Introduction
Information about what a Freeport is and where they are located.
Freeports across the UK are intended to:
- create economic regeneration and jobs
- be national hubs for global trade and investment
- be hotbeds for innovation
They benefit from incentives relating to customs, tax, planning, regeneration, infrastructure and innovation. They receive up to £25 million each in seed funding, plus locally retained business rates.
The largest geographical area a Freeport can cover is a circle of a diameter of 45km. To benefit from the Freeport customs incentives there must be at least one designated customs site (referred to as a ‘free zone’ in UK legislation) within the Freeport’s 45km boundary. Accordingly, the Freeport customs incentives are only available to businesses importing goods to, or carrying out activities within a customs site, not the entire Freeport area.
A free zone is a designated customs area in which an authorised business can import and then store, or process, duty suspended goods under the Freeport customs procedure, prior to their subsequent release either for re-export, to another customs procedure, or to free circulation in the UK.
In March 2021 the UK Government announced eight Freeports in England:
- East Midlands
- Felixstowe and Harwich
- Humber
- Liverpool City Region
- Plymouth and South Devon
- Solent
- Teesside
- Thames
In January 2023 the UK and Scottish Governments announced two green Freeports in Scotland:
- Inverness and Cromarty Firth
- the Firth of Forth
In March 2023 the UK and Welsh Governments announced two Freeports in Wales:
- Anglesey
- Port Talbot and Milford Haven