Jobs record helps 'Lucky Town' Swindon ride out Honda cuts

Swindon is a company town and until recently the company was Honda.

At its peak, the Japanese carmaker employed 5,000 at its assembly plant. More recently there have been profit warnings and redundancies.

But while 1,300 jobs were lost in the past two years as Honda mothballed one of its two production lines because of poor sales, Swindon has not suffered as it might.

This is largely because it is not reliant on public sector employment or particularly on one company these days. It is near London, has good transport links and other businesses have arrived.

According to analysis by the Centre for Cities think-tank, Swindon has among the best records for job creation in the UK and is one of only two places - Crawley in Sussex is the other - where 80 per cent of local jobs are in the private sector.

When there is a downturn, says Paddy Bradley, head of skills and training at Conservative-controlled Swindon council, "We were hit hard fast, because we're a private sector economy. But we also come out of recession faster."

Nationwide Building Society is now the largest employer, with about 6,000 staff, after it moved jobs from Northampton last year.

Intel, the computer chip manufacturer, has its sales and marketing office for the UK in Swindon.

WS Atkins, the engineering consultant, has a large operation, using the town as a base for work on the electrification of the rail line to Bristol, which is set to be completed by 2018.

Johnson Matthey, a specialist chemicals company, has its fuel cell development centre in the town, working on hydrogen-powered cars.

"I don't know of anyone who's not working," says Nathan Pegler, a 42-year-old graphic artist who worked on the Honda production line for almost 20 years. He left last March with a £21,000 severance package.

"Lots of people took the [money]. We're not talking life changing but it was a significant amount to tide you over for 6 or 12 months," he says.

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"Honda had probably the best paying jobs in Swindon. It always had. So to lose £18-£20 an hour people to £7 an hour, that affects the economy of Swindon," he says.

He says local union membership is increasing, reflecting unease about jobs and government cuts. Too little has been done to protect key manufacturing jobs, he adds.

"When you get a growth in membership, it's not because there are more jobs it's because people are worried about their jobs," he says.

At the start of the recession, Swindon lost about 450 jobs when a Woolworths' store and distribution centre closed. Lower production at Honda hit supply chain companies. As a result, from 2008 to 2009 the town's claimant count increased 50 per cent faster than the UK average.

But as the economy started to improve, the dole queues fell nine times faster than the average according to Centre for Cities.

"Swindon always seems to have this capacity to reinvent itself. It was a railway town in the 19th century. It then attracted light manufacturing and then car production. We're always keeping pace with the changing international economy," says Robert Buckland, MP for South Swindon.

"We're sometimes called a lucky town because of our location.

We've got good road and rail links, and our housing is competitive," he says.

In past elections, the town's two parliamentary seats have been bellwethers for the election - won by Labour when Tony Blair took power in 1997 and reverting to the Conservative party in 2010.

Mr Buckland believes the strength of the local economy gives him and Justin Tomlinson, his party colleague in North Swindon, a good chance of being re-elected.

He also notes that in the council elections last year the Tories made gains in Swindon - against the national trend.

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