FOR years Swindon has been the butt of jokes most recently in BBC's The Office, when the South-West branch of Wernham Hogg paper suppliers was moved to Slough.

"How much damage would an atomic bomb do to Swindon?" "About £15 worth" was just one of the less-than-flattering remarks thrown our way.

Is it our name? Is it the uninspiring town centre? Why do people laugh so? After all, in the mid-1990s and onwards, we were one of the country's top towns, economically speaking.

However, those smarmy capital types from Fancy-Dan London may be about to take a fall. There are signs that a regional shift is in evidence but can we in Swindon take advantage?

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors constantly monitors the vicissitudes of the property market, and its most recent study has thrown up worrying news for London.

The RICS believes regional cities may soon challenge London as a commercial centre the report states: "These centres are slowly becoming better bases for high-value services. Witness the transformation of large areas of Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and Birming-ham."

As evidence, the economic brief points to the dotcom boom and bust and the dispropor-tionate effect it had on London and the South East.

Between 1996 and 2000 technology and media growth rose 52 per cent compared to seven per cent for all sectors.

Since 2001 the same sector has declined four per cent while all other businesses have risen one per cent creating a gap in which the rental property market has suffered significant rental decline since 2001. But regional office markets and economies have fared much better.

So is this a one-off blip or an indicator of things to come? And can Swindon gain?

Swindon has traditionally been a sub-regional centre, rather than a regional centre, but there are signs that the town could be on the edge of a renaissance.

Rosemary Wells, director of business development at the New Swindon Company said: "One of the biggest advantages Swindon has is its superb location.

"And the question is really the aspiration to achieve. Who would have said 10 years ago Birmingham would have the position it has now?

"We can have aspirations to compete successfully with other locations why not Bristol? Why not Bath?

"There is a lot of office stock coming out of use being turned into flats, and the new offices to be built will be state-of-the-art and will reflect current needs.

"Swindon has a history of being good at technology, engineering and innovation, and we can continue that."

Mrs Wells points to the arrival of the National Trust headquarters as proof that Swindon is attracting national organisations.

The success of the research councils in North Star has shown that the town can support national bodies, and a regenerated town centre as has been promised by the New Swindon Company could only increase the allure for companies seeking to relocate.