Swindon is going for growth and has ambitions that set it apart from most other towns, business minister Michael Fallon said yesterday on a visit to Oak Furniture Land, the rapidly-expanding retail chain.
Touring Oak Furniture Land’s new 300,000 sq ft warehouse and head office at South Marston, the minister said the firm was the kind of business that was leading Swindon and the UK out of the downturn.
The firm, launched by Jason Bannister on eBay in 2006, will turn over £200m this year and now employs nearly 700 people. That expansion has made it one of the UK’s fast-growing companies.
Mr Fallon, a member of Business Secretary Vince Cable’s team at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, toured the new warehouse and met the management team to hear its success story.
He had earlier met Forward Swindon to discuss the economic development and regeneration body’s plans for the town. He said: “There is a partnership approach to expand Swindon. This is a town that is ambitious for growth.
“A lot of cities are not looking at expansion in this way but Swindon is a place that is going for growth.”
• See June’s Swindon Business News for more on Mr Fallon’s visit to Oak Furniture Land and an interview with founder Jason Bannister
