If you want any evidence of how strong Swindon’s economy is then you only need to take a look at the number of events and opening celebrations that took place last week.

I name checked a few in the last column and it was great to see the Thistle Express officially open for business and adding to the hotel offer in Swindon.

Nearby, Fig Offices opened their offices in the newly refurbished Newbridge Square building, adding to the quality office space offer in the town. And last Thursday night Juice Recruitment held their opening party in Old Town.

All of this represents significant investment in the town and demonstrates confidence.

Switch On To Swindon was delighted to jointly host an ambassador’s event on Thursday night with another company which has invested heavily in Swindon, Hobsons Choice. It offers the very best designer kitchens and bathrooms.

More than 60 people from the ambassador network were invited to the recently renovated flagship Swindon showroom.

A whole range of business sectors and industries were represented but all share a common goal - to develop the outward perception of Swindon and actively show the town as a place to do business and spend leisure time.

It was a very different event, including cooking demonstrations from chefs Andrew Scott and Nick Bennett from Restaurant 56, at Sudbury House Hotel.

Home economists from BORA also provided tasty delicacies for the guests while showcasing the innovative downdraft extraction technology of their cooktop range.

With all our Switch On To Swindon events we aim to surprise people, show them something that they may not have realised existed in Swindon and add to the range of things that they can then use to promote the town positively.

We certainly achieved that again last week and a big thank you to Hobsons Choice for their support.

Looking ahead I’m delighted to see that the Old Town Sausage And Ale Trail is coming up on Sunday.

In recent years this has proved a really popular event and I know the organisers have extended the trail this year to take in even more of what Old Town has to offer.

Swindon needs events like this to enhance its profile and attract people so please reward the organisers by supporting it and making it the best attended yet.

Away from events and openings I wanted to follow up on my point last week about the need to see some progress in the town centre.

Although I didn’t get the chance to get down to it I was pleased to see the first engagement on proposals to improve the public realm in Wellington Street, essentially this is the main gateway route into the town centre from the railway station.

I understand that a wider public consultation will take place early in the New Year with work beginning soon after.

While a wholesale transformation of the area is not on the table it will involve much needed enhancements to the area which will create a much better first impression for those coming from the station.

We need to hold on to the medium and long term aspirations for town centre regeneration while addressing some the image problems now, so I welcome this work.