It was great to visit the new premises of Grant UK here in Swindon on Friday, along with Justin Tomlinson MP. Based in Frankland Road, Blagrove, this business has recently relocated from Devizes to Swindon.
Grant UK was established in 1996 and distributes sustainable home heating products throughout Great Britain. Their Sales, Marketing, Technical, Training, and Distribution Teams have always been based in Wiltshire, first operating in Salisbury, and then moving to larger premises in Devizes where the Head Office has been based since 2003.
In January 2022, having outgrown the Devizes site, Grant UK acquired new premises on Frankland Road, a substantially larger base that will facilitate the Company’s future growth in the renewable heating market.
It is great to see a local business expand and chose Swindon as a destination, and for the regeneration of a former disused site to take place as part of this process.
Following my visit to Grant UK, I attended the Swindon Bus Summit on behalf of local residents who have contacted me about bus services in the town. It is vital that we have a sustainable and inclusive transport network here in Swindon, which works for everyone and enables us to have less reliance on cars.
I will continue to work closely with local residents, Swindon Borough Council, Stagecoach, and Swindon Bus Company, as we look at ways to improve our bus service and ways to help lower emissions across the region.
It was lovely to join the Swindon Malayalee Community on Saturday night for their Christmas and New Year Celebration at the Supermarine Sports and Social Club. This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with lots of music and dancing with a Kerala flavour, celebrating an Old New Year's Day on the Julian calendar.
I work closely with local businesses here in Swindon, and I am keen to do all I can to support them, particularly during this challenging time, following the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine, creating a huge burden on our country and economy. I am aware that one of the difficulties that many businesses are currently facing, here in Swindon and beyond, is as a result of burdensome energy contracts that ask for big upfront payments.
I raised this point in Parliament last week and asked what action the Government was taking to make sure that type of punitive contract can be ended so that businesses can operate on a much fairer basis.
I was glad to hear that the Minister of State for Energy and Climate has committed to action on reform, and the Chancellor has requested that this work is carried out with the utmost urgency.
You may have read in my previous columns, that back in January 2021, I began a Laptop Scheme here in Swindon. Local businesses SP Computers and Excalibur Communications joined forces with me and have taken in hundreds of donated devices since the scheme began, which have been refurbished and put back into use. Many local schools, children, and charities have benefited from donated laptops through this green scheme, and due to the rising cost of living and word of mouth, we are facing an increase in demand for devices.
I am calling on local residents and businesses who may have a laptop that is no longer required to donate these to the scheme so that we can continue to provide laptops to local children for homework, and local charities, as well as reducing landfill. If you can help, please get in touch by emailing [email protected] or ringing 01793 533393.
Finally, my charity of the week is Reading List Foundation, a national charity who have recently supported a local student here in Swindon.
Reading List Foundation helps Year 13 students from lower-income households to succeed at University, by awarding a £250 Scholarship to pay for textbooks.
This excellent charity is relatively new (set up in 2016), but has grown every year, and this summer will award their 1,000 Scholarship.
You can find out more about Reading List Foundation, and how you can support their work on the charity’s website here: https://www.readinglistfoundation.org/
