Hereford Enterprise Zone, Rotherwas Herefordshire – what’s the offer
Rotherwas Enterprise Zone – in Hereford led by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership proposes:
- Size: three sites covering 61.5 hectares;
- Sector focus: defence, advanced engineering, green technologies and food processing;
- Tax break: Save business £4 million in forgone business rates;
- Job creation: Local Enterprise Partnership estimates at least 55 businesses and 1,800 jobs will be created by 2015;
- Planning: Simplified regime to provide certainty for business wanting to build;
- Broadband: Wireless service 20MB line speeds but can deliver 100MB speeds. A fibre optic option available through the Hereford BDUK Superfast Broadband project (up to 100MB) by 2013;
- Investment: Expecting at least £90m from the private sector by 2015.
Science Vale UK Oxford Enterprise Zone shows the way forward for Herefords Rotherwas Enterprise Zone
Already globally competitive, Science Vale UK, the county’s science and technology heart, is larger than that of Cambridge and, indeed, larger even than that of MIT in the USA. This concentration is just part of the R&D on offer here in Oxfordshire. Indeed, we have the largest concentration of research and development activity in Western Europe. In total the Science Vale area contains 13% of all research and development employment in the south east (4% nationally).
As part of Science Vale UK, the Harwell Oxford Campus is being developed as a world-class centre for science, innovation and enterprise. Home to the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, the Medical Research Council and the European Space Agency Space Centre, Harwell has more than 4,500 people working in over 140 organisations comprising large-scale research councils, high technology companies and a range of rapidly growing start-ups.
The opening of the European Space Agency’s UK base at Harwell sparked the opportunity for the UK to develop a global space hub – the £40m International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) will create 700 new jobs and lever in £11.5m of private sector investment.
Elsewhere within Science Vale UK, Culham is home to the UK’s fusion research programme – the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) – as well as the world’s largest fusion experimental facility – the Joint European Torus (JET). While Milton Park, one of Europe’s largest multi-use business parks, is home to more than 160 companies that form one of the UK’s foremost science communities. The 6,500 people on the site work for companies of all sizes and ambitions, ranging from start-ups to world-class plcs with particular strengths in the biotech and ICT sectors.
The science and innovation based R&D facilities clustered within Science Vale UK form the basis of a National Centre of Excellence. This cluster is at the heart of a network that extends across the UK and we will work with the Technology Strategy Board to provide national leadership in the development of this sector.
Find out more about Science Vale UK.
Hereford Enterprise Zone jobs news
With a target of in excess of 6,ooo new jobs to be created, Hereford Enterprise Zone is creating interest with companies not only from across the country but from Australia, China, the Middle East and in particular North America.
The non-displacement rule prohibits the re-location of businesses in an area and this extends to potential businesses closures in other parts of the country to open a business on an Enterprise Park. This does mean that businesses local to an Enterprise Zone such as Rotherwas and the Hereford Enterprise Zone may find themselves up against imported competition benefiting from improved broadband, top quality infrastructure and £250,000 worth of benefits through rates.
The reality is though that with new business comes improved standards of living and job opportunities.
Hereford Enterprise Zone Announced
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a second wave of Enterprise Zones designed to kick-start Britain’s economy.
External site: Department for Communities and Local Government – Enterprise Zones
External site: Transcript of the PM’s speech in Daresbury
Mr Cameron said the sites, which aim to boost local growth and create over 30,000 new jobs by 2015, would be “trailblazers” for prosperity throughout the country.
The second wave of Enterprise Zone will be located in:
- Humber Estuary Renewable Energy Super Cluster;
- Daresbury Science Campus in Warrington;
- Newquay AeroHub in Cornwall;
- The Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus Airfield in Gosport;
- MIRA Technology Park in Hinckley Leicestershire;
- Rotherwas Enterprise Zone in Hereford;
- Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent and Enterprise West Essex in Harlow;
- Science Vale UK in Oxfordshire;
- Northampton Waterside;
- Alconbury Airfield, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire; and
- Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Lowestoft in Suffolk.
The Government named the first 11 zones in the Spring, in cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle.
This brings the total to 22 across the country. The Zones will attract hundreds of new start up firms, with simplified planning rules, super-fast broadband and over £150 million tax breaks for new businesses over the next 4 years.
The PM said:
“We are determined to do everything we can to make Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business.
“Enterprise zones are a major step towards delivering this, cutting business taxes, easing planning restrictions and giving business the tools they need to invest and expand.
“These new enterprise zones will be trailblazers for growth, jobs and prosperity throughout the country.”
Alongside the new Zones, the Government is also announcing today that it will make enhanced capital allowances available for plant and machinery investment to a limited number of Enterprise Zones in Assisted Areas, including the Tees Valley and North East.
With effect from 2012, companies setting up in these areas will be eligible to claim enhanced first year allowances for plant and machinery, giving them an upfront cash flow benefit.
The introduction of Enterprise Zones is just one of over 100 reforms being taken forward as part of the Government’s Plan for Growth, announced in the Chancellor’s Budget 2011, to create the conditions for strong, sustainable and balanced growth.
Hereford Enterprise Zone 