The Celtic Manor Resort is a golf-centric hotel and leisure resort in the city of Newport, South Wales, United Kingdom. The Resort is owned by Welsh billionaire and the worlds most succesful lawnmower salesman Sir Terry Matthews and the CEO is Matthews' son Dylan Matthews.
The Celtic Manor is a major employer of foreign workers in Newport and when visiting you can try out your language skills on the Polish, Ukranian and other nationalities that work there. There are some British employed at the Celtic Manor.
It will be the venue for the Ryder Cup Matches in the year 2010, marking the first time the Cup will be played in Wales.
The Matches will be played on the Resort's new "Twenty Ten" course; the
first golf course specifically designed to host the biennial event.
In 2001 the Resort won its bid to host the 2010 Ryder Cup. As a result much of the Wentwood Hills course was redeveloped into the Ryder Cup's first purpose-built venue; the "Twenty Ten" Course. An additional clubhouse built specifically for the Twenty Ten course was completed and opened in autumn 2007. In April 2007 it was confirmed by Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan that the Celtic Manor will host the Ryder Cup on the weekend of 27 September to the 3rd October 2010.
Defunct Courses
- Wentwood Hills - Opened in 1999 and was the venue for the Celtic Manor Wales Open, on the European Tour from 2000 to 2004.
- Coldra Woods - a par-59 academy course for beginners that opened in 1996 and was replaced by The Montgomerie in July 2007.
LATEST NEWS
RYDER CUP AT RISK ?
AROUND 70 jobs are at risk at the five-star Celtic Manor Resort which is set to host the 2010 Ryder Cup.
Bosses revealed today they are looking to cut around one tenth of the 700-strong workforce because of the economic downturn.
The Newport resort, owned by billionaire businessman Sir Terry Matthews, has a number of departments, including house keeping, reception, bar and restaurant, spa, crèche, customer services, human resources, green keepers, administration, leisure, security and management.
It is not yet known in which departments jobs might be lost.
A spokesman for the Celtic Manor said the situation would not impact on the resort’s ability to stage the October 2010 Ryder Cup but yesterday could not confirm whether more staff would be taken on during the world's most prestigious golf tournament.
The potential redundancies are part of a cost-cutting review currently being conducted at the Celtic Manor.
A resort spokesman said: "Redundancy is not a step the resort would take lightly, but it is one of a number of efficiency savings being considered to ensure its operations remain competitive during the current economic downturn."
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, which prevents and resolves employment disputes, has been included in the resort’s decision-making process and an employees” consultative panel has been appointed, the spokesman added.
One worker told the Argus: "Our section manager came and told us about the job losses last Friday. We were told they could be at all levels and that the exact jobs which would be going will be announced in a fortnight.
"They were blaming the economic downturn."
The Celtic Manor has three championship golf courses, a £10 million clubhouse and a spa, and its website says the resort also offers tennis, shooting and fine dining.
Tens of thousands of spectators are expected to attend the Ryder Cup every day.
The Celtic Manor was again in the news recently after Newport council proposed that the local taxi drivers should buy new cars especially for the Ryder Cup. It has been suggested that the cost could be almost £20,000 per car and there has been threats of strikes to highlight the plight of the drivers who are already struggling to make a living in these tough financial times.
Chairman of the Newport Hackney Drivers' Association, Lionel Morris said a letter he had received from the council suggested the Ryder Cup was one of the influences for the new age limits. He said the drivers would now be holding strikes and not picking up fares in the near future, up to and during the Ryder Cup.
He said: "This is just a few days of golf but many of our 500
Newport taxi drivers will not be able to afford this and will go out of
business. This will also affect lots of other local people and
businesses too".
"It can cost more than £20,000 to replace a taxi and this just cannot be done, especially during an economic crisis.
"I hoped we¹d never come to this but our livelihoods are important.
"We will be continuing our strikes until the Ryder Cup if necessary and until we feel the council starts listening to us."
CELTIC MANOR MAY GET SUED !
A BUSINESSMAN is suing the company which owns Newport's five-star Celtic Manor Resort alleging he was wrongly branded a convicted paedophile by a member of staff.
Leslie Gwillym, believed to be 58, of Llantarnam, is claiming he was slandered in front of other people and is seeking damaged between £50,000 and £100,000.
Mr Gwillym was a member of the Forum Spa and Leisure Club at the Celtic Manor Resort and claims staff there also branded him a former convict who had served time at Usk Prison. Mr Gwillym's says he is not a paedophile and has never been to prison.
Mr Gwillym’s solicitors have served a High Court Writ for slander against the hotel company which says it has issued a defence against the claims.
Mr Gwillym, who is the finance director of a retail company, was a member of the club with his wife when he claims the incident happened on October 31 2007.
He claims that whilst being in the foyer outside the club’s Forum Cafe, one of the club’s employees asked him if he was a man with a different name.
He alleges that after replying no to this question several times, he was 'coralled' by staff in the corner of the cafe where the employee asked him if he was in Usk Prison four or five years ago. He says he replied no.
Mr Gwillym's claim alleges that the employee then said: “You have been identified by someone who recognises you as a former inmate of Usk Prison.”
Mr Gwillym claims the persistent questioning was aggressive and that the conversations were apparent to other people near the Forum Cafe.
Mr Gwillym also alleges that another member of staff behind referred to him as a convicted paedophile when Mr Gwillym’s wife asked what the allegation was.
The claim alleges that in a telephone call to a police officer at Maindee police station the following day, another staff member at Celtic Manor Resort said : “A member of the health club approached staff last night to say he’s recognised a person in the changing rooms as someone who had served a prison sentence at Usk for paedophile offences.”
The writ issued to the High Court claims Mr Gwillym was left deeply humiliated, frightened, distressed and gravely damaged in his reputation.
CELTIC MANOR MOVES
Amazing Moving Hotel!
THE Celtic Manor Resort is officially a Newport venue again - after almost two years in the so-called Vale of Usk.
Although the hotel never actually left the city, its owners controversially decided on a change of name two years ago to reflect its countryside location.
But this week Newport council's managing director Chris Freegard announced that Celtic Manor bosses have had a change of heart, and that the hotel will from now on be described as in Newport.
Mr Freegard was addressing councillors and residents on the progress of preparations for the 2010 Ryder Cup golf tournament, which is being held at the resort.
He said: "The Celtic Manor is changing its address. It will be located in Newport from now on. Some of us thought there was some doubt as to where it was located but I can confirm the name Newport will go back on all their letter heads and stationery."
The Celtic Manor was not available for comment, but bosses there have always maintained they are proud of their links with Newport.
When the change to the Vale of Usk was made in June 2005, they said there was a perception that the resort was a city centre hotel, and that the new name more accurately described their position in South Wales, overlooking the River Usk.
Newport politicians welcomed the re-think.
Newport West MP Paul Flynn said: "There was an attempt to relocate the Celtic Manor to this make-believe never-never land of the Vale of Usk that someone invented.
It is believed that by describing the Celtic Manor as being in the Vale of Usk this would somewhat detract from the reputation Newport has gained as being an area of drugs, deprivation and high instances of crime.
Newport is statistically more dangerous than most places in the UK especially for violent crime.
 ALWAYS BE ON YOUR GUARD IN NEWPORT ! VISITORS SO FAR THIS WEBSITE PRESENTS ONLY FACTS. THE WEBMASTER WAS BORN IN WHAT IS NOW THE CELTIC MANOR AND DECIDED TO SHOW WHAT NEWPORT IS REALLY LIKE WITHOUT THE HYPE SURROUNDING THE RYDER CUP. THIS SITE IS NOT FOR SALE. NEWPORTLIFE@GMAIL.COM HEROIN DEALERS BUSTED! DRUGS were seized from a Newport house in a lightning raid near to The Celtic Manor. The intelligence-led raid by Alway police officers took place on Lime Crescent, Somerton around midday on Saturday. The two occupants were arrested and taken to Newport Central police station for questioning. Around 11 officers swooped on the property in the carefully planned raid, battered the door open and searched the property. The rented two-bedroom house revealed chaotic scenes, with neither of the upstairs bedrooms in use, but both occupants sleeping and living entirely in the lounge. Drug paraphernalia was found scattered across tables, and bags containing around 100 clean and used needles were discovered in an upstairs bedroom, along with blood-stained furniture and clothing. Officers discovered around six wraps of what they believed was heroin under the mattress of one of the beds and another elsewhere in the upstairs bedroom. A small amount of what was thought to be cannabis was also found in the living room. The drugs were seized and sent away for tests. A number of firearms were also found during the search and sent away for tests to establish what kind of guns they were. The large amount of intelligence gathered for this operation dated back to February 2007 and came from members of the local community. Sergeant Dave Morgan, of the Alway neighbourhood policing team, led the operation and reminded local drug dealers: "We only have to get lucky on one occasion, but they need to understand they have to get lucky every single time, because we will continue to revisit addresses that we believe are dealing controlled drugs." The raid was part of the wider Operation Carousel tackling local drug use and dealing in Ringland, Alway, Somerton, Caerleon, Langstone and Llanmartin. In December officers raiding a property as part of this operation found 16oz of skunk cannabis worth £640 and 16 grams of amphetamine worth £160, together with a quantity of money at an address in Jellicoe Close, Ringland.
Heroin dose killed womanA CORONER said it was possible that a "third party" injected a Newport drug user with a heroin dose that killed her. An open verdict was recorded at a Newport Coroner's Court inquest into the death of Theresa Ryanbecause there was "not enough evidence" to decide whether she had been injected by someone else. Ms Ryan, 34, from Newport, died of a heroin overdose on October 28, 2005 but her parents insisted at the inquest that she would not have injected herself. Coroner David Bowen said there was no conclusive evidence to show whether Ms Ryan injected herself with a fatal dose of heroin as well as consuming alcohol at an address in Albany Street, Crindau, Newport. Paramedics were met by a man calling himself her boyfriend, and found Ms Ryan lying unconscious on the floor. They attempted to administer an antidote but she was pronounced dead at the Royal Gwent Hospital later that evening. The "boyfriend" was arrested in connection with her death but refused to answer police questions, and the investigation was dropped because of a ldrugs, she knew people who did. Somebody injected her, I'm quite certain she didn't inject herself." A post-mortem found Ms Ryan had died of an overdose of heroin, and showed her blood alcohol level to be twice the legal driving limit. Coroner David Bowen said: "If someone is off drugs, and goes back on them, and especially if they've been drinking, the effects are far greater. "I am not certain how that heroin entered her - whether she injected herself, which seems to be unlikely, or whether a third party injected her. In the absence of any conclusive evidence I will record an open verdict." ack of evidence. Ms Ryan had battled with alcoholism for some years, it was said, and had taken part in a Kaleidoscope project, which helps heroin addicts. Her father Keith Pring said: "She didn't use hard drus." VISIT NEWPORT IF YOU DARE !   NEWPORT IS ONE OF THE WORST PLACES IN BRITAIN FOR BUSINESS NEWPORT is one of the areas in the UK with the highest proportion of empty shops. Research carried out by the business research company Experian ranked Newport third for the amount of vacant retail floor space. It found 36 per cent of its floor space is vacant. Councillor Ed Townsend, Cabinet member for economic development and regeneration said: "My deduction is Newport is one of a number of cities affected badly by the recession." Newport ranked behind Gateshead in Tyne and Wear who were first with 52 percent and Walkden in Manchester with 40 per cent came second. The only other Welsh region to figure in the top ten was Milford Haven, which ranked eighth with 30 per cent of its floor space being vacant. While some shops are expected to be filled even more are expected to go out of business. |  LETS HOPE THAT TIGER CAN AFFORD BODYGUARDS! Scared tenants' appeal RESIDENTS on a Newport estate situated only minutes from The Celtic Manor want tough powers to tackle yobs extended to stop growing levels of anti-social behaviour. People living in several streets in Somerton, including Lime Crescent, say they have put up with yobs for years. But now they claim new police powers to disperse unruly youths from other areas of Somerton have made problems even worse. Resident Deanne Sansome, 26, is leading calls for the dispersal order that currently covers nine streets in Alway and Somerton to be extended, and will raise the issue at a public meeting at Somerton primary school at 6pm tonight, where police will give an update on the scheme's effectiveness. She said: "We feel like the forgotten street here. We were disappointed enough when the dispersal order didn't cover Lime Crescent, and now it's made it worse because it pushes them all down here." One male resident, who is too scared to be named, claims he is the victimsince 2005. I've had eggs thrown at the house and they've turned the gas and electricity off. "We had paint thrown over the house, abuse spray-painted on our house and windows smashed. "It's every day of the week and it got worse when the order was brought in." Lime Crescent is owned by Gwerin Housing, which asked residents to monitor the situation and pass on their concerns. Sergeant Jim Neesam, of Alway police, said the dispersal order was proving to be a success, of hundreds of incidents. He said: "It's been a torrent of constant abuse with a drop in incidents in the areas where it applies. He said those areas were specifically picked because they suffered more anti-social problems, but added: "We will monitor the dispersal order and see how effective it's been and whether it's moved the problems elsewhere. There may be the potential to use it in other areas." He said police were investigating the male resident's complaints. VIOLENT GANG JAILED A GANG were jailed yesterday for a total of eight years and nine months for their part in 18 Newport burglaries. Liam Thompson, 19, of Ringland Circle, Aaron Nunes, 19, of Hammond Drive and Lee Nagy, 21, of Somerton Park were sentenced for the offences that happened in Maindee from October 2007 to March 2008. A 15-year-old, who cannot be named, was also sentenced for his part in the crimes. Prosecuting barrister Steven Donoghue QC told Newport Crown Court that evidence directly linked Thompson to 13 of the burglaries, Nunes to seven, Nagy to three, and the 15-year-old to eight. The court heard that most of the burglaries involved illegal entry to homes via a back window, with plasma TVs mainly targeted by the gang to steal. The crimes usually took place during the afternoon when there was no-one home. However, Mr Donoghue said during one of the burglaries, on December 17, a female was punched in the face after being confronted by Liam Thompson at her home on Frobisher Road. Before sentencing the defendants, he Recorder of Cardiff, Nicholas Cooke, said: "I commend the work of the forensic scientists who took part in this investigation. They have helped bring this spate of burglaries to an end." Thompson received four years for his part in the burglaries, Nagy two years and three months, while Nunes will serve two and a half years plus six months for a separate actual bodily harm offence. The 15 year-old received a three year supervision order and must take part in a young offenders programme. After the case DC John Skillett from Gwent Police said: "Good old fashioned detective work was used in this case. Following these convictions Newport is a safer, better, nicer place...well maybe," NEWPORT MAN JAILED FOR SMASHING MANS SKULL A FATHER of two was jailed after admitting to an attack in a Newport pub. Cardiff Crown Court was told Gareth Wesson hit Jack Langford with a barstool in the Cross Keys Inn, Market Street, Newport in February last year. The attack left Mr Langford with severe head injuries. The 27-year-old, of Medway Road, Bettws, had previously pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Langford in an attack on February 24 2008. Wesson also pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Paul Vinnicombe on the same date. Jan McDonald, speaking for the prosecution, said Mr Langford and Mr Vinnicombe had gone to the Cross Keys where they met Wesson and three others. After Wesson and Mr Vinnicombe apologised to each other for an argument over homosexuality, Wesson made further comments to Mr Vinnicombe. Mr Vinnicombe made a clenched fist, and Wesson asked him to make it again. He did, and Wesson lent over the table and punched Mr Vinnicombe, the court heard. Ms McDonald said Mr Langford and Mr Vinnicombe could not remember what happened, but a witness said he saw the two complainants fall down to the floor, where Wesson continued to kicked. Wesson then picked up a barstool and brought it down onto Mr Langford’s head. Defending Wesson, Christopher Rees said he had no previous convictions and was of exemplary character. He said the defendant was extremely remorseful for the incident. The court was told Wesson has two children, aged six and four. Judge Gaskell said Mr Langford suffered fractures to his skull, cheekbone and suffered haemorrhaging. He said his memory has been affected, while he is no longer able to socialise. His family life was also adversely affected by the attack. The judge sentenced him to four and a half years for wounding with intent, and eight months for inflicting GBH, to run concurrently. |
£300m Fortune Lost
THE OWNER of Newport's £125 million Celtic Manor golf resort and the richest person in Wales has seen his fortune fall by 37 per cent over the past year, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2009.
Sir Terry Matthews heads the Welsh rich list, which will be published tomorrow, due to his wealth of £600 million.
This time last year though, he was on the list with a fortune of £900 million.
In 2000, Sir Terry Matthews sold his Newbridge Networks telecoms company, which he built up in Canada, to French giant Alcatel.
The 700 staff at the Celtic Manor Resort, which will host next year's Ryder Cup, have also recently been warned that a 10 per cent cut in employees may be on the cards thanks to the recession.
Although the Canadian Business rich list valued Matthews at £790 million in November last year, The Sunday Times have taken a more cautious view and put him at £600 million.
In all, 23 people from Wales feature in the list with an overall wealth of £4.94 billion.
Last year the 19 entries from Wales were worth £6.21billion meaning the overall wealth of the richest in the country has dropped by more than 20 per cent.
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