhere in the world will be great ambassadors for us. But we also hope many will stay for work, to build their own businesses, boosting growth, employment and new opportunities in high tech and creative industries, for example. Their enthusiasm chimes with our ambition to transform the local economy by focusing on growth in new industries and skills development. Landmark projects like 71/72 Kingsway and the recently completed Innovation Matrix at UWTSD are just two examples of the ways we aim to do that, enabling graduates to make a future here and contribute to our growing reputation as a place that delivers for thriving businesses and communities.

Significant progress is being made at Y Storfa – another of our city centre landmarks which will soon be home to the central library, archives, other customer-facing services and much else besides. The project remains on schedule for a phased occupation to start later in the year. In recent weeks work has started on the steel framework for an eye-catching three-storey central stairway, beach hut-style meeting pods for our partners at Careers Wales as well as fitting windows and external cladding panels. I’ll keep you posted on the next steps.

Yesterday I caught up with the staff engagement group where we discussed, among other issues, the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and the new staff benefits scheme. There are great opportunities to tap into benefits for staff but also access a range of support services via the EAP programme. We will be sharing more information on these in the coming weeks, but you can access details via the following link.

We also discussed the next staff survey which is due to take place in September. Among the issues it’ll be looking at is your awareness of our obligations around the Welsh Language Standards. You can find out more about them here, but they’re an essential part of our commitment to ensure the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than English. In the meantime, if you live in Swansea, please consider joining the conversation in our residents’ survey here.

My congratulations to Rachel Jowitt, who has been appointed our new head of service for Waste Management and Building Services after a competitive application process. Rachel has been serving as interim head, but I’m sure you’ll join me in welcoming her to the role on a permanent basis.

A big thank-you this morning to Ben Cromie and colleagues in the emergency management team who stepped in to support residents in the early hours of this morning after a fire at a nearby 5G mast threatened their homes in Heol Gwyrosydd. The team opened a nearby community centre where they supported 11 residents including two elderly people and a family with three young children for around two hours until they were able to return home safely.

Well done to our recycling teams and especially our staff at Clyne Recycling Centre. This week their work was featured in an article in The Guardian that could not have been more flattering in its praise. Have a read as it’s a terrific endorsement of what we do and a boost to our reputation among millions of Guardian online readers.

Finally, a big thank you to all the teams involved in ensuring the summer holidays go well for our residents and local families. For some who feel the challenges of the cost of living crisis every day, school holidays can be a difficult period. Supporting them is what our #HereForYouThisSummer campaign is about, and you can find out more about the food support and free events on offer here.

Anyone who has been to Mumbles recently will have seen the incredible transformation of the prom. On Wednesday, I joined the Leader, the Welsh Government’s Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies and a host of others for the official opening of the new sea wall and the modernised prom that goes with it. If you’ve not been there yet, take the opportunity this summer to go and take a look – it’ll be very much worth your while. The prom is wider, fantastic to look at and with a full range of new features including a play area, new artworks, benches, litter bins and lights. We’ve added 40 new trees and more than 8,000 new plants in improved landscaping as well.

Of course, the main point of the upgrade is to protect Mumbles from rising sea levels for the next century. But, thanks to the imagination and effort of our teams, our contractors Knights Brown Construction and many others, the sea wall has achieved much more. It has been completed pretty much to universal acclaim from the public, who’ve taken to social media to praise us for the achievement. Coming after Swansea Arena and 71/72 Kingsway a couple of weeks ago, the Mumbles sea wall project is a great boost to our reputation for delivering major projects that our residents want to see. Congratulations to all our teams that were involved in getting this project over the line so successfully, as I know it’s been a really difficult one to deliver.

Next up, of course, is Castle Square Gardens where work on its transformation is getting underway. Our contractors on the project are Knights Brown Construction, the same contractors who delivered the Mumbles project. Hoardings have been going up around the square to protect the public from the works and we’re anticipating it’ll take until towards the end of 2026 to see it through to completion. It promises to be yet another great landmark for our city. If you want to know more, there’s some useful FAQs here. My thanks to our teams in regeneration for getting us to this point.

Yesterday Cabinet agreed three reports that highlight our continuing commitment worth hundreds of millions of pounds to improving our schools with state-of-the-art facilities. The reports reinforce our commitment to building a brand-new school for Bishop Vaughan alongside huge improvements at Gowerton Comprehensive. In addition to this Cabinet also approved plans to spend almost £1.5m in the coming year on improving specialist teaching facilities at our schools to support children with additional learning needs. My thanks to Louise Herbert-Evans, Kate Phillips and our teams in Education for their work on these important projects.

Taken together with the sea wall and Castle Square gardens, this work is further demonstration of how we are here for the people of Swansea, delivering on their priorities in many different ways. This week’s diary also included a number of meetings which help demonstrate this. Firstly, on Monday we had a meeting with Welsh Government about enhancing links with China to build relationships and knowledge transfer across a range of business sectors and our universities. Secondly, we had the opportunity to meet a local digital entrepreneur who has grown a significant business in Swansea and wants to work with the Council on moving to the next stage and doubling the number of employees to 50. Thirdly the opportunity to meet one of our national banks about exploring opportunities to work with Swansea on the next stage of our regeneration programme.

This week we’ve also been shortlisted in this year’s APSE awards in two different categories – best collaborative working initiative for our work in delivering Cwtch Mawr with Faith in Families and best health and wellbeing initiative for our Ageing Well Engagement Programme. Both these projects are supported through our Tackling Poverty and Enabling Communities teams, which are helping change lives for the better every day. Congratulations to Jane Whitmore and her teams for this much-deserved recognition.

Also, this week, six of our parks were once again awarded Green Flag status by Keep Wales Tidy. People have become so used to high standards at our parks over the years that they are almost taken for granted. But they are wonderful green gems in the heart of our communities and green flag status has to be earned, so well done to Jeremy Davies, Simon Lydiard and the parks and cleansing for this success.

All of the above are great examples of the role of the council in our community and how reputation and delivery is at the forefront in everything we do – helping us to stand out from the crowd. So thank you to all of you for your focus on people, working together and innovation for helping secure the transformation our residents see and appreciate.

Today we say farewell to Julian Morgans, Head of Revenues and Benefits after almost 41 years’ service. I want to pass on my personal thanks to Julian for all of his support and his colleagues within the service, council and in local government across Wales wish him well in his new chapter outside of revs and bens. And I add my best wishes to theirs.

Last week I was really pleased to be at 71/72 Kingsway to celebrate its official opening and the contribution the landmark we delivered will be making to our city centre’s reputation in the coming years. This week the Leader and I caught up with South Wales Police Chief Superintendent Steve Jones to discuss policing in Swansea  city centre and wider areas. Fostering the city’s reputation as a welcoming, safe place to shop, work and visit is very important when we and the private sector are investing so much transforming buildings and the public realm. So, it was really good to hear how more police resources are going into in the city centre to help tackle some of the anti-social behaviour issues that exist there. This action has led to a reduction in city centre crime and an increase in successful prosecutions.

Also, a lot of other work is being done through our work with community safety and cohesion  to also improve perceptions. Last year, for example, we staged the City Chill initiative, aimed at engaging with young people and discouraging anti-social behaviour during the summer months. It really helped and we’re doing the same this summer as well. My thanks to all involved.

On Wednesday the Corporate Joint Committee for South West Wales signed-off on the final draft of its regional transport plan. It’s a vital document because we can’t feel the full benefits of our economic transformation if public transport isn’t up to scratch for getting to and from work, for example. The plan sets out how we aim to ensure buses and trains are a practical alternative to the car, connecting communities with an accessible transport network for the region. The project was led by us – and my thanks go to Rachel Lewis, Matt Bowyer, Chloe Lewis, Katie Watkins and Ian Jones for getting it over the line. I know how difficult it is to work in the regional space sometimes and seeking agreement from four local authorities who rightly are looking after their best interests. So it’s a great achievement to have completed such a detailed piece of work and negotiated a consensus across all partners now allowing the plan to be submitted to Welsh Government for final approval – and hopefully drawing down much-needed investment in our regional transport infrastructure.

Congratulations to Caredig Housing Association which is celebrating its 50^th birthday this year. I went along to join the celebrations at Hazel Court this week and it was a very good event. Caredig is one of a number of housing associations in Swansea that our teams work with, helping promote wellbeing by supporting tenants and local communities. Again, partnership working is crucial if we are to tackle some of the challenges with homelessness and delivering on our More Homes targets.

Well done to the Early Years, Early Help team who hosted another brilliant Teddy Bear’s Picnic at the National Waterfront Museum on Wednesday. It’s a fun day out full of play, entertainment and games. But it’s also an opportunity to celebrate the work of teams who ensure young families get the right support at the right time. The service is a great example of how early assistance promotes positive family life, children’s education prospects and prevents the need for greater support later on.

Well done to our regeneration team behind the revitalisation of the Palace Theatre who’ve been shortlisted as the retrofit project of the year in the traditional and historic category of the Building Awards 2025.

As some of you may know our award-winning Swansea Market team run a work placement scheme offering a welcoming space to grow and learn to pupils who find school life challenging. This year’s student, Szymon from Birchgrove Comprehensive School,  has just completed his placement and his teachers say it’s transformed his outlook, boosting his confidence and communication skills. Szymon has even been voted most improved student of the year by fellow pupils. Well done Szymon and my thanks to the market team for helping make the difference.

We are saying goodbye to rents officer Wyn Evans later this month, who is retiring after 45 years’ service. He started as a rent collector in the Town Hall in Gorseinon, moved to Lliw Valley Borough Council and joined us when we merged. Thank you for your service, Wyn. And it’s also farewell today to Simon Evans from our DesignPrint team who is leaving after 31 years with us. Good luck in your new endeavours, Simon.

Also, don’t forget that following last weekend’s highly-praised Wales Airshow,  IRONMAN 70.3 is happening on Sunday. My thanks to all involved for what promises to be another boost to our reputation for staging brilliant events.

And finally, I know we are starting to enter holiday season but please continue to share with me the good news and long service or retirements you know about and I’ll do my best to include them in the blog. You can email these to me directly martin.nicholls@swansea.gov.uk

I was proud to be at the official opening of our landmark 71/72 Kingsway building yesterday morning. It was great to see First Minister Eluned Morgan and Welsh Office Minister Dame Nia Griffith as well as other AMs and business leaders so impressed with what they saw. Of course, this isn’t just about building grade A office accommodation which is flexible, attractive, and fit for the next generation of digital-led innovators who will work there. As many speakers and the tenants themselves said, if we don’t create this kind of development, businesses we want to come here will stay away and existing companies could go elsewhere in search of better working or larger grow-on spaces. So, 71/72 sends a powerful message to businesses and investment influencers everywhere that Swansea is a 21^st century place to work, live and enjoy – so come and join us.

We announced yesterday that Future First will be joining TUI and IWG as tenants at 71/72. We’re also finalising arrangements for a fourth tenant – a household name we’re hoping to announce soon. All this has been made possible by the council and our staff. My particular thanks go to the regeneration team led by Lee Richards, Catrin Kim, Adrian Denning and Elizabeth Morris and of course the late Huw Mowbray and Gareth Hughes for making sure the 71/72 development was delivered so successfully.

Speaking of top performance, our annual review of performance was reported to Full Council last night. Overall, the last 12 months has been very positive but, as always, there are areas for improvement, including staff absence where we are behind on our targets. To help address this we’ve recently launched a new management of absence policy, which I’d recommend everyone takes some time to read. If you’re a manager, there’s mandatory training to be done on this as well. So please act now.

Also, last night, Council received an update on the pension fund changes being brought in nationally – and how Swansea is having to respond to UK government legislation changes. It was a very encouraging story and demonstrated the strong progress being made by Swansea to ensure that current and future pensioners are able to benefit from its continued success as a safe, secure and successful Local Government Pension Scheme in the years to come. I want to pass on my thanks to Jeff Dong for his presentation and his work on this, not just for Swansea but on the wider pool arrangements across Wales.

In Leadership group this week we tried something a bit different, so undertook a facilitated session about how we can improve the way our leadership team works. We also considered how we can improve our approaches to planning as well as the evidence base for the decisions we make. While a lot of the discussion was around strategic thinking, the innovations we’re looking at will have an impact on the whole organisation. It’s a new methodology which takes some time to work through, but we collectively agreed to progress and I will keep you posted on how this goes.

Interviews will be starting shortly following our recruitment campaign for new drivers and carriers that will support the transformation of our waste and recycling services. We’ve had more than 400 applications, which demonstrates there’s a strong interest among our residents in working for the council – especially in jobs as important as these. My thanks to Rachel Jowitt, Fran Williams and the recruitment team for their work in this area.

Well done to the city centre team and all our other staff who ensure that night-time visitors have a great time in a safe place. It means that for the 11^th year in a row we’ve been awarded Purple Flag status. You can read more about this important success story here.

Congratulations to Carole Billingham from our libraries service who will early next week clock up a remarkable 50^th year working with us. Carole is retiring later this month after a lifetime’s achievement, and I want to add my thanks to all those of her friends and colleagues.

Also, congratulations to Rhys Harries from our Trading Standards team who’s been recognised with a special certificate of achievement by the Anti Counterfeiting Group, an international organisation of businesses dedicated to eradicating pirated goods around the world. In particular Rhys and his team were recognised for their leadership in May’s Operation Grinch, in which up to £10million of counterfeit toys were seized from a number of warehouses in London.

And, finally, good luck to special events, highways and everyone else involved in running the Wales Airshow this weekend. Next weekend, they’ll be back again for Ironman 70.3 – you can find out more about both events here and here.

Later today I’m heading to Mill Stream Way for the opening event of Cwtch Mawr’s new home. Cwtch Mawr is a much-needed multi-bank that plays a key role in supporting those in our communities who live with poverty every day. Cwtch Mawr was opened in Swansea by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has been the driving force behind establishing a network of multi-banks across the UK. In Swansea, we are partners in the initiative alongside Faith in Families, Amazon and a number of other businesses, agencies and voluntary organisations. Since its launch, more than 1,800 individuals, 689 families and 867 young people have been supported with more than 35,200 items delivered. The new centre is bigger than the old one and will serve Swansea and communities beyond our borders. In an ideal world, we would not need places like Cwtch Mawr, but unfortunately, we clearly do and I am proud that we are here for Swansea’s most vulnerable when they need us. My thanks to Jane Whitmore and the Enabling Communities and Tackling Poverty team, as well as our social services and housing teams, for helping ensure Cwtch Mawr reaches those most in need.

This week saw the first meeting of the InPhase Service Planning Board, which is developing a new service plan module using our performance management software, InPhase. The Service Planning Project is about turning strategy into action – giving teams a smarter, joined-up platform to plan, track, and deliver services with impact, all powered by real-time insights and ready for the 2026–27 cycle.  The Project Board is made up of representatives from across the organisation, and they will be in touch shortly with more details on how you can share your views and get involved.

Appraisal season is still with us, and if you haven’t had yours yet, please speak to your manager right away. Appraisals are an opportunity for you to review the past year with your manager and look forward to your shared ambitions for the next 12 months. The deadline for completing appraisals is the middle of July, with the exception of school-based and some education teams who work on an academic year, so these need to be completed by the end of October.

It’s Armed Forces Day tomorrow, and if you are in the city centre in the morning, you’ll have the opportunity to show your support for those who serve, our veterans and their families. On Monday, I was proud to be in the audience for the Armed Forces flag-raising ceremony at Guildhall, part of our continuing recognition of their unique commitment to going in harm’s way to protect us and our country.

Congratulations to our regeneration team behind the revitalisation of the Palace Theatre on winning the regeneration & conservation prize in the Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) Awards 2025. The judges recognised the innovative way we were able to save a derelict building on the brink of collapse, and not only restore and shine a light on many of the theatre’s original features but also enable its modern use as grade A offices.

My thanks this week also go to cleaner Michaela Harris, who works for our cleaning services at our high-rise flats. She stepped in to support a mum living in Clyne Court who feared her baby was not breathing after a choking incident. With great presence of mind, Michaela did all the right things to ensure the child was safe and reassure his mum. Well done, Michaela. Your actions were outstanding.

You know summer is here when the Wales Airshow countdown begins. It’s next weekend, July 5 and 6, so look out for the usual messages about road closures and changes to access to some of our car parks around the Civic Centre and Guildhall. My thanks to special events and all the council teams who make such an important event for Swansea go so well.

And finally, farewell to Teifion Davies, retiring today after 40 years working for the parks team in Clyne Gardens. You can read Teifion’s story here and I want to add my thanks and best wishes to those of his colleagues and all the friends he’s made there over the years.