1. Careers
First of all, Swindon is a great place to settle down and start a career, we know because we’ve done exactly that! Did you know that there are over 8,600 thriving companies of all types and sizes, with a great success rate for start-ups and larger companies who have their HQ’s based in the town such as Nationwide, Intel, Zurich, W H Smith, B & Q and The National Trust. Nationwide alone employs over 4,000 staff, so you’ll have no trouble finding yourself a job! Panattoni has acquired the 370 acre Honda site and is planning to turn in to a huge logistics hub. Panattoni owns the Symmetry Park Business Park in South Marston, with Amazon about to open a huge, new warehouse – Panattoni has pledged to create over 10,000 jobs over the next 5 – 10 years in Swindon.
2. Education
Finding a place to settle for a lot of people means considering the future of your children and their education. Swindon is ideally located 1 hour away from 5 of the UK’s top universities and the town also boasted a whopping 91% of schools rated good/outstanding in 2016. We’re always on hand to provide advice about the local schools if you are thinking about moving to the area.
3. Transport Links
Swindon’s prime location also means we have fantastic road and train links such as the M4, A419/7, A420 and Great Western Railway Services. You can be in London, Oxford, Bath, Bristol and Cardiff within an hour as well as Heathrow and Bristol Airports – perfect for commuting, visiting family and friends or most importantly, going on holiday!
4. English Countryside
Such a fantastic location means that Swindon is located just 30 minutes from some of the finest, English countryside including the Cotswolds and Stonehenge. We feel really lucky to have such beautiful destinations just a stone’s throw away and in Swindon itself, we have over 570 metres of cycle routes per 100 households – more than Reading, Oxford, Bristol or Bath.
5. Value for money
With the location in mind, property prices here are affordable and offer a significant discount on surrounding locations, putting it on the list of the top 10 most affordable areas to live across the South East and South West in 2021. Ranking in at spot 7 of 94, Swindon offers better value than both neighbouring towns and competing commuter locations.
6. Health Care
If you’re considering health care services, Swindon has the 8th largest pharmaceutical cluster with companies such as Catalent, Biomet Pharma and Wasdell Packaging based here. We are also very fortunate to benefit from the new and expanding Great Western Hospital, which has 400 in-patient beds and serves approximately 300,000 people.
7. Fast Growth
Swindon has recently been recognised as one of the ‘Five Fast Growth Cities‘ in the UK making it an ideal place for first-time buyers, families or landlords to invest in property. Between 2020 and 2021, there was an 8% increase in house prices and we do not see this changing anytime soon.
8. Retail Therapy
For those who love a bit of retail therapy, Swindon offers numerous places to splash the cash such as the Orbital Shopping Park, Greenbridge Retail Park, Swindon Town Centre (including Regent Circus and The Brunel Shopping Centre) and The Swindon Designer Outlet Centre. This attractive and popular retail destination is one of Europe’s most successful designer outlets, seeing over 3.5 million visitors per annum.
9. New Homes
As an expanding town, Swindon will benefit from £0.5 billion of investment. The new ‘Eastern Villages‘ is one of the largest greenfield developments in the country which will offer 8,000 new homes; employment; doctors surgery and leisure facilities. With Help-To-Buy this could be the ideal place for our ever-growing population of people looking to take their first step onto the property ladder.
10. Wellbeing
Last but very much not least, wellbeing measures indicate that feelings of happiness and life satisfaction are higher in Swindon than the England average, with the town seeing the most significant improvement in wellbeing over the past 5 years compared to surrounding areas. And we have to admit, we love it here!
