New enterprise zones may bring 30,000 jobs

The Government confirmed yesterday that it had approved plans for the Aire Valley to the south-east of Leeds and sites linked to advanced manufacturing in South Yorkshire as two enterprise zones.

It is projected that the Aire Valley site alone may generate £550m and more than 9,500 new jobs by 2025. The Sheffield zone – which takes in three sites around the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Waverley and Sheffield Business Park, manufacturing land at Markham Vale and an area in the Dearne Valley – is expected to create up to 20,000 jobs and attract 250 new advanced manufacturing and technology-based businesses.

The zones are two of four that were approved by the Government yesterday, and David Cameron said they would help entrepreneurs outside of London drive the economy forward.

“I am determined that we should drive growth in every town, city and community in the country,” the Prime Minister said.

The zones will offer companies business rate discounts, tax breaks, planning short cuts and access to super-fast broadband while allowing any increase in business rates over 25 years in these areas to stay within the local economy.

The sites were initially chosen by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) for both Leeds and Sheffield city regions and submitted to Government for approval. Ten more enterprise zones will be chosen by Ministers later this year.