Enterprise Zone

Shortcut to this Page : www.birmingham.gov.uk/ez

Enterprise Zones offer simplified planning, discounts on business rates, and new opportunities to fund infrastructure and roll out superfast broadband, together with enhanced support to attract inward investment.

In total 23 Enterprise Zones were allocated nationally to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), who each decided upon the location of their Zone. The Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP – a partnership of businesses, local authorities and the education sector working to support private sector growth and job creation – chose Birmingham City Centre as the location for their Enterprise Zone (EZ).

Find out more detailed information about the Enterprise Zone Here

February 2013 -Enterprise Zone Prospectus Launch! A prospectus detailing the investment opportunities available across the 26 sites which make up the EZ, and which will consolidate the city as a global centre for inward investment, was launched at the Town Hall by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Right Honourable George Osborne MP. Find out more here...

August 2012 - Investment Plan now available!The Enterprise Zone has taken a major step forward after an Investment Plan Worth Just under £130m was approved. Find out more about the Investment Plan .....

May 2012 - Simplified planning regime approved! Two areas of the Enterprise Zone now benefit from less stringent planning controls. Find out more about the Local Development Orders in Digbeth and Birmingham Science Park, Aston here .....

Where is the Enterprise Zone?

The City Centre EZ comprises 26 sites across the city centre, in seven clusters including those identified in the Big City Plan – the city’s strategic vision for the future of the City Centre – as offering significant growth opportunities

• Westside
• Snow Hill District
• Eastside
• Southern Gateway
• Digbeth Creative Cluster
• Birmingham Science Park Aston
• Jewellery Quarter

A plan of the 26 sites is below.

It is focussed on economic sectors which are already clustered in the city centre and which reflect the growth opportunities

• Business and Financial services
• ICT Sector
• Creative Industries
• Digital Media

What is the Enterprise Zone expected to achieve?

Because the Government allows any business rates growth to be retained within the zone for a period of at least 25 years, it is then possible to reinvest this revenue to unlock the growth potential in the EZ and support delivery of the LEP's objectives for the region. The Investment Plan explains this in more detail.

Over its lifetime, when all the development is achieved, the EZ will .....

• Secure 1.3m sq metres of new floorspace, of which 700,000 sq metres for business and financial services, digital media, ICT and creative industries
• Create 40,000 new private sector jobs
• Contribute £2.8 billion to the economy in GVA per annum once the above growth is delivered
• Generate, once fully developed, additional business rates of circa £70 million per annum

To achieve this, the EZ will .....

• Support the realisation of significant growth opportunities through an innovative approach to planning and investment in infrastructure to unlock development sites
• Promote development and investment opportunities through targeted marketing
• Support small and medium sized businesses in key sectors through business rates relief, access to high speed broadband, and simplified planning (find out more about our new Local Development Orders).

More details on these benefits are included in the attached update leaflets.

Last Updated : 5th March 2013