East Midlands Freeport has published its first Investment Strategy and 2025/26 Business Plan, outlining how over £1 billion in funding will be used to drive infrastructure, skills and sustainable energy development across the region.
These plans set out how the Freeport is going to use retained business rates and other funding tools to unlock development, attract investment and support growth across its three nationally significant sites: East Midlands Airport and Gateway Industrial Cluster, East Midlands Intermodal Park, and the former Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station site.
This approach is backed by the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy and developed in close partnership with local authorities, site developers, and the East Midlands Combined County Authority. It reflects the Freeport’s role in delivering targeted, long-term economic growth for the region.
The new Investment Strategy outlines how East Midlands Freeport will reinvest £1bn through retained business rates and complementary funding, deliver enabling infrastructure and unlock development-ready sites, launch a Skills and Communities Fund in 2025, support the clean energy, logistics, and advanced manufacturing sectors, help create 28,000 new jobs and deliver £9 billion in wider economic impact.
This strategy ensures that investment is deployed in a way that supports national priorities while delivering long-term value for communities and businesses in the East Midlands.
The Business Plan sets out how resource and investment will be targeted in the year ahead – supporting site activation, investor engagement and workforce development.
It builds on early progress, securing £150m of investment and creating over 850 jobs, and outlines next steps to scale activity across all three sites.
Priority areas include infrastructure planning and early works, occupier attraction in key growth sectors, delivery of inclusive skills programmes, strategic collaboration with local and national partners, and governance and impact measurement to track results.
Tom Newman-Taylor, CEO of East Midlands Freeport, said: “These plans show how East Midlands Freeport is unlocking development, attracting investment and building value for the region.
“This is a Freeport delivering with purpose – backed by strong partnerships and focused on sectors that will define the UK’s economic future. We’re proud to be part of a strong ecosystem supporting growth that is targeted, inclusive and aligned with both national strategy and regional priorities.”
