SWINDON has emerged as the fourth best place in the UK to find a job, according to a new survey.

Cambridge was named the best location for employment prospects, with 0.05 job seekers per vacancy, followed by Guildford and Oxford.

Swindon had 0.12 job hunters per position with Nationwide being the main employer.

Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Belfast were found to be the worst cities to find work with job seekers per vacancy of 2.79, 2.28 and 2.14 respectively, according to employment portal Adzuna.

Business-led marketing initiative Switch on to Swindon (SOTS has compiled its own figures showing that 82% of graduates working in the borough are in highly skilled occupations and the town has the sixth highest employment rate among urban areas nationally.

Gavin Calthrop, head of place marketing, said: “There is no doubt that Swindon is a great place to work and find a job.

"We have a diverse economy offering a wide range of opportunities for people in some of the most respected companies in the world. 

"Swindon is also home to a vibrant small to medium-size business sector and is an excellent place to start a business.

"With the sixth highest employment rate nationally among urban areas along with above average earnings, the strength of Swindon’s job market is a key selling point as part of the Switch on to Swindon campaign.”

Nationwide leads the companies hiring in Swindon, according to Adzuna.

The world’s largest building society was followed by the NHS, Pizza Hut, Thames Water and Zurich in the job search engine’s ‘live’ stats yesterday.

Jackie Kerr, who runs a Highworth-based recruitment service, said: “I have been in recruitment for 25 years in Swindon and have seen peaks and troughs.

"Over the last 10 months there has been a boom in employment with new companies opening up and there has been an eighty per cent rise in new positions in companies, rather than just refill.

"Swindon is an industrial town with the backdrop of the railways and its growth has reflected that heritage. We’re really pleased to hear the news.”

The average salary in Swindon was £30,846, with the town offering 4,355 jobs out of 1,250,683 positions nationally, according to the website. The highest paying job was listed as a Java developer, earning an average of £53,712, with 41 positions available as of yesterday.

Alex Broad, of Swindon Chamber of Commerce, said: “I personally have never had a problem finding a job in Swindon.

“It is a very vibrant town with a diverse range of businesses and some successful household names such as Nationwide, Intel, Honda and the Mini Plant.

"There is a blend with the small and medium enterprises and lots of new businesses looking for staff to help them grow.

“It is also an attractive location with the M4 corridor and the transport links to the north and south.”

Adzuna, which is used by more than 10 million people a month, published the national employment market report earlier this month after analyzing job adverts from more than 1,000 online sources.