AN AMBITIOUS new project to transform Swindon into a British Silicon Valley will see cutting-edge companies joining forces in the run-up to a massive summit that aims to attract thousands of people to the town.

The TechSwindon campaign hopes to bring more money and skilled workers to the area by shining a spotlight on the town’s tech industry and boosting links between the 2,800 businesses in Wiltshire that make digital products and the 25,000 firms that rely on them.

The team of eight that create building surveys using virtual reality at The Carto Group in the renovated Carriage Works’ Workshed helped launch the initiative by taking hundreds of impressed Switch On To Swindon guests at Nationwide’s HQ on a virtual tour of the town’s major upcoming developments.

CEO and founder Tim Hughes said: “Swindon needs to be known for something and find a new identity now that the manufacturing industry is slowing down a bit and there are plenty of great tech businesses here that we need to bring to the forefront.

“Could it be like Silicon Valley? That’s the dream, that’s the vision and we can only try our best to get to that.

“This is something that should have happened a long time ago and I commend the team behind it for working really hard to get this off the ground. I’ll be helping them with this and my company will be one of many joining the summit which will be a great event.”

Large Swindon-based Google Cloud Premier Partner Appsbroker’s technical director Geoff Newell said: “Swindon has suffered from brain drain as a lot of talented workers go to Bristol or London instead so anything we can do to make Swindon a digital destination that attracts talents and creates more opportunities is a good thing.”

Design agency Bravedog pitched the idea that became TechSwindon from its base in the Carriage Works’ renovated Workshed to the Switch On To Swindon team who were so impressed that they immediately started developing the project with Swindon Borough Council.

The Core’s director Kris Talikowski took part in the development process. He said: “Swindon is the third most-productive tech sector in the country but people don’t see what a fast-growing digital town it is and don’t approach it in the same way as Bristol, Bath or London, so we want to change that perception and encourage more people to live and work here.”

The year-long campaign will include a series of meet-ups between start-ups, small companies and big businesses before culminating in a two-day summit in spring 2020 with high-profile speakers at venues across the town.

Mr Talikowski added: “There’s a Web Summit in Lisbon that attracts 50,000 people each year and we are trying to create a microcosm of that with the same vibe in Swindon. Hopefully it will make people consider moving here because there are so many tech sector jobs available but employers are struggling to fill them. This is a really big and exciting project, everyone is bringing their energy and ideas together and we’ve got big partners and sponsors like Nationwide on board to help us sell it and shape what it will be.”

Switch On To Swindon chair Jenny Groves said: “Local businesses and new investors will benefit from the TechSwindon focus on attracting and developing additional talent alongside the Institute of Technology funding for Swindon College.”

Cabinet member for economy and place Coun Oliver Donachie said: :“Advances in digi-tech are essential to Swindon’s industrial growth in all of its key sectors. I am delighted we have launched the TechSwindon campaign which will keep Swindon at the forefront of this sector.”