West Midlands Investment Zone

Background to the WMIZ

What does the WMIZ mean for you and the economy?

For general enquiries on the Investment Zone as a whole, please contact: WMInvestmentzone@wmca.org.uk

For all investor enquiries, please visit: West Midlands Investment Zone | Invest West Midlands

 

 

Introducing the West Midlands Investment Zone

The West Midlands Investment Zone drives inclusive, long-term economic growth through new investment, business support and innovation. This flagship government initiative, focusing on the region’s long-standing and emerging sector strengths, will support the Mayor’s priority of ‘Growth for Everyone’ and position the West Midlands as a leading driver of the UK’s economic ambitions. 

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The West Midlands Investment Zone (WMIZ) will draw on an unprecedented range of tools to support growth in the region’s Advanced Manufacturing sector – broadly defined to encompass electric vehicle and battery technology, green industries, health-tech and the critical underpinning digital platforms. These sub-sectors intersect and overlap, creating a fertile ecosystem for new investors to land in the region and flourish – creating new jobs and skills opportunities for all our communities and securing the West Midlands’ position as a key driver of national economic success.

In the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, the UK Government has set out its vision that by 2035, the United Kingdom will be recognised as the best place in the world to start, grow, and invest in Advanced Manufacturing - the West Midlands plans to be at the forefront of this. The WMIZ core mission is to tackle economic structural weaknesses, boost productivity, and build long-term economic resilience across the West Midlands. Driven by three strategic sites – Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, Coventry and Warwick Investment Zone and Wolverhampton Green Innovation Corridor - each project focuses on areas of strength but comes together to present a compelling investment proposition. Each site is catalysed by an unprecedented combination of public capital investment and, in some instances, tax incentives and business rate relief, enabling long-term growth by reinvesting locally generated business rates revenues back into the region.

In the first five years of the programme (2024-2029), the WMIZ will be supporting projects to:

• Catalyse the creation of over 30,000 jobs across the region.
• Enable £1.8bn in growth in advanced manufacturing and strengthen the region's position as a national leader.
• Catalyse more than £5.5 billion of new investment through the sites.
• Support 360 new learners to complete L4/L5 qualifications and Leadership and Management training through the Skills Programme.
• Support the growth of businesses' turnover within two years of taking part in SCT, boosting the region’s economy by around £30 million.
• Strengthen the local innovation ecosystem regionally, strengthen R&D and unlock key sector development.

 

The WMIZ is positioned to deliver significant economic transformation for the region. 

WMIZ- Sites 

Alongside pump-priming capital to make the three sites investor-ready, with two sites benefiting from extensive tax incentives, the aim is to attract and accelerate private investment, creating new jobs and driving new skills opportunities.

In addition, the retention of the business rates at two of the sites (Birmingham Knowledge Quarter and Coventry-Warwick Investment Zone) will provide long-term funding for economic growth and re-investment to 2049.

Investment/ Investor Benefit

As part of the WMIZ, companies locating in Birmingham Knowledge Quarter and Coventry-Warwick Investment Zone will benefit from an enviable suite of investor incentives to help land, build out and resource operations. These include:

• 100% Business Rates Relief (Until 31 March 2034) Full relief from business rates on qualifying new properties and partial relief for expanded properties in Investment Zone tax sites. Claimable until 30 September 2034, with the relief applying for five years from the point at which you receive it.
• First-year capital allowances (FYAs): a 100% first-year allowance for expenditure on plant and machinery
• Full Stamp Duty Land Tax Relief for land and buildings bought for commercial use or development for commercial purposes
• Enhanced Structures and Buildings Allowances: 10% straight-line deduction per annum
• 0% National Insurance Contributions Relief paid on salary up to £25,000 p/a, for three years per eligible employee for the first 36 months of their employment.

Business Rate Retention and Reinvestment Plan

100% of the business rate uplift from designated sites will be retained for 25 years and forwarded to the WMCA for subsequent reinvestment. This will be done in line with a prioritisation scheme agreed with local authorities in the region. This approach enables long-term growth by reinvesting locally generated business rates revenues back into the region. Over the 25-year lifespan of the West Midlands Investment Zone, it’s anticipated to generate potentially £1.5 billion of business rate uplift.

Birmingham Knowledge Quarter

A transformational Innovation District, specialising in advanced digital technologies, engineering and HealthTech research.

Coventry & Warwick Gigapark

Focussed on the development of battery technology and green advanced manufacturing.

Wolverhampton Green Innovation Corridor

The Green Innovation Corridor aspires to be a world-leading research-led cluster in green technologies.

WMIZ- Regional Programmes

Co-designed with key stakeholders, our Regional Programmes focus on supporting business resilience, transformation and diversification and, through new routes to sustainable innovation and enhanced skills development, will break down wider barriers to growth.

These are outlined below.