Freeports will play a significant role in boosting trade and innovation, attracting inward investment, driving productive activity, regenerating towns and cities and creating jobs across the UK. This will level up communities across the country through increased employment opportunities.
A South Yorkshire Freeport will:
● Transform the Sheffield City Region into a net exporter of goods by 2029,
boosting imports by £306m and exports by £410m
● Create 28,700 new jobs in advanced manufacturing including rail, automotive,
defence and aerospace, and double the number of higher level apprenticeships
● Increase wages by at least 19% (due to our focus on advanced manufacturing)
and add £169m of GVA to the South Yorkshire economy every year
● Unlock or accelerate over £570m of investment
The South Yorkshire Freeport covers areas of Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster, mirroring most of the footprint of the Sheffield City Region. It sits at the heart of the UK, connecting our nation by road, rail and air to local businesses, regional sea ports and international partners. It is a Freeport based around the unique combination of globally significant assets of air – Doncaster Sheffield Airport – and rail – iPort Rail – with quick and easy road and rail access to the Humber sea ports, which, combined, handle the largest amount of cargo in the country. Proposed tax sites include Doncaster Sheffield Airport/GatewayEast, iPort and Junction36 in Barnsley. Proposed customs sites include the iconic industries of Sheffield Forgemasters, Liberty Steel (3x sites) and Hird Group as well as Doncaster Sheffield Airport/GatewayEast and iPort. A South Yorkshire Freeport will help tackle deprivation in the region improving current levels from one of the worst in the country to equal that of the UK. It is focussed on scaling up the number of high-paying, high-skilled jobs in manufacturing to create opportunity and improve life chances. A Freeport will help to fulfil the ambition to become the largest advanced manufacturing hub in Europe. It will expand, create and support new and existing businesses and clusters of world-class innovation. A South Yorkshire Freeport will drive a greener economy, boost clean mobility and build and test cleaner, more energy efficient and renewable technologies, contributing to Net Zero.