11 new Enterprise Zones to accelerate local growth
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a second wave of Enterprise Zones designed to kick-start Britain's economy.
Mr Cameron said the Enterprise Zones, which aim to boost local growth and create over 30,000 new jobs by 2015, would be “trailblazers” for prosperity throughout the country.
Second wave of Enterprize Zones
The Zones will be located in:
- Humber Estuary Renewable Energy Super Cluster;
- Daresbury Science Campus in Warrington;
- Newquay AeroHub in Cornwall;
- The Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus Airfield in Gosport;
- MIRA Technology Park in Hinckley Leicestershire;
- Rotherwas Enterprise Zone in Hereford;
- Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent and Enterprise West Essex in Harlow;
- Science Vale UK in Oxfordshire;
- Northampton Waterside;
- Alconbury Airfield, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire; and
- Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Lowestoft in Suffolk.
The Government named the first 11 zones in the Spring, in cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle.
This brings the total to 22 across the country. The Enterprise Zones will attract hundreds of new start up firms, with simplified planning rules, super-fast broadband and over £150 million tax breaks for new businesses over the next 4 years.
The PM said:
We are determined to do everything we can to make Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business.
Enterprise zones are a major step towards delivering this, cutting business taxes, easing planning restrictions and giving business the tools they need to invest and expand.
These new enterprise zones will be trailblazers for growth, jobs and prosperity throughout the country.
Plant and machinery investment
Alongside the new Zones, the Government is also announcing today that it will make enhanced capital allowances available for plant and machinery investment to a limited number of Enterprise Zones in Assisted Areas, including the Tees Valley and North East.
With effect from 2012, companies setting up in these areas will be eligible to claim enhanced first year allowances for plant and machinery, giving them an upfront cash flow benefit.
The introduction of Enterprise Zones is just one of over 100 reforms being taken forward as part of the Government’s Plan for Growth, announced in the Chancellor’s Budget 2011, to create the conditions for strong, sustainable and balanced growth.
External site: Department for Communities and Local Government - Enterprise Zones
External site: Transcript of the PM’s speech in Daresbury