IT IS clear to me that Swindon, along with the rest of the UK, needs a thriving local economy where entrepreneurs can create the wealth and jobs the nation needs, writes DAVID RENARD.

That is why 19 of the 30 pledges that contribute to the council’s vision relate to supporting investment and growth.

This week I was delighted to see the latest report from the Centre For Cities, showing how well Swindon ranks alongside more than 60 other major British towns and cities.

The report confirms our economic strengths as well as showing that the town is in a great position to thrive once the UK leaves the constraints of the European Union.

In the Cities Factbook 2017, you can see the independent evidence of the innovative, successful local businesses that are doing Swindon proud.

For example, we rank fifth out of 63 local councils in the number of patents published, which puts us above larger cities like Bristol (12th place), Southampton (15th place), and Plymouth (58th place).

These patents come from the financial services sector, IT, and from the pharmaceutical research that is undertaken by companies located in the borough.

Another measure of our achievement is that we have increased the ratio of people working for wealth-creating private businesses.

We have 4.3 private sector employees for every person working for the public sector, making us the third best town or city in the UK.

In Oxford, for example, the ratio is one to to one, which makes that city’s economic success dependent on everyone else’s taxes, including those from Swindon’s workers.

If you look at productivity per worker, known as GVA, Swindon is the tenth most productive place in the UK, coming behind Cambridge only because of alphabetical order.

If you follow the media, you will know that there has been some concern about how leaving the EU will affect the economy.

The good news for Swindon is that our businesses are so diverse that we are not wholly dependent on exports and we are neither in the top ten towns and cities for exports nor the ten bottom.

We have strong British, European, and international companies present in the town and I remain confident that our local firms will be able to thrive.

Of course, we take nothing for granted. As you will see from the cabinet reports we published this week, we are taking action to stimulate development in both the town centre and at Wichelstowe.

We have set up a programme of housebuilding on the smaller, underused council owned-plots of land, which will complement the new private developments at Tadpole Farm and Badbury Park. There will be more initiatives to follow.