The Nottingham Enterprise Zone is to be extended and will now span 56.5 hectares creating up to 10, 000 new jobs, it was announced at MIPIM this week.
The Enterprise Zone previously encompassed forty hectares of land at Boots’ site in Beeston and Lenton. This has now been extended to include three additional elements – Nottingham Science Park (2.5 hectares), Beeston Business Park (10 hectares) and Nottingham Medipark (5 hectares).
The new extended zone will be available for new businesses, who will receive business rate discounts for five years and super-fast broadband. It will see the site transformed, with vacant land redeveloped and brought back into use.
Members of Team Nottingham, which includes Nottingham City Council and Invest in Nottingham, made the announcement during the international property show in Cannes this week.
Tim Garratt of Innes England, which is part of Team Nottingham said: “The extension of the Enterprise Zone is great news for the city. The government has obviously decided that there is sufficient demand to extend the original area, with the view it will kick start business.
“The extension to the Enterprise Zone will make Nottingham more competitive in the wider market place and a more attractive location for potential investors, which is a really good thing for Nottingham and it is a great offer to bring here to an international investment event.”
Councillor Jon Collins, leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “The news that the Boots’ Enterprise Zone is being extended is excellent news for the city. The new, larger Nottingham Enterprise Zone will not only drive growth and boost the regional economy by creating up to ten thousand new jobs, but it will also mean the redevelopment and regeneration of an enormous area of the city.”
George Cowcher, chief executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is welcome news and will be fully supported by the business community here in Nottingham. Anything that will attract new investment and companies into Nottingham to create jobs and contribute to local economic growth is a good thing. The key now is to get the Nottingham Enterprise Zone market-ready as quickly as possible so it can get off to a strong start.”
