As the UK’s busiest ports complex and pre-eminent energy cluster in North West Europe, the Humber is absolutely vital to the prosperity of UK Plc. That status was recognised in the Autumn Statement, and prior to it, with measures that will support unprecedented investment across the estuary. As the Humber Freeport company, we see these measures as important to fulfilling the transformative potential of freeports, aligned to the devolution of powers and funding to the region.
Firstly, in advance of the Autumn Statement, HM Treasury announced a five-year extension to the tax breaks investors receive when developing in freeport sites. Those tax incentives had been due to expire in 2026, which was simply too tight a timescale for major investments that can take years to deliver. The extension to 2031 will make freeport sites highly attractive to international investors. This vital change could unlock billions of pounds of inward investment in the region, creating thousands of skilled jobs in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, engineering and green energ