Royal Mail relocation 

Bosses reveal why Swindon was their choice for £20 million investment

 

Excellent logistical connections, available development land, and reasonably priced new-builds - all factors which fuelled a decision by The Royal Mail to invest £20 million in to Swindon's mail centre, it has been revealed.

 

The corporation, who plan to expand Swindon's sorting office from 400 to 900 by June 2009, aims to create a state-of-the-art Mail Centre to serve its customers in the Thames Valley area.

 

Boosting the Swindon economy: (l-r): Chris Griffiths, Royal Mail Relocation Project Team; Bill Cotton, SBC's Director of Economic & Cultural Development; Matthew Lawlor, Royal Mail Commercial Manager; Sinclair Brown, SBC Marketing & investment Manager

 

And Swindon was the clear number one choice over Reading and Oxford when the decision to re-structure was first announced in September 2007.

 

Better quality of life

 

Royal Mail's Commercial Manager, Matthew Lawlor, said: "Just as The Oracle at Reading lifted the town's reputation, Swindon's £1 billion town centre regeneration will make it a more attractive place to work and live."

 

"And if we need more staff, Swindon has a large workforce with compatible skills, in distribution for example."

 

"Once staff realise Swindon is set for growth and may be a good bet for investment, we think they’ll look more favourably upon relocation."

 

Expanding: the new Swindon sorting office is set to double in size to 20,000 m2 (3 to 4 football pitches)

 

Bill Cotton, SBC's Director of Economic and Cultural Development, said: "New employment opportunities are a real boost for the town and we are delighted that The Royal Mail recognises Swindon's importance as a logistical hub.

 

"A recent survey by international property agency, Knight Frank, concluded that Swindon is well-placed to weather the current economic climate because of its strategic location.

 

"Companies settling here make sound, long-term decisions to invest in an area earmarked for economic growth and we look forward to supporting new arrivals to the town in whatever way we can.’

 

Statistics

 

Average house prices for a post 1960 semi detached three bedroom:

Oxford - £280,000
Reading - £215,000
Swindon - £176,000
Source - Valuation Office Agency

Swindon’s Economic Performance Indicators:

• GVA - Highest gross value added per head of any UK town (the equivalent of gdp at town/regional level). Swindon’s GVA is more than 50% higher than the UK average. Third highest in terms of regions.

• Employment rate at 79% is higher than both the SW (77.7%) and the UK (74.2%)

• Swindon has a higher proportion of people in working age group (63.6%) compared to SW (59.9) and UK (62.1).

Swindon is located:

• one hour to London Paddington by train
• an hour’s drive to Heathrow and Bristol airports
• 90 minutes drive to Central London, Birmingham and Southampton
• 40 minutes to Reading, Bristol, Cheltenham, Oxford and Bath

 

Mel Turner-Wright