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Wiltshire

Economic overview

Wiltshire has a strong economy and relatively low business costs. This and the ease of accessibility due to the "M4 corridor effect" has led to this area becoming a very attractive business proposition.

Swindon, in the northern part of the county, is home to many national and international corporations, such as Honda, Intel, Motorola, and Dyson. In addition, with many famous landmarks situated in the area, such as Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge and other ancient sites, there is a strong tourism industry, which benefits the regional economy.

Wiltshire’s employment structure is distinctive in having a significantly higher number of people in various forms of manufacturing (especially electrical equipment and apparatus, food products, and beverages, furniture, rubber, pharmaceuticals, and plastic goods) than the national average. In addition, there is higher than average employment in public administration and defence, due to the military establishments around the county.

RDA support

One of the Agency’s focuses in the county has been to maximise the economic impact of the significant Armed Forces presence which contributes some £400 million per year to the local economy.

We have helped to develop the Wiltshire Military-Civilian Integration Programme with Wiltshire Council which enables better collaborative planning to ensure that the socio-economic challenges that will occur as a result of the Super-Garrison idea are dealt with in an integrated way.

In Swindon, the Agency has focused on the regeneration of Swindon town centre through the acquisition of key sites that will enable the development of Union Square - a new commercial centre.

Given the recession and significant uncertainty in the property market, the Agency has brought forward £2.85 million of investment in the Canal Walk regeneration scheme – the prime retail area of central Swindon. Work on this £6.7 million project officially started in August 2009. New high quality paving is being installed along with public art as part of efforts to improve the town centre and create the right conditions for private sector investment as market confidence returns.

The remainder of the funding has been provided through the Government’s Growth Points scheme and the project is being administered by urban regeneration company The New Swindon Company, of which the South West RDA is a founding partner and funder.

The Agency is also involved in the master-planning of the Swindon Eastern Development Area, where it is proposed 14,000 new homes, employment space and community facilities could be built.

The South West RDA’s other main investment in the county during 2009/10 and 2010/11 is £1 million towards the cost of building a new visitor centre at Stonehenge. The project is linked to improvements to the local road network.

A further £3 million of funding will be provided to rural businesses in Wiltshire through the EU’s RDPE programme, which is being administered by the RDA.

The Agency is also supporting the Health Protection Agency’s project to build new hi tech labs at Porton Down which would be made available to local SMEs working in the biotech sector.

In total, the RDA will invest £5.5 million (capital and revenue) in Wiltshire and Swindon during 2009/10 and 2010/11.

The county will also directly benefit from £103 million investment in region-wide projects during the period.

The Area Director for Swindon and Wiltshire is Tony Bray. The team can be contacted at the RDA's Bristol Office.

Shoppers in Swindon town centre

National Monuments Building, Swindon