Wiltshire Council has been shortlisted for a regional award, recognising the role it plays in the economic development of the county.

The Insider Property Awards South West 2015 Local Authority of The Year category is designed to pay tribute to public sector organisations that are “truly open for business”, recognising the role the councils play in driving economic growth through improvements to infrastructure.

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony at the Bristol Marriott City Centre Hotel on October 8.

Fleur de Rhe Philipe, Wiltshire Council cabinet member with responsibility for economic development, said: “This is great news, and recognises that Wiltshire is one of the best locations in the UK to do business.

"The county’s growing economy is creating new jobs and bringing more business to the area. It is a destination of choice for new businesses and a place where small and medium businesses can access the capital and support they need to expand.

“As an authority we work hard on many projects each year to continue to drive forward this growth, so this recognition is very welcome.”

Among the large scale projects the council is currently working on are the essential highways improvements on the A429 in Malmesbury that will support Dyson’s goal to double its research and development footprint and recruit up to 3,000 more engineers.

The authority nurtures new and growing small and micro businesses within rural communities through the Enterprise Network initiative.

It is working with partner organisation the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership, on innovative large scale projects such as the Digital Corsham development and the Porton Science Park.

Wiltshire was identified as being in the top five places nationally to do business in 2014 and the county was recently named as being among the top ten locations for rural businesses by the County Land and Business Association.