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Enterprise Zones and Investment Zones: ‘What works’ for rural enterprise?

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Simon Pemberton

Professor of Human Geography, Keele University

Simon Pemberton

Professor of Human Geography, Keele University

Overview

The research project explored the ways in which Enterprise Zones established across England have met the needs of rural enterprise and the lessons which have emerged in order to inform new policy approaches such as ‘Investment Zones’. It highlights how Enterprise Zones could be re-designed in several ways to offer greater rural reach and potential for rural businesses.

The research was funded through NICRE’s Research and Innovation Fund.

Research team

David Beel

Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University

Key findings

Enterprise Zones set up in rural locations across England do not necessarily have a rural inflection and as such are not perceived as a specific policy tool for rural areas.

Market failure in some rural areas has led to particular challenges in delivering Enterprise Zones in remote rural locations with either obsolete / derelict infrastructure or with no infrastructure at all.

Planning has been a key factor in the success of Enterprise Zones in rural locations across England, but which can also be challenging given long-standing discourses of rural protectionism and concerns relating to managing areas of environmental value.

The importance of business rate relief and retention is also crucial to enterprise development due to the frequent absence of private sector investment for preparing and developing infrastructure on rural Enterprise Zones.

In terms of looking forward and considering the potential for rural areas of new policy initiatives such as Investment Zones, there is a need for these sector-based approaches to be considered alongside place-based thinking to enhance opportunities in rural locations.

Recommendations

The 10 recommendations for the implementation of new Investment Zone approaches and any future roll-out to rural locations are:

  1. Widen the selection of sectors in future Investment Zones through negotiations between national government and rural local authorities.
  2. Extend the period of business rate relief / retention (and other tax measures) in rural locations.
  3. Provide further support for infrastructure development to kick-start zones.
  4. Secure key 'anchor' businesses to attract others onto rural Enterprise / Investment Zone sites and to help generate place-based clustering.
  5. Give greater consideration to the challenges of planning de-regulation in certain rural contexts and provide associated time-related extensions of benefits.
  6. ‘Scale up’ the configuration of zones in rural locations for rural areas to benefit from future designations.
  7. Use appropriate rural-urban classifications to acknowledge the (rural) place-based context within which designations are operating.
  8. Create and sustain arrangements for pooling of income generated from retained business rates to cross-subsidise rural enterprise development.
  9. Establish flexible arrangements to support enterprise growth for rural SMEs and rural micro-enterprises.
  10. Introduce active travel hubs in order to enhance connectivity and access.

Resources

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