NEW figures show there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who are self-employed in Swindon.

Since 2010, there has been an increase of 56 per cent, with just under 14,000 people working for themselves in the town.

This is up from 8,900 four years ago and is a rise well above the national average of 12.8 per cent.

The rise is also above the average for the South West, which is 18 per cent, and some are saying it is a sign of the entrepreneurial spirit within the town.

Among the 14,000 is self-employed Eggelicious owner, Ash Mistry.

Having operated out of the tented market for five years, he recently opened up a second restaurant in Wood Street.

He said the chance to express his creative side was a big motivating factor in setting up on his own.

“In my restaurants I get to develop the flavours for my products, which is something I am passionate about,” said Ash.

“You also get the satisfaction of watching your business grow when running you run it yourself.

“There is a lot of hard work as you have to do everything from the marketing to the hiring and firing to dealing with the taxes.

“But for me it is about being able to do something I absolutely love doing how I want to do it.

“At a big business it is all about hitting margins but here I can focus on things which are important to me, such as reducing waste.

“I am not bothered with making big money, but doing what is important to me.”

The rise in the number of self-employed workers across the country has prompted calls for changes to make it easier for entrepreneurs.

South Swindon parliamentary candidate, Anne Snelgrove, said: “I know how hard it is to set up on your own from my experience of self-employment. There’s very little support now, as all the training courses the government used to fund have been cut.

“Yet if our economy is to grow, we really need the business ideas of Swindon entrepreneurs to succeed, which includes breaking down the barriers which self-employed people face when they try to apply for a mortgage or save for a pension.

“That's why I've been listening to local self-employed people and I'll be feeding their ideas back to our Shadow Business Team.”

But South Swindon MP, Robert Buckland, said the rise in numbers was a sign of a healthy route to self-employment.

“I think rather than show there are obstacles in the way of going into self-employment, the rise in numbers show the people of Swindon are doing it for themselves which is great,” he said.

“As politicians we can often be accused of preaching to people but Swindon has this ability to roll up its sleeves and get on with things as we are seeing here.

“There is this belief that increased self-employment is a result of a struggling economy but we have seen 5,000 new jobs created in South Swindon so I don’t believe that is the case.”