Investment opportunities worth a total of £14.4billion will be ‘pitched’ to the world by Midlands Engine partners from today (Tuesday March 15) – with the help of D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership area businesses and local authorities.
The ‘UK Midlands Engine Pitchbook’ – containing details of 33 different property and investment opportunities from across the region – will be launched at 3.30pm in Cannes, France, at MIPIM 2016. The world’s leading annual property market event, attracting sellers and potential investors from all over the world, will run from today until Friday (March 18).
Businesses, local authorities and the 11 Local Enterprise Partnership which form part of the ‘Midlands Engine for Growth’ – the initiative for greater region-wide co-operation, launched by Business Secretary Sajid Javid MP in Birmingham in December (2015), to grow the Midlands’ economy – worked with UK Trade and Investment’s Regeneration Investment Organisation, to put the Pitchbook together. Representatives from the D2N2 area and wider Midlands are now at MIPIM, promoting the Pitchbook.
Sites linked to the D2N2 LEP area, featured in the Pitchbook, include:
- Nottingham and Derby Enterprise Zone, including Infinity Park, Derby – Including the four sites at Alliance Boots, Beeston Business Park, Nottingham Science Park and MediPark in Nottinghamshire; and Infinity Park in Derby (construction of which is pictured). Combined the sites represent more than 200 hectares offering a range of opportunities focused on advanced manufacturing, life sciences and hi-tech business growth. Businesses based in the Enterprise Zone receive benefits including business rate relief, enhanced capital allowances, simplified planning rules and enhanced support infrastructure. Potential investment worth of £700m-plus.
- Berry Hill, Mansfield – A 480 acre site on the boundary of Nottingham and Mansfield, adjacent to Vision West Nottinghamshire College’s main campus. It has planning consent for an urban extension to Berry Hill, and for mixed use development. Potential investment worth of £460m.
- East Midlands Airport Business Park – Whilst the EMA is located in Leicestershire it sits between, works with and is vitally important to the three cities of Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. The Airport’s Pegasus Business Park is part of an area designated the ‘East Midlands Enterprise Gateway’ and has the potential to become one of the key strategic economic locations in the Midlands. With a potential investment worth £200m-plus, the Airport is looking for investors to help promote the area for commercial office, logistics firms and hotel development.
- Drakelow Park, Walton-upon-Trent, South Derbyshire – One of the region’s largest brownfield sites, the location was previously home to three coal-fired power stations. The cleared site has development potential for housing, retail and leisure use, and an employment park. It will include a bridge over the River Trent and a bypass around the village of Walton; to ‘unlock’ part of the site. Potential investment worth of £500m-plus.
The Midlands partners’ pitch to investors from today will be that the region is already the largest economic area outside London, generating £222billion a year for the British economy; and with the Pitchbook opportunities, it could create an estimated 32,000 new homes and 178,000 jobs.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid – who is the ministerial champion for the region – said: “The Midlands is a region on the rise with a unique offer to investors. From Nestle to Rolls-Royce, it is home to some of the world’s biggest companies, and boasts a vast pool of talent in industries ranging from advanced manufacturing to food and drink.
“Foreign investment in the Midlands has more than doubled since 2011 and by embracing opportunities such as the MIPIM trade fair, we will capitalise on the Midlands’ natural strengths and make it an engine for growth.”
Peter Richardson, Chair of the D2N2 LEP, added: “The Midlands has invested heavily in its transport infrastructure, turning the UK’s best connected region into an investment hotspot.
“The region’s road and rail infrastructure means that 92% of the country is within a four hour commute of the Midlands, and the forthcoming arrival of HS2 is only set to improve links to other UK economic hubs. With three international airports, investors from over 200 countries can easily access our region.”
To read a copy of the ‘UK Midlands Engine Pitchbook’ online go to the web link HERE.
To read the Midlands Engine for Growth Prospectus see the web link HERE.
For more on how the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership is growing the economy and jobs in its area of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire see its website at www.d2n2lep.org
Media wanting more information about the D2N2 LEP can contact D2N2 Communications Manager Sean Kirby on 0115 9578749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org
