Black Country enterprise zone allowances ‘welcome boost’, says LEP

Date added: 07 December 2011

Tax relief on multi-million pound investments will be available to Black Country companies after the area's enterprise zone was selected by government to receive capital allowances.

Business leaders at the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, which submitted the bid for the enterprise zone, have welcomed the announcement, which was made in the autumn statement from the chancellor.

The Black Country, Humber, Liverpool, North Eastern, Sheffield, and Tees Valley Enterprise Zones were all singled out to receive 100 per cent capital allowances due to their strong focus on high value manufacturing.

The capital allowances will enable companies on the enterprise zone to receive tax relief for plant and machinery investment incurred between April 2012 and March 2017. The Black Country enterprise zone will have capital allowances of up to £300 million over the three sites involved in the zone, with a threshold of £100 million allocated to each site.

"This is an additional and welcome boost to the enterprise zone which will be launched next year,” said Stewart Towie, chair of the Black Country LEP. "I am sure tax relief of this nature in addition to discounts on business rates, new superfast broadband and increased planning certainty will provide great benefits for firms involved in the enterprise zone."

All enterprise zones across the country will also benefit from discounts on business rates, new superfast broadband and increased planning certainty.

The Department for Communities and Local Government approved the location of the Black Country Enterprise Zone back in August and the Black Country zone is one of 21 planned for the country.

The proposal for the Black Country zone comprises a portfolio of sites situated in Darlaston and i54 - Wolverhampton North, spread over 120 hectares.

The zone expects to create almost 4,000 net new jobs by 2015 in advanced manufacturing and environmental technologies including aerospace, automotive and engineering.

The i54 site is by far the most significant greenfield business site in the sub-region and is widely recognised to be exceptionally attractive for the sectors the Black Country is targeting for growth in high quality employment.
 
The cluster of sites adjacent to i54 Wolverhampton North comprises the remaining development land and vacant buildings in the Wolverhampton Business Park, the surplus HS Marston land, Lupus and the Gateway. Overall, the area provides the potential to generate several thousand different types of skilled and semi-skilled jobs in key high technology sectors supplying the high end manufacturing companies being sought for i54.

Darlaston is a cluster of sites either side of the M6, providing some 40 hectares of net developable land. The development sites provide a supply chain locality for just in time delivery of critical but engineering intensive components for the advanced engineering sector.