The Plymouth and South Devon Freeport is a dynamic public/private partnership with Plymouth City Council, South Hams District Council and Devon County Council working alongside Princess Yachts, Carlton Power, the Sherford Consortium, and a wider range of stakeholders including the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter, Plymouth port operators, skills providers and the Heart of the South West LEP to ensure its success.
The Freeport represents a unique opportunity to level up, address historical challenges and leverage exciting new opportunities to transform the economy of Plymouth and South Devon through:
- Physical regeneration – by delivering infrastructure to unlock key employment sites and innovation assets, supporting business clustering
and clean growth opportunities. - Economic regeneration – by delivering inward investment, supply chain opportunities and productivity gains within our identified growth sectors.
- Social regeneration – by delivering a pipeline of jobs across the spectrum of employment from entry level to higher skilled/high value with upskilling opportunities.
The Freeport will:
- create a national hub for trade and investment – delivering an increase in trade throughput and piloting short sea shipping, reducing freight transport emissions, improving regional connectivity, increasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and investment, as well as increasing the number of businesses exporting
- promote regeneration and job creation – increasing economic specialisation, delivering an increase in employment and average earnings, tackling deprivation and enhancing skills capacity, apprenticeships and opportunities
- create a hotbed for innovation – increasing R&D spend, boosting Gross Value Added (GVA) through increasing high value economic activity, increasing productivity, contributing to net zero research and innovation agendas and extending regional, national and international networks.
To find out more visit the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport website.