HIGH-FLYING businesswomen are settling in and around Swindon in their droves.

Coutts and Co, the banker of the royal, rich, successful and famous, analyses the home postcode of its clients to see where "high net worth" people live.

It has found that the SN postcode has 2,500 high-flying women, an increase of more than a third since 1999.

Top addresses are Oaksey, with 180 women, Ramsbury, which boasts 131, Great Somerford with 112, Chiseldon, with 91 high net worth women, and Marlborough, which has 104 top-notch residents.

These women are typically company owners or directors, with an income exceeding £75,000 and has property worth more than £250,000, says Coutts.

The average age is 45, and a high proportion have young families. And most have earned their wealth, says the bank, rather than marrying into money or benefiting from a large inheritance.

Coutts and Co's private banker Paul Crook said: "This increase in business women is particularly reflective of the changing profile of clients generally.

"Not only are our clients increasingly high-flying professionals or self made entrepreneurs, but the Bath office, which serves the Swindon area, now has a 27 per cent female client base which increased by 30 per cent in the first six months of 2004.

"In our experience, regardless of gender, the one thing these individuals are becoming increasingly aware of is the importance of getting professional advice on how to manage the wealth that they are creating.

"Often professionals and entrepreneurs in particular find very little time to manage their personal finances.

"However, with over a quarter of new businesses now being started by women and increasing numbers of women moving into senior management positions, Swindon provides a fantastic example of the increasing numbers of successful businesswomen throughout the UK."