BUSINESS is booming in Swindon with 18 firms from the town bringing in some of the highest turnovers in the south.

IT firm Taylor Made Computer Solutions carried out the research of the area’s top 500 companies with Nationwide Building Society, based in Pipers Way, taking the top spot for the town with a turnover of £5.7bn.

Overall, Nationwide came 15th in the south with the list being topped by BP International Ltd, based in Surrey, with an overall turnover of £63.6bn.

Rob Angus, Head of Protection & Investments at Nationwide, said: “Nationwide continues to go from strength to strength and every one of our employees based in our Swindon head office and across the UK have helped contribute to our continued success.

“Because we’re a modern mutual with traditional values we can really focus on providing market leading customer service and products which truly benefit our members.”

Taylor Made Computer Solutions’ research found that the 500 companies employ 2.8m people with a staff member’s average salary being £24,333.

Tim Walker, Taylor Made Computer Solutions’ managing director, said: “We are very proud to present this list, which is the result of months of painstaking research and provides a definitive and very clear picture of the performance of businesses in the south.

“The overall picture is positive. It shows a slow but steady rise in turnover and profit as the economy continues to pick up. What’s also striking is how much the south’s largest companies contribute not just in pure financial terms but also in the phenomenal number of people they employ and their contributions to charity and their local communities.

“It’s also a reminder of just how many of the country’s largest companies choose to base themselves in the Swindon area, a fact which the business community here justifiably takes a great deal of pride in.”

The Swindon’s top three consists of Intel Corporation and npower both having a turnover of £3.9bn. To see the full list visit www.tmcs.co.uk/Top500

The Swindon companies and their annual turnovers:

  • Nationwide Building Society £5,784,000,000 
  • Intel Corporation (UK) Ltd £3,947,537,000 
  • npower Ltd £3,939,500,000 
  • Connect Group plc £1,808,500,000 
  • WH Smith plc £1,161,000,000 
  • First Greater Western Ltd £1,130,274,000 
  • Man Truck & Bus UK Ltd £491,445,000 
  • Arval UK Group Ltd £469,417,000 
  • Cambria Automobiles plc £395,776,000 
  • Synergy Health plc £380,453,000 
  • Dick Lovett Companies Ltd £308,230,000 
  • Tyco Electronics UK Ltd £192,115,000 
  • Castrol Ltd £176,369,000 
  • Intrinsic Financial Services Ltd £166,725,000 
  • Swindon Pressings Limited £151,532,000 
  • Openwork Ltd £150,977,000 
  • Fairchild Semiconductor Ltd £124,492,000 
  • Hardware.com Group Ltd £111,016,000