- Leicestershire is set to benefit from at least one of 38 of the Government’s new Investment Zones to get local economies growing across the region.
- Charnwood Campus in Loughborough has been earmarked as one of the potential sites.
- Investment Zones will benefit from tax breaks and planning freedoms to make them more attractive to businesses and investors – creating jobs and business opportunities in the local area.
- Loughborough MP has welcomed the news and has promised to work with colleagues to lobby for Charnwood Campus to become an Investment Zone.
Loughborough MP Jane Hunt has promised to lobby for Charnwood Campus to become a new Investment Zone. In total, 38 Investment Zones were announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer earlier today in the Growth Plan. Investment Zones will benefit from streamlined planning rules and time limited tax cuts to boost growth in areas that need it most.
Under this brand-new initiative, each Investment Zone will offer generous, targeted and time-limited tax cuts for businesses, backing them to increase productivity and create new jobs. This could encourage investment in new business opportunities, helping regenerate local areas and communities across the whole region. Investment Zones will also benefit from liberalised planning rules to release more land commercial development, and reforms to increase the speed of delivering development.
Charnwood Campus has been earmarked as a potential site for a new Investment Zone and Jane has promised to work colleagues at Leicestershire County Council, who are the lead authority in the bid, to lobby for its inclusion as one of the Government’s 38 sites.
Commenting, Jane said:
“This is a hugely exciting development and will boost growth and investment in the local economy. I am thrilled that Charnwood Campus has already been highlighted as potential site and I will be lobbying hard for it to become a new Investment Zone.
“Loughborough is the perfect location for an Investment Zone; we are situated close to the East Midlands Freeport and we are already the home to many enterprising industries. Over the coming weeks, I will be working with colleagues at the County Council to help achieve this.
“By investing in the infrastructure and reducing the cost of doing business, we are creating jobs and opportunities across Loughborough and wider Leicestershire and laying the foundations for a strong, competitive, economy.”
Gosia Khrais, Commercial and Marketing Director at Charnwood Campus said:
“Following the announcement earlier today, I can only say how glad I am that our efforts to develop the site into a meaningful next generation life sciences park that drives innovation and growth leading to better health outcomes for all is being recognised by Government. Innovation Zones will offer much needed incentives for businesses to accelerate growth and bring forward expansion plans that have otherwise been delayed by rather gloomy economic predictions earlier in the year.
“I am very excited about the prospects this creates, and I would like to use this opportunity to thank our fantastic Charnwood Campus team and a number of stakeholders that are actively supporting our corporate development plans including our local MP, Jane Hunt, local and regional authorities and partners.”