The Government is putting an extra £100 million on the table so enterprise zones can complete key infrastructure projects and successfully compete for the new businesses that will create thousands of local jobs across the country.
Last week the Prime Minister reinforced his commitment to supporting businesses and ensuring that Britain can continue to attract investment and remain competitive on a world stage. This cash injection into the zones will support that, ensuring areas across the country can create the right conditions for investment.
The money will fund projects such as road building and land clearance that will unlock areas previously idle, turning them into prime economic sites that will bring home new businesses and help the local economies grow.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: “Enterprise zones are at the centre of our plans to back business, help local economies grow stronger and give the UK that competitive edge.
“The zones are showing progress with over 180 businesses, half a billion pounds of private sector investment and nearly 4,000 jobs, and many more in the pipeline.
“We want to help them grow further and faster and this extra £100 million investment will ensure they have the infrastructure in place to successfully attract even more businesses and create many more local jobs.”
The Nottingham Enterprise Zone is situated in the heart of Nottingham, a UK core city and designated science city. It is comprised of part of the Alliance Boots site in Beeston and three other smaller sites – the Beeston Business Park, the Nottingham Science Park and the MediPark site (at Queens Medical Centre) which together make up 286 acres (116 hectares).
The Alliance Boots site in total consists of 279 acres (113 hectares) and the Group’s vision is to create a UK centre for innovation in health beauty and wellness in Nottingham. The site will offer a cost effective, high quality, centrally located site for health and wellness businesses such as business incubators, start-ups and small and medium enterprises. As well as existing buildings suitable for redevelopment, the site also includes around 100 acres (40 hectares) of brownfield land suitable for development.
All the four sites in the Nottingham Enterprise Zone are close to internationally significant centres of excellence in research and development at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University and a major teaching hospital, the Queens Medical Centre. Excellence in research and innovation in Nottingham has led to scientific breakthroughs such as MRI scanning, ibuprofen and the discovery of silicone. Nottingham has the only NHS trust and university partnership in the country to have three successful bids for Biomedical Research Units in hearing, digestive diseases and respiratory medicine.
Nottingham has one of the UK’s leading clusters in healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals and is already home to international companies including Alliance Boots, Reckitt Benckiser, Siemens, Changan Automotive, Chinook Sciences and many more.
To find our more about the Nottingham Enterprise Zone, contact Invest in Nottingham by telephone on 44 (0)115 8764469 or email lorraine@investinnottingham.co.uk
