PM Truss' Mini-Budget Plan Gets A Midlands Manufacturing Boost
Mayfair-based private equity business Evans Randall Investors has delivered an early win for new Prime Minister Liz Truss’ hopes for rapid economic growth.
The investor has submitted plans for an extra 2.3M SF of advanced manufacturing space in a West Midlands enterprise zone as Truss and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng finalise plans to boost the benefits available to enterprise zones.
Kwarteng is expected to reveal deregulated planning and new investment and tax rules to help boost zones in the West Midlands during a mini-budget on Friday.
The move, at the MIRA Technology Park, near Nuneaton, fits in with Truss' plans to show the UK economy can grow, and grow quickly, through deregulation. A mini-budget on Friday is expected to extend the benefits on offer to sites like MIRA, which falls within a government-supported enterprise zone.
The latest proposals include units that could attract large-scale manufacturing occupiers to the predominantly research and development site. The focus is likely to be on an automotive sector cluster.
The move comes a little over a year since Evans Randall Investors signed a joint venture agreement with HORIBA MIRA to become the exclusive developer for the site.
The new development on the Southern Manufacturing Sector will link directly into the existing MIRA site bringing the total development to 3.5M SF. It will mean the site can accommodate large-scale manufacturing occupiers looking for up to 700K SF.
A planning application has now been submitted.
The park is already home to over 35 major international companies including Bosch, Polestar, Jaguar Land Rover and Toyota. MIRA also contains more than 40 major vehicle development facilities and provides work for more than 1,000 skilled engineers.
“The proposed expansion of MIRA Technology Park, which will allow large-scale manufacturing facilities to be developed alongside the existing, globally unique combination of R&D facilities, engineering services and test assets, represents a major step forward in the evolution of this asset and will bring further inward investment to the Midlands region," Evans Randall Investors Managing Director James Edwards said.
