Ding dong! January 2026

Ding dong! February is in full swing and that means we’re looking back at some of the highlights from Front Door HQ last month, including restaurant openings, recruitment drives and back by popular demand… potholes.

It’s been a great start to the year for client SD Team, which has moved into swanky new offices in Cwmbran after outgrowing its former headquarters of ten years. SD has been all over the regional business press celebrating the move, as well as they fact that they are looking forward to a year of growth with the recruitment of 40 new roles across the business.

It’s a big year for SD and we were so pleased to be able to help the team shout about their success. You can read more on plans for 2026 in Business Insider, Business News Wales, South Wales Argus and many more.

Praise is also due to Front Door photographer Rosie who was able to make SD’s new headquarters look lovely on what must have been the wettest day on record!

From one successful January to the next, it’s also been an exciting few weeks for Tom Simmons, who celebrated the re-opening of his Pontcanna restaurant – Thomas the Brasserie. Long regarded locally as one of Cardiff’s standout dining destinations, Thomas by Tom Simmons has undergone a reinvention from fine dining into a more accessible brasserie concept designed to reflect changing dining trends and make exceptional, high-quality food more welcoming to the wider community.

Thomas the Brasserie opened on the 12th January to rave reviews and we are so chuffed for them – favourite lines include ‘No word of a lie, probably one of the best burgers that’s ever crossed my lips’ and ‘All the flavour, skill and attention to detail of the tasting menu, but reimagined into single dishes that feel generous, relaxed and downright delicious.’

You can read some lovely words from restaurant critics and influencers, including Wales Online, and It’s on Cardiff.

In equally glamorous news, our potholes campaign for Go.Compare has gone berserk this month. With 30 pieces of coverage in newspapers around the UK, it’s clear that we all mean business when it comes to potholes on the British roads. In ‘celebration?’ of National Pothole Day (15^th Jan) – yes, there is a day – we launched a campaign requesting information from 171 councils about their pothole repair times – revealing those who are seriously lagging behind.

Will your local council be on the named and shamed list? You can find the slowest repairers here.

It’s also been another busy month for events, with Front Door Kath spotted at numerous business get togethers across South Wales while FD Beth and Rubie also popped along to the FinTech Wales Networking Breakfast at Clockwise in Cardiff city centre. It was a fab morning and well worth going along to, not only for the brownies but for a presentation from Voltric that nearly convinced us to buy EVs, and as always, so many brilliant people to meet.

Finally, Front Door Communications turned nine years old this January! Looking back at the (very few) pictures we have from the first days of Front Door in 2017, it feels like a lifetime ago that this all started when Front Door Kath and Lynsey first put down roots in our tiny but lovely box office in Penarth.

Our team of two has since become a team of ten, we’ve outgrown the box office (four times over at this point) and we’ve been fortunate enough to work with clients that we’ve loved, too many to name and lots still with us all these years later.

A huge thank you to everyone that has helped us get to where we are today, we can’t wait to see what the next year brings. Happy birthday Front Door!