The recent Government announcement on the creation of a further eleven Enterprise Zones has been seen as welcome news for businesses, councils and investors alike. At the time of the announcement in the March 2011 Budget that eleven zones were to be created, the Chancellor invited bids for a further ten zones. In all thirty Local Enterprise Partnerships submitted bids and such was the strength of those bids that agreement has been reached for eleven zones in:
• Humber Estuary Renewable Energy Super Cluster;
• Daresbury Science Campus, near Warrington and Runcorn;
• Newquay AeroHub in Cornwall;
• The Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus Airfield in Gosport;
• MIRA Technology Park in Hinckley Leicestershire;
• Rotherwas Enterprise Zone in Hereford;
• Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent and Enterprise West Essex in Harlow;
• Science Vale UK in Oxfordshire;
• Northampton Waterside;
• Alconbury Airfield, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire;
• Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Lowestoft in Suffolk.
The aim of enterprise zones is to stimulate jobs and the economy through the employment of various measures including:
• 100% business rates discount for a period of 5 years
• Faster broadband
• Simplified planning
• Business rate growth to be shared among local authorities for twenty-five years
In addition, businesses in some zones will benefit from enhanced capital allowances.
The use of Enterprise Zones as a means of boosting the economy is not a new one. Originally conceived in the 1980s, the first wave of Enterprise Zones, part financed by tax efficient investments, proved a great success. Probably the best known Enterprise Zone to date is Canary Wharf, conceived as a means of regenerating a large derelict area on the outskirts of London. This original raft of Enterprise Zone schemes concluded at the end of the 2010/11 tax year having successfully developed sizeable tracts of land across the country, partly financed via tax efficient Enterprise Zone Syndicate investments.
As tax mitigation specialists Newshams are able to give advice on how tax may affect any private or business transaction and how to put in place an effective mitigation strategy.
Contact us now on 020 7470 8820 and ask to speak to a tax adviser about how we can reduce your tax costs or e-mail us at enquiries@newshams.com and we’ll get straight back to you.
http://newshams.com
23rd August 2011
Further details in respect of the new Zones can be found on:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_96_11.htm
