Business Sectors
Swindon has turned itself around from a town being dependant on one sector – the railway industry – to the home of major and innovative companies such as Honda, Intel, Nationwide, WH Smith and RWE nPower to organisations such as The National Trust, English Heritage and five of the national Research Councils. Start-up businesses also do well in Swindon, Air Semiconductors and Ubiquisys are both ICT ‘spin offs’ from the University of Bath Incubation Centre in Swindon.
Companies of 200 or more employees represent 1.5% of the total companies and 40% of the total employees in Swindon. This highlights the diversity of the economy and the reduced reliance on major employers with SME’s and start-ups representing 60% of the workforce.
Major sectors for Swindon include the automotive sector, Honda, BMW and Man have significant investments in the town, together with their large network of suppliers account for around 8% of the workforce.
Science & Technology is an important growth sector, whilst the Financial and Business Services sector remain a dominant force with Nationwide and Zurich located in the town.
For the latest economic information on Swindon such as employment statistics, please see our Economic Assessment.