South Yorkshire secures £80m for investment zone

Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley are set to benefit from thousands of new jobs and £1.2bn of investment as Boeing signs up to investment zone

The South Yorkshire zone will focus on advanced manufacturing and aeronautics, and is expected to raise £1.2bn of private funding, creating more than 8,000 new jobs by 2030.

The government expects that the investment zones will remove blockers to growth, improving chances to finance, supporting business growth, and creating higher skilled jobs.

Secretary of state for levelling up, Michael Gove, said: ‘This announcement is a significant moment for South Yorkshire as it becomes the home of England’s first advanced manufacturing investment zone. This will help level up the region, creating jobs and boosting economic growth.’

Boeing is one of the major investors in the zone, which will specialise in aerospace and will see over £80m invested in research and development projects.

Boeing will work with industry partners, Spirt AeroSystems and Loop Technology at the University of Sheffield advanced manufacturing research centre (AMRC) factory in Sheffield Business Park.

Other partners include South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam who will co-develop plans for the zone.

This will include agreeing on priority development sites and specific interventions to drive cluster growth, over the summer ahead of final confirmation of plans.

The zones offer tax breaks including enhanced rates for capital allowances and structures and buildings allowance as well as exemptions from stamp duty land tax, business rates and national insurance contributions.

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