The role of the Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone in helping to deliver economic priorities
National Context
To create jobs and economic growth, the UK needs to invest in sectors and areas with real economic opportunities and export led growth potential. This investment needs to support growth which is driven by the private sector and is sustainable in the long term. The Sheffield City Region (SCR) Enterprise Zone will deliver this by:
- Building on existing strengths within the SCR to secure and accelerate large scale investment in a number of the UK’s key growth sectors
- Delivering an Enterprise Zone that is market led, addresses barriers to growth and meets the needs of potential investors
- Ensuring that the benefits of the Enterprise Zone pass to those operating and investing in businesses
The Enterprise Zone will secure and accelerate the development of modern manufacturing in the SCR; one of the largest concentrations of modern manufacturing in the UK. It will also capitalise on and accelerate growth in the other related technology sectors in which SCR has a competitive advantage and that have been identified as a priority by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), including low carbon industries, creative and digital, and medical technologies.
The Sheffield City Region Context
The SCR has a proud history of being at the very forefront of the UK’s industrial and entrepreneurial development over many centuries, starting with the industrial revolution and continuing to the present time.The SCR will build on this by using Enterprise Zone status to designate a Modern Manufacturing and Technology Growth Area which reflects the reality of the SCR economy, removes a number of barriers to investment and growth and is spatially clustered around a number of the City Region’s key advanced manufacturing and related technology assets. The selection of this Enterprise Zone, represents a varied, yet cohesive offer of development opportunities, giving businesses (those starting up, expanding or inward investors) the choice of quality, size and type of space they need.
Analysis clearly demonstrates that businesses in the Enterprise Zone’s target sectors need designated sites and/ or premises that offer choice and flexibility. There is latent demand for quality industrial space in SCR, both from local firms seeking to grow (constrained by inappropriate premises) and from inward investors, who are continually looking to the SCR due to its range of economic assets which are vital to the sector. The SCR Enterprise Zone will deliver:
- Sites across a range of sizes
- A range of property tenures and sizes
- A mix of ‘industry only’ (including warehousing), hybrid and office sites
- A choice of newly built premises or ‘development-ready’ sites affording greater flexibility for bespoke requirements
