Government approves Birmingham Enterprise Zone
PLANS to designate part of Birmingham city centre as an Enterprise Zone have been approved by the Government.
In an announcement today, the Department of Business Innovation and Skills said the move could lead to 40,000 new jobs being created.
Jerry Blackett, chief executive of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group, welcomed the move.
“This is all about accelerating growth and the city centre offers us the best chance of achieving growth quickly. The (Enterprise Zone) process is all about speed and the beauty of the city centre location is that a lot of infrastructure is already in place and we can begin to attract business straight away,” he said.
The proposal approved today for the Birmingham and Solihull Zone comprises seven clusters of sites around the Eastside area spread over 68 hectares.
The business case for the zone suggests it expects to create 40,000 new jobs in business and financial services, digital media, ICT and the creative industries including 4,000 new private sector jobs by 2015.
A radical approach will see the planning process streamlined through an innovative Local Development Order. The Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership estimates the zone, once fully developed, will add £2.8bn to the economy in GVA each year.
The zone is also future-proofed in that it will be able to harness the opportunities presented by the proposed High Speed 2 rail link, which if built, will cut journey times to London to 49 minutes.
In addition to the zone itself, the LEP wants to create an ‘Enterprise Belt’, covering a significant part of the remainder of the body’s patch. However, this does not form part of today’s decision.
The zone will benefit from discounts on business rates, new superfast broadband, lower levels of planning control and the potential to use enhanced capital allowances.
Sara Fowler, senior partner for Ernst & Young in the Midlands, said: “This new enterprise zone will provide the city centre with the opportunity to accelerate growth at a time when the local economy is showing signs of strain.
“The zone will attract much needed inward investment and generate new jobs in the heart of the city, helping to reduce unemployment and spark growth.”
The Government will announce the location of a further 10 Enterprise Zones – including one for the Black Country – shortly.
Prime Minister David Cameron said today: “I am determined that we should drive growth in every town, city and community in the country. For too long our economy has been dependent on just one corner of the country and too few industries.
“But it won’t be Ministers in Whitehall who can drive this growth; it will be those with the great business idea who are ready to start up, the entrepreneurs who want to grow their company, the businesses looking to expand into new markets.
“That is why we are getting behind them, cutting business taxes, freeing them from red tape, easing planning restrictions and rolling out Enterprise Zones to spark business growth around the country.”
