AROUND BRITAIN

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

“ WE HAVE BEEN DELIGHTED WITH THE PROFILE THAT ENTERPRISE ZONE STATUS HAS BROUGHT US. WE HAVE HAD MORE THAN 100 ENQUIRIES FROM ACROSS THE WORLD IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS AND CONSTRUCTION WORK IS UNDERWAY ON PREMISES FOR OUR FIRST TWO TENANTS”

RENEWABLE ENERGY

FOUR ENTERPRISE ZONES have a strong focus on offshore renewables, helping the UK to meet its target of increasing the contribution of renewable sources to meet its future energy needs. They include the New Anglia Enterprise Zone, which consists of six sites in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, all in close proximity to the ports, totalling 121ha of development-ready land. It aims to create up to 2,000 jobs and attract 80 businesses by 2015 and 13,500 jobs and 200 businesses over the next 25 years. Andy Wood, chairman of the New Anglia LEP, says: “The zone is critically important to our plans to create new jobs and attract new companies to Norfolk and Suffolk. “We have a long track record of expertise in energy, with dozens of major companies already based here. Our location on the east coast of England is at the heart of future developments in the energy sector, with more than £50bn of investment in offshore wind, nuclear and renewable energy planned.

34 | springboard | www.ukti.gov.uk “We have been delighted with the

profi le that Enterprise Zone status has brought us. We have had more than 100 enquiries from across the world in the past few months and construction work is underway on premises for our fi rst two tenants, Seajacks and Norfolk Capacitors Limited.”

Renewable energy is also the focus of the Humber Enterprise Zone, which aims to create an internationally important hub for the offshore wind sector by attracting large top-tier original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Lord Haskins, chairman of the Humber

LEP, says: “The Humber’s aim is to become the UK centre for renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. Enterprise Zones enable us to offer fi nancial incentives for investing in plant and machinery, discounted business rates and a much faster and simpler planning process. We have already had interest from major OEMs, including Siemens, which is planning a major investment on one of our sites.”

ENCOURAGING investment in advanced manufacturing is a key aim of Enterprise Zones in areas such as the West Midlands and Merseyside. The Black Country Enterprise Zone, for example, expects to create almost 4,000 new jobs by 2015 in advanced manufacturing and environmental technologies, including aerospace, automotive and engineering. Three anchor tenants have already been secured – Jaguar Land Rover, Moog and Eurofi ns. Tim Hair of the Black Country LEP says: “The Enterprise Zone will offer us a high-profi le opportunity to demonstrate, to UK and overseas markets, that the Black Country is very much a desirable location to start and grow a business.” Such sentiments are shared by Wirral

Waters Enterprise Zone, which combines two strategic, mixed-use developments on either side of the Mersey Estuary. It has already attracted substantial interest from China, with multi-million pound business Sam Wa Minerals appointed as a joint-venture partner for phase one of the Peel International Trade Centre, the fi rst signifi cant development within the zone. Sam Wa chairman Stella Shiu says:

“We are delighted to be a partner in this exciting development. Sam Wa has built strong links between China and the UK at the highest levels, and we are already seeing huge Chinese interest for coming to Wirral. This scheme will certainly put the area fi rmly on the map, not just for Chinese businesses and investors but for UK and European companies as well.”