• Swindon & Wiltshire Events
• Monday January 22 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Federation of Small Businesses flies the flag for local businesses on Swindon Day

Members of the Federation of Small Businesses met today (Monday) to mark Swindon Day – a day to celebrate everything great about the town.

In introducing themselves and their businesses, networkers were invited to share something they loved about Swindon. The town’s heritage buildings, green spaces and the surrounding countryside, and the people that make up the community were among the most-cited elements.

January 22 is the anniversary of the signing of a charter by Queen Victoria in 1900 that united Old Town and the new town that had been established around the railway works.

The idea of Swindon Day was conceived by the FSB’s Somerset & Wiltshire branch in 2021. After running a social media campaign around Wiltshire Day on June 5, members asked why Swindon didn’t have its own celebratory day – and spotting a gap in the market went ahead and organised one.

Members also took the chance to unfurl the as-yet-unadopted Swindon flag, designed by history buff Torin Clements.

Simpler and more striking in its design than the official town crest, the flag is inspired by Wiltshire’s county flag, which features a Great Bustard – a wild bird unique in the UK to Wiltshire – against a green and white striped background.

The Swindon flag features a steam locomotive wheel set in front of blue and white stripes – blue remembers the production of the Supermarine Spitfire during World War II, while blue and white is the colour of the NHS, and remembers the GWR medical fund that inspired it.

Each chevron represents a hill within the borough: Highworth, Barbury, Liddington, and Swindon.

Torin is keen to have his design adopted as Swindon’s official flag and would like to speak to Swindon businesses that would like to display the emblem outside their premises.

The networking meeting was held at 3 Newbridge Square, which offers serviced office space over eight floors, including private offices, co-working spaces and meeting rooms for smaller businesses in its FigFlex facility on the lower floors.

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