Umbrella contractors may be interested to learn that the government recently disclosed the locations of the remaining 13 English Enterprise Zones that it hopes will help kick-start economic growth.
New zones will be set up in Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Gosport, Hereford, the Humber Estuary, Kent, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Northampton, Oxfordshire, Suffolk and West Essex.
Businesses in Enterprise Zones will benefit from superfast broadband, cheaper business rates and less planning control.
Glenys Chatterley, the chair of the Mid and North West Essex branch of the FSB, said the West Essex zone would create a focal point for employment and business growth. She explained that more than 100 new firms will be attracted to the zone area and an extra 2,500 jobs will be created. She went on to say that she expected the West Essex zone would focus on health and medical technology companies.
The Cornwall zone will be based around Newquay and focus on the aerospace sector. The MD of Newquay Cornwall Airport, Al Titherington, said the zone was important to the entire economy of Cornwall and would enable companies to create high-value jobs.
However, Phil McCabe from the FPB pointed out that there was a similar scheme in the 1980s and that didn’t work because it simply relocated existing workers rather than adding new jobs.
David Cameron has said the present government is determined to make Britain the best place to start a business and Enterprise Zones are a key part of the plan. By reducing business taxes and easing the restrictions on planning, companies stand a better chance of being able to invest and expand. The government expects the Enterprise Zones will create an additional 30,000 jobs by 2015.
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