Being a business solicitor based in Northampton I was pleased to hear the news last month that Northampton had been successful with its bid to develop an Enterprise Zone and interested to find out exactly what the benefits for local businesses would be. The Enterprise Zone is a government initiative with the aim to stimulate growth in the economy. This is particularly important given the recent negative indicators.
It has to be hoped that the attraction of being located in the Northampton Enterprise Zone will encourage new businesses to set up in the town and create jobs. The focus will be on investment in advanced technologies, precision/high performance engineering, low carbon technology motorsport, aerospace, automotive and sustainable construction. This will complement the strong motorsport presence already in the region.
The actual size of the Enterprise Zone is 120 hectares of land, which it is proposed will be converted into over 430,000 square metres of high value commercial and industrial floor space in the waterside area of Northampton (roughly following the River Nene). This would supplement those large businesses currently with headquarters in Northampton such as Barclaycard and Avon.
The reported benefits of the Enterprise Zone are Business Rates discounts; new infrastructure; superfast broadband and simplified planning rules. This should all help increase commercial development and investment within the area.
It is estimated that around 390 new businesses will be created leading to 12,400 new jobs by 2015 and £200m of private sector investment to Northampton.
All of this is encouraging news and I will be keeping a close eye on how successful this project proves to be. Certainly this part of Northampton requires regeneration and it has to be a positive step forward, which should be coordinated together with the much needed town centre redevelopment.
Now the hard work really begins!
Gary Cousins
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