The Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP) has appointed Barry Dennington as its new chairman.
Barry, pictured, who has spent most of his career working in the advanced electronics industry, replaces Paul Johnson, who stepped down in March. He was appointed by the SWLEP board yesterday. 
Barry most recently worked as deputy chief executive at Plessey, the much-changed Swindon-based semiconductor firm. He resigned from Plessey – at one time among Swindon’s largest firms – in February and has set up his own business Shearwater which works helps develop non-executive directors.
During his career he has also worked for micro-chip giants NXP Semiconductors and Mitel and spent 15 years in California. He has strong links with Swindon and has lived in Wiltshire for many years.
His appointment comes at a critical time for SWLEP, which aims to make Swindon and Wiltshire one of the most innovative areas in the country.
It recently submitted its economic blueprint to the Government urging ministers to invest public money in Swindon and Wiltshire to secure growth as the area grapples with key issues such as further population growth in Swindon, major cuts to the Army and the changing face of its market towns as well as significant jobs losses in Swindon in manufacturing at Honda, warehousing at Triumph International and IT at Alcatel Lucent.
