Member Article

North West Enterprise Zones expansion welcomed creating thousands of jobs

Thousands of jobs are to be created within Enterprise Zones in Manchester and Blackpool.

Greater Manchester’s Enterprise Zone will grow by almost 50%, and Blackpool is to have an Enterprise Zone of its own according to the announcement in yesterday’s Budget.

The Manchester Enterprise Zone (EZ) will grow from 116 acres to 171 acres and in Blackpool the closed airport will be transformed into an Enterprise Zone potentially creating up to 3,000 jobs.

The expansion in Manchester, which will underpin the growth of the EZ in the short and medium term, includes:

• Medipark – four sites and 15,000m2 of net additional business space
• Airport City South – one single site, with the potential for more than 80,000m of new logistics development.
• Airport City North – a small extension to Airport City North of 0.1 hectare

The announcements have been welcomed by political and business leaders.

Practice senior partner at Deloitte in the North West, Richard Bell, said: “The creation of a new Enterprise Zone in Blackpool is illustrative of the scope of ambition behind the Northern Powerhouse.

“This heightened focus on Blackpool proves that a Super North initiative is not simply about elevating the status of our major northern cities, but realising the potential of the wider regions.

“Enterprise Zones have a strong track record of driving local employment prospects and R&D investment in their areas, as well as supporting both new and expanding businesses.

“Regarding the long-term vision for Blackpool and the North West, what is perhaps most significant is the strengthened connectivity this announcement will bring.

“The prospect of improving transport links and investing in the area’s business and education facilities is in line with the plans for a unified North, linking up some of its most exciting local economies to create the ‘powerhouse’ we’ve been promised.”

Leader of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese, said: “The Enterprise Zone is already proving a success in attracting new national and international investment in some key growth industries.

“Manchester Airport and Airport City are vital economic anchors for Greater Manchester, as is the University Hospital of South Manchester and Medipark.

“This expansion of the Enterprise Zone will support our wider growth strategy by helping attract further investment and supporting up to 3,000 new jobs.”

Divisional CEO Property at Manchester Airports Group (M.A.G), Lynda Shillaw, said: “We welcome today’s announcement at a time when the £800m Airport City Manchester development is really beginning to gain momentum.

“This extension will further reinforce the breadth of our offer which will help attract many more companies and in turn, jobs.

“Recently, we have announced speculative schemes at both Airport City’s Global Logistics site and within the Central Business District, reflecting the high level of current occupier demand.

“In addition, DHL has opened a major, 37,400 sq ft state of the art facility serving the wider region and planning permission has been granted for a 350 bed hotel.

“Over the next 10 years, Airport City Manchester will deliver 5 million sq ft of office, logistics, hotel, retail, and advanced manufacturing space and aims to provide 16,000 employment opportunities.”

CEO of Bluemantle, Mark Caldwell, said: “A recent occupier for MediPark and the world’s largest NGO healthcare provider, the Hospitals Corporation of America is creating over 200 jobs in the EZ.

“By increasing the space and opportunity for the creation of integrated healthcare solutions, the EZ extension will help attract health and care organisations to base themselves in Manchester, building on the successes already achieved on the Roundthorn Estate.

“This is good news that will help support the creation of an integrated health and care system for Manchester and Manchester’s European City of Science status.”

Chief executive of MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency, Tim Newns, said “It is clear that our Enterprise Zone is a huge draw for the region, attracting significant investment from priority markets such as the US, China and Europe.

“The announcement that the zone is expanding therefore comes as excellent news and will undoubtedly bolster our efforts to secure long term investment into Greater Manchester.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .