Teesside Freeport

Sector and market opportunity

Building on existing manufacturing strengths, particularly in chemicals and materials processing, offshore wind, hydrogen and renewable activity, the Freeport can offer a range of business incentives such as:

• no stamp duty
• 5 years of zero business rates
• full rebates for construction and machinery investment

Growth prospects

The Freeport benefits from a readily available local workforce, as well as being one of Britain’s biggest chemical clusters. Teesside and the surrounding area also boast existing specialisms such as offshore wind, hydrogen, chemicals, and engineering, with the skills and workforce to match. The Teesworks Freeport will also have access to a share of £200 million of government funding to support the region’s levelling up ambitions and to become the UK’s clean energy powerhouse.

According to the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC), the sector is expected to invest £155 billion in new offshore wind projects over the next 8 years and by 2030 the UK-wide hydrogen economy could be worth £900 million.

The UK chemicals sector also brings in more than £18 billion of gross value added (GVA) and a turnover of £55.5 billion.

Location

Located in the North East of England, the Teesside Freeport is perfectly placed to offer instant and efficient connectivity. This makes it ideal for trading, importing, and exporting. The UK’s fifth largest maritime complex, Teesport, and a new 1km quay at South Bank, make the Tees Valley a major export region and a go-to place for renewables, offshore wind, and hydrogen manufacturing. This is supported by its close proximity to the majority of UK wind farms. The Freeport also boasts investment from the Tees Offshore Manufacturing Centre and the UK’s most developed carbon capture, storage and usage (CCUS) project, Net Zero Teesside; both located at Teesworks.

Connectivity

Teeside Freeport gives direct access to 10 miles of operational river along the Tees, which is home to some of the deepest berths on the east coast and one of the UK’s busiest ports. A new dedicated quay at South Bank is currently under construction which, when complete, will service the offshore sector.

Teesside is centrally located between London and Edinburgh, making it easy to reach the whole of the UK via a strategic road and rail network.

Teesside International Airport offers connections to London in under an hour, and the rest of the world via the service to Heathrow as well as Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Local talent and skills

In the North East, there are nearly 18,000 students and 4500+ graduates in STEM subjects, related to offshore energy, engineering and biomanufacturing.

There are 19,000 people in the manufacturing and engineering sector, 26,000 in the offshore wind sector and over 8,000 in the biomanufacturing industry.

National government support

As specially designed areas with beneficial economic regulations, Freeports can help you achieve sustained growth, and may be able to save you time and money through:

• Stamp Duty Land Tax relief
• enhanced capital allowances for investment in plant and machinery and structures and buildings
• 5 years of business rates relief
• employer National Insurance contributions relief
• deferrals and exemptions from duty
• supportive local planning environments with constructive public-private partnerships

Success stories

On July 7, 2022, construction officially began on SeAH Wind Ltd’s £400 million offshore wind monopile manufacturing facility at Teesworks. The giant facility – the largest of its kind in the world, at over 800 metres in length – presents a range of design and construction challenges including its scale, low energy design and an accelerated programme. 

When complete, the mammoth 1.13 million square foot facility will be the biggest of its kind in the world and is expected to produce between 100 and 150 monopiles per year. These will be transported from the factory to Teesworks’ under-construction heavy lift South Bank Quay before heading to the North Sea for installation. The project will create 750 jobs when operational, with a further 1,500 in the supply chain during construction.