This week, some of my colleagues at the council have taken part in a conference promoting our great town to businesses and investors from across the country.

The aim of this conference was to showcase Swindon and the potential of its town centre to those who might want to invest into our high street and regeneration projects.

Companies such as Hilton and Wilmott Dixon were in attendance, giving us a great opportunity to promote ourselves to those who might be on the lookout for their next destination.

Our very own councillor Gary Sumner, the cabinet member for strategic infrastructure, transport and planning presented on the cultural and heritage driven transformation of the town.

He focused on what Swindon is famous for, its links to BMW, Zurich and Nationwide, as well as what the future can look like with big companies like Amazon investing in the town along with big projects that are already underway to help regenerate the town centre.

We have almost £1.5 billion planned for schemes such as the Health Hydro regeneration, which recently went out to tender, the Fleming Way Bus Boulevard and the new Cultural Quarter which will include a new, bigger Wyvern Theatre.

Officers that spoke at the conference focused on where the opportunities are in the town, with the main project being the Cultural Quarter, and how investors can get involved, whether that’s to help build residential in the area or help create the bigger plans such as the art pavilion or media centre.

To help promote our railway heritage, we have tasked design partners HemingwayDesign and CTConsults with creating a set of shared values, goals and a personality for the Railway Village and Heritage Action Zone to show what our history stands for and how it will help promote Swindon as an attractive place to live, work, visit and invest in.

Wayne Hemingway of HemingwayDesign also spoke at the conference, discussing why Swindon has a big opportunity to improve and what its future could look like as well as why he’s taken a positive view after he published an infamous article about the town over a decade ago.

There’s a lot to look forward to in the future of Swindon’s town centre, and this is just the start of us trying to get that investment.

While the town centre isn’t where we want it to be at the moment, rest assured that we are trying everything we can to get that investment and create the vibrant, busy destination everyone wants it to be.