The UK has opened its first three freeports, in Plymouth & South Devon, Solent and Teesside, after receiving final government approval yesterday (6 November).
Each of the special tax and development zones will now receive up to £25m of seed funding and be able to retain business rates to upgrade local infrastructure and stimulate regeneration.
Levelling up minister Dehenna Davison said: “We are taking full advantage of the freedoms of leaving the EU, and these freeports in Teesside, Plymouth & South Devon and Solent will attract new business to often-overlooked areas, creating thousands of jobs.”
She added that the freeports would “harness local expertise to grow vital industries and turbocharge our national economy”.
Freeports benefit from a package of measures, comprising tax reliefs, customs advantages, business rates retention, planning, regeneration and innovation incentives, and trade and investment support.
While they have been touted as a major plank of the post-Brexit agenda by the government, there were eight freeports in the UK from 1984 to 2012, when they were scrapped by then prime minister David Cameron in favour of enterprise zones.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said that the five remaining shortlisted freeports, in Liverpool, London, the East Midlands, Felixstowe & Harwich and the Humber, will be given the final green light shortly.
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