Press release

Chancellor delivers major boost to North East

The Chancellor of the Exchequer today announced a major extension to the North East regional enterprise zone.

From:
HM Treasury and The Rt Hon George Osborne
Published
29 August 2012
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Chancellor of the Exchequer today announced a major extension to the North East regional enterprise zone.

Following the success of the sites already established, the Government will extend enterprise zone tax incentives to a new 40-hectare site in the North East.

George Osborne made the announcement on a visit to Vantec Europe’s £22.5 million, 421,000 sq ft new distribution centre located on an enterprise zone site near Sunderland.

The Chancellor said:

When I announced the decision to create the North East enterprise zone I said that if it was a success, I would consider the case for expanding it.

What I’ve seen with my own eyes today at Vantec shows that it is a success. I can confirm that the Government will offer new tax breaks for an additional 40 hectare site.

This is a further commitment by this Government to enterprise in the North East, helping the private sector create sustainable jobs and lasting industry, replacing the unsustainable public borrowing of the past.

The news comes the day after the Chancellor marked the start of the £1.4 billion, 4,000-job Cygnus gas project.

He was visiting a major Hartlepool steel fabrication plant, Heerema, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs as part of the part of the deal, which was only made possible by the Government’s announcement of a new field allowance aimed at shallow-water gas fields.

Notes for Editors

  1. The North East enterprise zone is one of 24 located across England.

  2. With two existing sites of 117 hectares in total, the North East zone offers foregone business rates and simplified planning rules as incentive to attract investment.

  3. The Treasury has confirmed that the zone will be extended to another 40 hectare site, providing local agreement provided a local agreement can be reached on the existing site in the next 12 months.

  4. Vantec Europe is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, and specialises in freight forwarding and logistics.

Published 29 August 2012