Swindon's Growth Market: Finance

Taxes and our eventual demise are the two things we’re told are inevitable yet, at some point, most people end up getting a job too. Like any place in the UK, Swindon has a diverse set of industries within its limits, with around 115,100 people occupied in some job or another in the year to September 2022, including 11,800 self-employed workers. Of course, Swindon does show biases when it comes to the industries that operate here.

Financial Technology

According to Nomis, a branch of the Office for National Statistics, 15.9% or 18,000 of Swindon's total jobs are found in automotive retail and repair. This is likely due to the presence of Honda and Mini in the town. A further 12,000 people work in admin, while a roughly equal number of employees spend their days in healthcare and social services. Professional vocations and transport employ around 10,000 people each.

Elsewhere, a similar number of people work in Swindon’s finance industry, which may come as a surprise, given that the town wasn’t mentioned in a recent study of the best places outside London to start a career in finance. That particular accolade went to Manchester, closely followed by the usual suspects, namely, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow. Approximately 10,000 Swindonians work in banks and similar institutions today.

However, research from Deloitte indicates that finance or, more specifically, financial technology (“FinTech”) is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country, posting an annualised growth rate of 16% over the past decade. At its peak, growth sat at 21% per year between 2011-2016, but where is it all coming from? The obvious answer is the internet and the increasing accessibility of mobile banking, cryptocurrency, and services like Venmo.

Traditional Industries

Interest in forex trading is climbing too. The InvestingReviews website notes that around $5tn is moved around the forex markets each day. The website's detailed reviews and analysis of UK forex brokers suggest that Plus500, AvaTrade, eToro, and IG have the most to offer to UK-based investors but there are plenty of other FCA-regulated forex providers serving the country.

More conventional finance firms, like banks, do dominate Swindon’s local industry. Nationwide, which is headquartered here, is a good example. Unfortunately, this may have

come at the cost of smaller companies. Start-up database Tracxn lists just 10 FinTech newcomers in Swindon, including Quidity Plus and Optimum, both of which supply prepaid Mastercards to internet users.

Despite that dark cloud, Swindon Borough Council describes the town's financial ecosystem as worth £940m. The same website claims that Swindon also has the 3rd highest overall employment rate in the UK and the fourth-highest share of graduates in skilled occupations. Also, Swindon's population is expected to grow by 22% by 2031, meaning that the jobs market is likely to remain fluid throughout the current decade and into the next.

Overall, Swindon is dominated by traditional industries such as manufacturing and banking but local organisations seem to be optimistic about the town’s future, especially for industries like FinTech.