New Freeport East promises benefits to people and businesses in Suffolk and Essex
The scheme will look to develop land around Felixstowe and Harwich into tax relief zones to encourage businesses to invest in the region
Last updated 19th Dec 2021
The much-touted Freeport East will become operational by the end of the year, after the UK Government gave it the go-ahead. This means that areas around the port of Felixstowe and Harwich will be redeveloped into business sites where those who operate can receive tax and customs concessions.
A new business park will also be developed in Stowmarket, called Gateway 14. We caught up with the acting Chairman of Freeport East George Kieffer. He explains the benefits it offers to businesses.
"You've got a Stamp Duty Land Tax relief, business rates relief, enhanced capital allowances for the businesses who make investments here and importantly, a National Insurance contribution relief for the employer, which is an encouragement for the employer to hire people and set them to work."
He also adds that businesses who operate from the yet-to-be approved custom sites will be exempt from customs duties on goods they import, provided they are used to manufacture the finished product in the region.
The hope is that this will stimulate investment in the region, particularly with regard to green energy. Mr Kieffer says, "We are looking at building on the existing capacity, particularly in Harwich, to service and build offshore wind farms as well as looking to the future through hydrogen as a clean fuel.
"We are quite fortunate in that we have got Sizewell, the nuclear power station not that far away, which is already got a small hydrogen generator. Sizewell C will offer a much bigger hydrogen generator.
"This means we can actually reduce carbon emissions for all the equipment on the Port of Felixstowe."
"We are also in Suffolk and Essex, predominantly rural and agricultural. There are applications for hydrogen news for agricultural vehicles."
So what does this mean for people in the region. Mr Kieffer says, "We see the freeport as bringing benefits which stretch out from the port itself to the wider area. That in my view, is one of the most important aspects of what the freeport will do to level up the East.
"I'm very interested in the job opportunities it will create for people, particularly those who live in some of our most deprived wards. We will also make sure that they are ready to seize these opportunities by making sure that they have the right qualifications."
Freeport East are working with many institutions, including University of East Anglia, University of Essex, University of Suffolk to help train people to take up the opportunities Mr Kieffer says the freeport will provide.
"You only create prosperity by actually giving people a lift in terms of their money they earn. The jobs that business will create here in these areas, they are highly technical so the salaries that go with them are higher than the average", he adds.
The freeport will officially begin operating on 30 December. Mr Keiffer says, "We are really looking at next year where we can really go out, but we we haven't been sitting on our backsides and not doing anything in the meanwhile.
"We have had discussions with new businesses that are quite keen to locate within the Freeport tax sites."