- £185m funding for state-of-the-art facilities, skills, innovation and business support
- Lucrative benefits for investors, businesses and developers
- Long-term funding mechanism to drive sustained development at key sites
- City Region leading way in aligning programmes to support UK Industrial Strategy
- New Zone unveiled day after £2bn LCR Investment Fund announced
Liverpool City Region today unveiled a pioneering new Industrial Strategy Zone (ISZ) to drive growth and deliver thousands of jobs.
Unveiled a day after the new £2bn LCR Investment Fund, it brings together the City Region’s Life Sciences Innovation Zone and Freeport programmes to offer investors a coherent package of support and to accelerate and de-risk property investments.
It will scale delivery of investment opportunities in key sectors identified in the Liverpool City Region Growth Plan – including health and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, digital and tech, maritime and logistics – that leverage major private sector investment and drive regional productivity and national innovation.
The Zone features six designated tax sites – including leading science and innovation campus Sci-Tech Daresbury, Maghull Health Park and Parkside in St Helens – offering fiscal incentives to expanding and relocating businesses coupled with a long-term funding mechanism to support future infrastructure developments.
It also provides customs benefits at specified sites over a 45km-wide area for businesses involved in international trade.
The Zone aligns with the Government’s Industrial Strategy and will accelerate delivery of nationally significant projects through:
- Investment levers including £185m Government funding through the ISZ Programme and long-term mechanisms for future funding of infrastructure at key sites.
- Streamlined planning process with existing permitted development rights, Consent Orders and adopted masterplans at key ISZ sites.
- Site assembly, infrastructure and connectivity with ISZ locations strategically chosen for their access to rail, road and sea networks, and tens of millions of pounds already invested in connecting and unlocking key sites.
- Occupier benefits including favourable tax and customs incentives and sector specific scale-up and investment programmes.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:
We’re on a mission to drive investment to the Liverpool City Region, and through our Life Sciences Innovation Zone and Freeport we have powerful levers to attract innovators, investors and businesses from across the globe.
“The launch of our pioneering Industrial Strategy Zone marks a transformational moment bringing these two programmes under one roof to offer investors a streamlined pathway to support their entry and expansion into the Liverpool City Region.
“Coupled with our new £2bn LCR Investment Fund, this is a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to accelerate productivity, attract global investors, and deliver thousands of high‑quality jobs – powering a more prosperous, innovative and resilient economy for decades to come
As the UK’s largest western facing port handling 45% of transatlantic trade, Liverpool City Region is one of only three places in the UK to have both Innovation Zone and Freeport status.
The Life Sciences Innovation Zone is accelerating the global reach of one of Europe’s largest life sciences clusters and is expected to generate £800m of Government and private investment and create 8,000 jobs.
It is supporting key developments across the City Region including in Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, Maghull Health Park and Sci-Tech Daresbury.
Meanwhile, the Freeport has the potential to add £850m to the local economy and create 14,000 jobs by acting as a catalyst for growth in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, logisticsand clean energy.
Primed to stimulate a high-wage, high-skill, high-productivity economy, the Industrial Strategy Zone brings together the two programmes with a total of £185m of Government funding to stimulate investment and accelerate delivery of high-class infrastructure.
The Zone will also drive world-leading innovation, while supporting businesses to start, scale and invest and training future talent.
The six tax sites are located at:
- Sci-Tech Daresbury
- St Helens Manufacturing and Innovation Campus
- Maghull Health Park
- Wirral Waters
- Parkside, St Helens
- 3MG in Halton
A key feature is a scheme allowing councils to retain business rates from new properties at specified tax sites for the next 25 years, with the money ring-fenced for projects to further develop premises and capability.
The Combined Authority will work alongside investors to maximise opportunities through a full range of debt, equity and joint delivery models.
The Industrial Strategy Zone sites are strategically positioned for their access to rail, road and sea networks. The Parkside Freeport tax site in St Helens has already benefitted from £60m investment in a link road connecting the site directly to the M6 motorway and £8.5m of ISZ funding is unlocking development of MEA Park West, Wirral Waters.
Occupier benefits provide a supportive fiscal setting for businesses at key phases of their growth and product development.
The six tax sites offer new and expanding occupiers:
- 100% Business Rate Relief for five years
- Exemption from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
- Relief from employers National Insurance contributions (for three years and worth £6,582 per employee)
- Further cash flow benefits (Structures and Buildings Allowances and Enhanced Capital Allowances) are also available
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