Investment to create 180 jobs at Plymouth Freeport
Plymouth City Council is planning two new multi-million pound investments in the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport.
Plans are being developed for £15.6m of new investment across two Freeport sites owned by the council which will create 180 jobs.
The first is a £6.5m investment in a further phase of the Oceansgate development which will deliver 1,772 square metres of high quality lettable space for manufacturing and synthetic testing, creating 49 jobs.
The second is a £9.1m investment in industrial units at Langage Business Park which will deliver 5,615 square metres of flexible, high quality, sustainable workspace, split across four different units at Beaumont Way and create 138 jobs.
Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “One of our key priorities is driving green investment, jobs and skills. The Freeport does exactly that.
“This is an historic opportunity for Plymouth to fully orientate our economy into delivering more skilled jobs and become a core international trading location. It is my priority now to make sure it delivers, driving forward our plans to create at least 3,500 jobs across the city.
“We want the Freeport to not only be an economic boost for the city, but also be a hotbed of innovation. Whilst these plans are still in their infancy, it is clear that we are ambitious and driven to move forward at pace. The end result will be that we not only attract investment, and stimulate growth in green technologies to help our economy, but we put Plymouth on the map as a city where it makes financial sense to do business.”
Councillors at next week’s Growth and Infrastructure Overview and Scrutiny Committee will hear more about what has been achieved, as well as a high-level preview of what is planned over the next few months.
The Freeport in Plymouth and South Devon is a zone designated by the Government with certain allowances to boost the economy, such as lower taxes and customs e.g. VAT or duties. The Freeport aims to unlock millions of pounds worth of funding for the region, encouraging a resurgence of economic activity with businesses more inclined to open in the area. In turn, this will create thousands more jobs and bring vast investment into the local community.
Since the business case for the Freeport was given the green light in December, much has been achieved including:
