When a new shopping centre was built to ‘put a heart into Swindon’ more than 50 years ago, it seemed fitting to name it after the famous railway engineer who put the town on the map – Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Half a century on, the landmark building in the centre of the Witlshire town looks to have run out of steam.
Almost half of the stores and units inside The Brunel Centre have closed and those that remain struggle to attract shoppers as they increasingly switch to online purchases and out-of-town retail parks.
The next-door multi-storey car park is virtually empty and appears run-down and unmanned.
Despite the frontages of several former showpiece Brunel Centre stores like House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer, which closed in 2021 and 2023 respectively, being emblazoned with trendy-looking ‘#The Best of Swindon’ signage, the site is now more notable for having three Greggs outlets within a 100-metre radius.
One of the Greggs premises is so popular it has a 40-seat eating area and all three footsteps had lengthy queues for most of the day.
As one local, 69-year-old Jeff Barton put it: ‘Swindon has become Greggs Central now. The town is fast filling up with their rubbish bakeries. I wouldn’t go near them.’
A retired Swindon council groundsman, Mr Barton remembered fondly his days spent working to enhance the town’s sense of civic pride.
When a new shopping centre was built to ‘put a heart into Swindon’ more than 50 years ago, it seemed fitting to name it after the famous railway engineer who put the town on the map – Isambard Kingdom Brunel – but half of the stores inside have now closed
The Brunel Centre is now more notable for having three Greggs outlets within a 100-metre radius
Retired Swindon council groundsman Jeff Barton, 69, and his wife Denise Barton outside the now boarded up Poundland Plus. Mrs Barton said: ‘I hate to say it, but I think it’s all over for Swindon. The place we knew and loved has gone and it’s not coming back…Even the pound shops are leaving Swindon now. That tells you everything about how the town is dying’
He said: ‘One of my responsibilities was to make the town centre look nice. There were plants and flowers everywhere back in my day – we had 84 hanging baskets full of them around The Brunel Centre and it looked wonderful.
‘You go there now and everything’s closing and it looks a mess outside. It is so sad.’
His wife, Denise, 68, now also retired from her job working in admin, agreed. She said: ‘It used to be such a pleasure coming into town, but nowadays we avoid it when we can because it’s so depressing.
‘I hate to say it, but I think it’s all over for Swindon. The place we knew and loved has gone and it’s not coming back.
‘Shopping habits have changed because of the internet and that’s partly to blame, but how can people buy clothes without trying them on first and having a feel of the fabric?
‘All we’ll have left in town soon will be streets full of coffee shops – mostly Greggs by the look of things.’
With many areas of Swindon experiencing high levels of poverty – 10 per cent of its neighbourhoods are among the worst in England and it ranks 157th out of 326 local authorities in the Index of Multiple Deprivation – it was no surprise when pound shops moved into the town centre. But today, two of the three that set up have recently closed, prompting Mrs Barton to say: ‘Even the pound shops are leaving Swindon now. That tells you everything about how the town is dying.’
When Brunel and his plans for the Great Western Railway arrived in 1843, Swindon was little more than a sleepy market town on top of a hill. Brunel identified it as a site for GWR’s locomotive repair and maintenance works because of its strategic location between London and Bristol, it quickly grew into a thriving railway hub that would become one of the largest railway engineering complexes in the world at its peak.
Several former showpiece Brunel Centre stores like House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer , which closed in 2021 and 2023 respectively, are emblazoned with the slogan ‘#The Best of Swindon’
The front door of the Swindon’s market, which has been closed for eight years, is covered in graffiti
Attempts to revive Swindon’s Tented Market appear to have ground to a halt with the building lying empty
One of the town’s main shopping streets is almost completely deserted as shoppers either buy online or flock to out-of-town shopping centres
An empty rental unit advertises itself as a ‘great space’ to let
Even the town’s Poundland’s store on the corner of Regent Street and Havelock Square shut last month, with the company unable to agree on lease terms to keep them trading at the site
Architect Douglas Stephen, who designed The Brunel Centre, was an admirer of Brunel and included many railway-themed features in his creation, including a roof built to echo Paddington Station.
But in recent years, shoppers have abandoned the once-thriving centre and the streets around it are near-deserted. A market hall next door ceased trading eight years ago and many adjacent shops are boarded up.
James Steward, who runs a jewellery and watch-making shop set up by his father next to the now-derelict market hall, says Swindon’s decline was ‘accelerated’ by the Covid lockdown.
Mr Steward, 49, said: ‘People’s shopping habits changed dramatically during the pandemic and many of them haven’t really come back.
‘There are other factors too and I think the decline here is part of a global trend that we are seeing all over the world.
‘A lot of people work from home now. Their offices in town have since closed so there’s no reason for them to come here any more.
‘They used to pop in at lunchtime and buy a watch or jewellery but I guess they’re buying it online now, if at all. As a result, shops here are closing all the time.
‘I’ve noticed a lot of my older, more affluent customers are now going to Bath or Cirencester and making a day of it, rather than coming here.
Shoppers walk past one of the three Greggs in the city centre
Business owner James Steward, 49, who runs a jewellery and watch-making shop set up by his father next to the now-derelict market hall, says Swindon’s decline was ‘accelerated’ by the Covid lockdown
A slogan promoting Swindon promises ‘Good things happen here. The heart of Swindon’
Retired NHS nurse Susan O’Neill, 76, and friend Martin Collison, 82, a retired project manager. Mr Collison said: ‘We need to find a way of bringing the vibrancy back to Swindon so people want to come into town again’
The inside of The Brunel Centre is almost abandoned with no footfall at 11am on a Wednesday morning
‘I’m proud to be a Swindonian and I hate talking the town down, but in all honesty, it’s difficult to defend it nowadays.
‘If I’ve got a day off now, I won’t come here either. I’ll get the family in the car and we’ll have a day out somewhere else instead.
‘The council need to think harder about how to get people back into Swindon. I’d start by abolishing, or at least significantly reducing, car park charges. They’ve gone through the roof, and it puts people off coming because they can be a tenner down before they’ve even parked up.
‘And they need to work with the police to crack down on the muggers and gangs who gather here at night so people feel safe in Swindon again.’
Finance worker Ana Banca, 51, said she has ‘had enough’ of living in Swindon and wants to move.
‘It’s not safe walking around the town centre, especially at night. There’s no way I’d be in the town centre in the evenings now. There have been loads of stabbings and robberies in the past year or two, and drugs are a massive problem.
‘And during the day, it just feels dead. The decent shops have closed down and it’s all Greggs and coffee shops.
‘The town feels dirty and very sad.’
A slogan on the side of the market promises ‘hundreds of bargains under one roof’ but the premises remain closed
A rainbow-coloured ‘selfie spot’ in Swindon city centre
The Brunel Centre shopping centre is half-empty with rental units struggling to be filled and only a handful of shoppers
Yet another retail premises lies empty leaving the city centre feeling like a ghost town
Two shoppers take a seat in Swindon town centre
Retired fire and rescue service chaplain the Rev John Maxwell, 79, blames ever-rising rents and business rates for Swindon’s economic decline. He said ‘The only brand that seems to be doing well is Greggs. Personally, I can’t stand their food or coffee, but many people around here must like what they’re doing because they’ve got three shops here and they’re always busy’
A sign on the market says ‘Got a business idea? Then start it here?’ but the market has long been shuttered
Various signs on the sides of buildings proclaim buzzwords like ‘Ambition’ and ‘#TheBestofSwindon’ but much of the area is empty
In The Brunel Centre itself, we find retired NHS nurse Susan O’Neill, 76, who remembers the site’s heyday with pride.
‘I used to love coming here,’ she said. ‘The place was buzzing with people and there were some marvellous shops. But you look around now and half the shops have closed down and the other half are empty.
‘It saddens me to say it but I think the town centre as we know it is finished.
‘Not just here, mind – it’s the same everywhere.
‘I think it’s time to reinvent town centres and do things differently. For Swindon, I’d love to see the town centre become a hub for the arts. We could accept that town centre shopping has had its day and replace retail with theatres, art galleries, music events and lovely places to eat and meet people.’
Her friend, Martin Collison, 82 and a retired project manager, said: ‘I agree with her. We need to find a way of bringing the vibrancy back to Swindon so people want to come into town again.’
Retired fire and rescue service chaplain the Rev John Maxwell, 79, blames ever-rising rents and business rates for Swindon’s economic decline, saying: ‘It’s no wonder all the shops are closing down – they just can’t afford to be here any longer.
‘The only brand that seems to be doing well is Greggs. Personally, I can’t stand their food or coffee, but many people around here must like what they’re doing because they’ve got three shops here and they’re always busy.’
