Swindon continues to ride high in latest growth index

The Borough was ranked fourth in this year’s Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities Index outperforming London, Manchester and Birmingham, while also coming out ahead of near neighbours Oxford and Reading.

The Good Growth for Cities Index ranks 51 of the UK’s largest cities (generally considered those with populations of at least 350,000 people), plus the London boroughs as a whole, based on the public’s assessment of 12 economic measures, including jobs, health, income, safety and skills, as well as work-life balance, housing, travel-to-work times, income equality, high street shops, business start-ups .and the environment.

Swindon was above average in seven of the 12 indicators, particularly in jobs, income, health and average commuting time to work. The only area where it fell below average was in the number of new businesses.

Councillor Jim Robbins, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “I’m extremely proud that our town continues to punch above its weight in these economic performance tables against much larger cities.

“It’s a bit like one of the smaller Premier League teams qualifying for the Champions League, yet we continue to do well year on year. It is a great advert for the Borough and performing well in indicators like health, jobs and crime shows people that Swindon is a great place to live.

“Yet we know there is still much more to do to realise our full potential.

“We are talking to major landowners about improvements we can make to the town centre, we have kick-started housebuilding in the Borough by recently unlocking 2,500 homes in the New Eastern Villages and we continue to engage positively with Panattoni on their plans for the former Honda site, which will be a gamechanger for Swindon’s economy in the years to come.

“We will be aiming to stay in the Champions League places if we can, but we’d love to go even higher.”

Ben Pykett, partner in PwC’s West of England Government and Health Industries team, said: “For a second year in a row, Swindon is among the five best-performing cities in our Good Growth for Cities Index.

“It performs strongly on indicators such as health, transport, income, and ranks top on safety. But the Index identifies areas of opportunity for future growth too: work-life balance, new businesses, housing and income distribution.

“Swindon’s outlook is a positive one - due no doubt in part to its transport links, record on safety and health and its business environment.”