The college has acquired St William House in the centre of Cardiff to support its growth plans

One of the biggest office buildings in the centre of Cardiff has been acquired by Cardiff and Vale College as part of its expansion plans.

The college, which is the third biggest further education institution in the UK and the largest in Wales, has acquired St William House, which is just yards from its existing city centre campus on Dumballs Road.

The post-16 education provider, which generates annual revenues of £120m, has acquired the freehold interest in the building, which extends to 144,000 sq ft, from Schroders. The value of the deal has not been disclosed, but is understood to have been for around £8m. The building was being marketed with a £15m price tag.

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St William House is currently vacate. Former sole occupier Lloyds will soon begin relocating to a new 10-storey office scheme on John Street – close to St William House – that has been developed by JR Smart. Since exiting the building Lloyds has been operating from its Newport office site ahead of a move to the new HQ.

The college said its new location will provide high-quality, industry-focused teaching facilities across multiple sectors to support economic development in the Cardiff Capital Region. The development will be delivered through the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, subject to funding approval.

As well as it main campus on Dumballs Road, which opened in 2015, the college other locations in the city include a community sports facility at Canal Park plus a large base in One Canal Parade, and its the Arts Academy on neighbouring Trade Street.

The acquisition of St William House coincides with the college’s £119m investment that is delivering new campuses in the Vale of Glamorgan for thousands of students. Its new Barry waterfront campus, a community-focused college in the heart of the town, will replace its existing ageing Colcot Road campus. Its Advanced Technology Centre near Cardiff Airport will meet the skills needs of employers, apprentices and those working in advanced technologies. Both campuses are scheduled to open in September 2027.

The college currently has more than 33,000 students, a number that continues to grow.

Cardiff and Vale College group chief executive Mike James said of its property acquisition: “We are delighted to have secured this landmark building. Over the last decade this area has proved a popular, vibrant and accessible location for the community and employers across our region.

“The prime location and scale of this site provides incredible potential to further support us to improve the quality and sustainability of our estate in a cost-effective way and grow the offer high quality teaching and learning we offer.”

The college’s new campuses in the Vale are mainly being financed through the Welsh Government’s mutual investment model (MIM), with construction costs repaid over a 25-year period. The college’s committed financial contribution to both projects is around 19%, which will include proceeds from the sale of its existing Colcot Road campus site. It is the first time the Welsh Government has used MIM to fund a college project.

Young Americans are working to save money for their future goals and retirement despite housing costs straining their budgets, a new report finds.

Bank of America on Tuesday released its latest Better Money Habits study of how adult members of Gen Z are handling their finances in adulthood. It found that Gen Z is getting more financially independent, with just 34% receiving financial assistance from parents or other family members – down from 39% in 2025 and 46% in 2024.

“We view that as extremely positive – more saving, less reliance on family members to get by,” Will Smayda, head of financial centers at Bank of America, told FOX Business. “It turns out, adulting is hard, and it’s expensive.”

Gen Z has also been at the forefront of the “loud budgeting” trend, with 42% of respondents saying they’re comfortable declining social opportunities and admitting they can’t afford to participate – a figure that’s unchanged from 2025 and remains up from 38% in 2024.

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Bank of America found that Gen Z is sticking with loud budgeting. (Getty Images/iStock)

“They’re loud about spending habits, comfortable saying no to certain expenses like travel or a lavish night out at a restaurant,” Smayda said, adding that the loud budgeting trend is quite a bit different. “Frankly, I think, healthy when folks are open about the way in which they save, and about the way in which they spend, and the fact that sometimes you make hard decisions.”

Smayda noted that 75% of respondents said that they were actively looking for ways to spend less money, especially in their social lives when making plans with friends by suggesting free or lower-cost activities, ordering cheaper menu items or fewer drinks, as well as other strategies.

The trend is more prominent among those in the middle of Gen Z between the ages of 23 and 25, as well as the older cohort of 26 to 29-year-olds.

NEARLY HALF OF GEN X WORKERS ARE DELAYING RETIREMENT AS RISING COSTS, STAGNANT WAGES DRAIN SAVINGS

Bank of America’s Better Money Habits report found members of Gen Z are increasingly focused on savings and maintaining their budgets. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I love the fact that saving and making tough decisions is something that this generation is comfortable talking about publicly, and it reinforces positive behaviors. Saying no to something is a positive behavior,” he said. “It might hurt a little in the short-term, but it definitely helps people stay on track.”

“We remind our clients and our Gen Z in particular, that they have to balance near-term treats, if you will, with long-term savings. The cost of homeownership continues to go up, and it continues to be one of the most important and achievable ways of building wealth out there in the world for everyone. So we continue to make sure that there are strong, regular, in many cases digital, savings habits,” Smayda said.

While Gen Z is becoming increasingly independent, they continue to seek validation for their purchasing decisions, with 40% of Gen Z seeking validation from family or friends – compared with 26% of millennials, 20% of Gen X and 15% of baby boomers. Of the Gen Z members who do so, 18% seek validation ahead of purchases, 8% do so afterward and 14% do so both before and after they purchase.

HIGH SCHOOLS RETHINK HOW TEENS LEARN MONEY SKILLS

Two-thirds of Gen Z are saving money, Bank of America found. (iStock)

A rising proportion of Gen Z is saving money, with Bank of America’s Better Money Habits report finding 66% are currently saving – up from 63% last year and 60% in 2024. Among Gen Z savers, 36% put leftover money into savings when possible, while 22% contribute to a 401(k) retirement account and 22% also reported the use of a high-yield savings account.

High housing costs have been a notable challenge for members of Gen Z, as the report found that 29% of Gen Z respondents said housing costs are a top barrier to their financial success – a figure that’s little changed over the last four years. It also found that 17% reported spending more than half of their paycheck on housing.

“That’s up quite a bit,” Smayda said, noting it was one of the most concerning data points in the report as it rose from 13% in 2025 and 10% in 2024.

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“If you’re putting a dramatic amount of your total income into housing, it squeezes other parts of your financial life – it squeezes your savings and obviously, maybe less importantly, your discretionary spending, your fun spending if everything’s going to rent or to a mortgage,” he explained.

Thailand’s economy gained momentum in the first quarter of 2026, expanding 2.8% year‑on‑year and outperforming several Southeast Asian peers despite rising geopolitical and energy‑related pressures.

The latest data from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) shows growth picking up from 2.5% in the previous quarter and exceeding market expectations of 2.2% .

The stronger‑than‑expected performance was driven by robust goods exports, increased investment, and higher government consumption . Exports surged 15.5% from a year earlier—nearly double the pace of the previous quarter—supported largely by high‑tech electronic products, according to NESDC secretary‑general Danucha Pichayanan .

Regional Context: Thailand Bucks the Slowdown

While Thailand gained speed, several ASEAN economies saw growth cool. The Philippines posted its weakest expansion in five years at 2.8% , while Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore all recorded slower growth compared with the previous quarter amid rising inflation pressures Current page. Indonesia was a notable exception, with growth edging up to 5.6% on the back of increased government spending .

Tourism Hit by Iran Conflict

Despite the headline GDP improvement, Thailand is already feeling the early economic impact of the Iran conflict. Air transport disruptions and higher ticket prices have weighed on tourism, with foreign arrivals falling 2.4% in Q1 to 9.3 million visitors . Analysts warn that prolonged instability in the Middle East will continue to push up energy and living costs, dampening domestic consumption .

Inflation Rebounds on High Fuel Prices

After a full year of declining prices, Thailand’s consumer inflation jumped to 2.9% in April, driven by elevated fuel costs linked to damaged oil infrastructure in the Middle East . NESDC officials cautioned that high global oil prices could persist for several years, posing risks to both the Thai and global economies.

Government Moves to Cushion Households and SMEs

In response to rising living costs, the government issued an emergency decree to borrow 400 billion baht (US$12.2 billion) to support vulnerable groups and subsidize essential expenses . Part of the funding will also provide liquidity to small and medium‑sized enterprises to prevent bankruptcies amid tightening conditions Current page.

Outlook

The NESDC maintained its 2026 GDP forecast at 1.5%–2.5%, citing ongoing risks from global energy markets and geopolitical tensions . Other ASEAN economies have issued similar warnings, though Indonesia—being a net energy exporter—is expected to weather the energy shock more effectively Current page.

Other People are Reading

Britain’s small businesses, community energy co-operatives and rural entrepreneurs are being urged to step into the spotlight as the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) opens nominations for its inaugural Centenary Awards, with a flagship category dedicated to rooftop solar deployment.

The awards, marking 100 years of the countryside charity’s campaigning work, will culminate in a ceremony at the Houses of Parliament on 29 October 2026. Of the six categories on offer, the Best Rooftop Solar Solution award is likely to attract the keenest interest from the SME community, coming at a moment when government policy is decisively tilting in favour of putting panels on roofs rather than fields.

That shift in mood music is no accident. Earlier this year, CPRE warned that nearly two-thirds of England’s largest solar farms have been built on productive agricultural land, with a third sited on the country’s most valuable fields — a finding that has only sharpened ministerial appetite for unlocking the estimated 250,000 hectares of suitable commercial and domestic roof space across the UK. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has since signalled a step-change in support for commercial rooftop solar, including business rates relief running through to 2035 and streamlined planning for installations above 1MW.

For the small and medium-sized firms that have long viewed solar as the preserve of the deep-pocketed, the timing could scarcely be better. Businesses generated record volumes of clean power last year, with wind and solar driving the UK’s renewable electricity record — and a growing slice of that came from SME-scale rooftop arrays rather than industrial-scale developments.

CPRE has set a deliberately ambitious bar. Successful nominations should demonstrate some, or ideally all, of four hallmarks: meaningful local community involvement in choosing and approving the site; sensitive design that minimises visual impact on the surrounding landscape; long-term economic benefit for the host community alongside maximised energy efficiency; and the use of innovative solutions or technology to overcome site-specific challenges.

The judging panel reflects that breadth of remit. Emma Fletcher, Innovation Director at Octopus Energy, brings the perspective of one of the country’s most disruptive clean-power players, a business currently investing billions in renewables on both sides of the Atlantic. She is joined by Richard Alvin, Editor at Capital Business Media’s renewable energy title Turning Electric, and a long-standing chronicler of the SME energy transition; Noël Lambert, a founding director of community-finance pioneer Big Solar Co-op; and Juliet Loiselle, Publisher at Warners Group Publications.

It is a line-up calibrated to spot the difference between solar projects that simply tick the carbon box and those genuinely embedded in the communities they serve, a distinction that increasingly separates winners from also-rans in the commercial clean energy market.

Crewenna Dymond, CPRE’s director of communities and participation, said the awards were designed to surface stories that too often go untold.

“As CPRE marks its centenary, these awards are a chance to celebrate the remarkable people and projects already making a difference to our countryside. From innovative housing solutions to community green spaces, there is so much inspiring work happening across England that deserves recognition,” she said.

“Whether you are an individual, a business or a community group, we want to hear your story. Nominations are open to all, and we encourage anyone who cares about the countryside to get involved.”

That open-door approach matters. Recent years have seen a wave of investment commitments aimed at smaller commercial sites — including Electron Green’s pledge to invest up to £1bn to kickstart a solar electricity revolution for UK businesses — yet many of the most ingenious SME-led schemes remain virtually unknown beyond their immediate locality. The Centenary Awards offer an unusually high-profile platform to change that.

Nominations close on 30 June 2026, with winners and highly commended entrants invited to the parliamentary ceremony in October. Self-nominations are accepted, and full criteria are published on CPRE’s National Centenary Awards page.

For SME owners whose rooftop schemes have quietly transformed their balance sheets, their carbon footprints and, crucially in CPRE’s eyes — their communities, this is a rare opportunity to claim a slice of national recognition.

Jamie Young

Jamie is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, bringing over a decade of experience in UK SME business reporting.
Jamie holds a degree in Business Administration and regularly participates in industry conferences and workshops.

When not reporting on the latest business developments, Jamie is passionate about mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of business leaders.

This article was written by

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