Newcastle Enterprise Zone

newcastle enterprise zone Economy and jobs boost thanks to enterprising initiative

ANewcastle enterprise zone is celebrating 5 years of development which is boosting the local economy and growing in success.

The Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone (CVEZ) comprises 140 hectares of land over six sites in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastleunder-Lyme, including the former Shelton Bar steelworks site in the city, now known as Etruria Valley. It has transformed redundant brownfield land, with two million square feet of high-quality industrial development.

The CVEZ received government endorsement in 2015, and five years later and the area now boasts a string of impressive successes which is ‘powering up the city’ and boosting the wider area. The area has improved the local economy by £18.55m in gross value added (GVA).

A total of 22 businesses are now established across the zone, employing more than 1,000 people, with businesses including local companies that have achieved rapid growth and national successes such as Tile Mountain, companies that have chosen to relocate to the city such as marine supplier JCH Marine, and skilled technology companies such as Assurant Group which is set to move into the enterprise zone’s Highgate/Ravensdale Tunstall Trade Park site.

The Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone has brought a range of partners together: Stokeon-Trent City Council, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-onTrent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, and a number of developers and landowners including Network Space, Clowes Development, St Modwen, Goldendale Developments and Harworth Group.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council leader Simon Tagg said: “It’s great to mark a milestone anniversary in this important council partnership. Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone is big news for North Staffordshire and what we are jointly trying to achieve for the economic future of the area.

“The zone provides us with a fantastic opportunity to bring new investment into the area and accelerate the pace of development along the A500 corridor. We’ve worked together to make this happen and can already see progress on the ground, bringing hundreds of new jobs into the area.

“Our own site at Chatterley Valley West –where we hope to attract more than 2,000 new jobs – is a key part of the zone and features the outstanding Blue Planet building, a significant part of JCB’s global business. Work is scheduled to start next year on installing the infrastructure needed to accommodate more than a million square feet of industrial development. We’re also hoping to use potential Town Deal funding to help pay for a new access and are planning to invest there ourselves through the retention of local business rates.”