ABOUT US
The Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP) is a private sector led partnership between Swindon Borough Council, Wiltshire Council and local businesses. Our role is to set the over-arching economic priorities for the area and to undertake activities that will drive economic growth and job creation.
Our Local Industrial Strategy sets out ambitious plans for the future, building on the unique features of the area to support the inclusive development of our economy and boost our productivity over the next ten to fifteen years. The strategy is based on a broad and detailed evidence base which has been tested through engagement with over a thousand local businesses and business representation organisations. It addresses both local challenges and those outlined as part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy, in order to improve the productivity of Swindon and Wiltshire and ensure that all communities contribute to, and benefit from, higher productivity.
The Swindon and Wiltshire area has an excellent track record for stimulating start-ups and high survival rates. The Swindon and Wiltshire Growth Hub has been instrumental in supporting this. Its services remain very popular, with intensive support to businesses tripling between 2016/17 and 2018/19 and a six-fold increase in start-up businesses created during the same period. Despite the vibrant start-up scene, progress to scale-up has been sluggish. These businesses have been harder to identify and engage with, however this is something that we intend to remedy in the future.
Business Support via the Growth Hub
In terms of productivity, the Swindon and Wiltshire area is slightly below the national average, partly due to our sector mix. A number of our large employment sectors are in low-value industries. At the same time, we have numerous high-output businesses that remain small despite having high potential for growth. This is partly due to the proportion of smaller life-style businesses located predominantly in our market towns and rural areas. Therefore, we need to do more to support both of these groups. We need to improve the contribution made by our most productive industries, including having the right environment to encourage spin-offs. We also need to tackle the underperformance, which will require novel solutions and extended business support services. For both of these, the Growth Hub and its business support programmes will play a part in achieving our aspiration.
