A major new survey is being launched which is aimed at getting to the heart of the impact of the global recession on businesses in Swindon.
The Swindon Strategic Economic Partnership (SSEP) is carrying out the survey, which is designed to gather both general industry trends and specific business examples or case studies.
The responses will give a valuable insight into the current experiences of businesses in Swindon, and will be used to influence decision-makers in the Council and other Government agencies.
Chair of the SSEP, Rikki Hunt, believes the survey will provide vital intelligence for the Swindon business community. He said: “I feel we are over-reliant on national and regional statistics, which gives us a limited perspective about how the global economic problems are really affecting Swindon. I want local business to help us understand what the trueSwindon story is, so we can respond with the right strategies, support and action.”
Cllr Phil Young, Swindon Borough Council member for Culture, Regeneration and Economic Development, said: “The challenge is pretty clear – how do we ride out the current economic storm and position ourselves to come out of it strongly? The SSEP has an important role to play in giving local businesses a voice so we all understand the pressures facing Swindon and can pull together a collective response.”
In Swindon the most obvious impacts of the global recession is in unemployment figures, which are amongst the highest in the South West region. However, there is little data providing up-to-date Swindon-specific information, and the SSEP want to use the survey to enhance this information and insight.
The confidential survey will take businesses no more than five minutes to complete using a simple check box format. It will be repeated on a monthly basis in order to track progress and monitor Swindon’s emergence from the recession. The survey will be ‘open’ for a fortnight, between the second Monday and third Friday of each month with results available on the SSEP website: www.ssep.org.uk
Businesses can take part in the survey by going to www.ssep.org.uk and following the link from the front page.
