To celebrate the publication of issue five of The Business magazine, the sport and business edition, a networking event was held at a Newport city centre sports bar.

The team behind The Business and Business Argus chose Riverside Sports Bar and Kitchen as the venue for the event as it has strong links with both Newport County AFC and Dragons supporters, which tied in with the whole theme of the magazine.

Guest speaker on the morning was Adrian Aurelius, chairman of the NatWest Cymru board.

Born in Abergavenny, Adrian still lives in the Monmouthshire market down with his wife and two teenage children. With a Bsc (Hons) in financial services, he joined NatWest in 1982 and worked his way up into a number of senior roles within the bank – both in Wales and the Midlands.

As regional director responsible for its branch network across Wales and the West Midlands, he was appointed chairman of the NatWest Cymru Board in May 2018, having previously been the chairman of the West Midlands Sub-Board.

Adrian spoke how NatWest Cymru supports more than 20,000 business throughout Wales with lending of more than £1.5bn to SMEs and larger scale corporates in south east Wales alone.

He also explained about the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator Hub, which is open to businesses from across the region. The hub is based in Cardiff and opened for business in 2016.

South Wales Argus business editor Jo Barnes, who hosted the event, said issue six of The Business magazine would have a strong focus on the up-coming South Wales Argus Business Awards, which are being presented on September 27 at an event at the Newport Centre.

Judging of the awards takes place on August 15 and all the shortlisted entries will be features in the magazine along with a focus on each of the businesses which have sponsored the awards, including Newport Now BID, which is the lead sponsor.

For tickets to the business awards ceremony contact Matt Berry on 01633 777043 or Samantha Taylor on 01633 777147.