Southampton and Portsmouth have not been the best of friends historically but both South Coast cities are set to benefit massively from the winning Solent bid.

Portsmouth’s international port and the Eastleigh Riverside/Southampton International Airport North East Business Park were the cornerstone localities of the bid, led by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, who emphasised the benefits it would have to local firms operating in the maritime, science and research, logistics and defence industries.

Dunsbury Park industrial park in Havant, Fawley Waterside, Marchwood Port and Southampton Port are the other sites included and Solent LEP have also said they want involvement from the three local universities to help create a Solent Freeport Green Growth Institute.

Chair of the Solent LEP, Brian Johnson said: “The Solent has a very proud maritime heritage, but we don’t live in the past. Today’s announcement represents the start of a new era for the Solent as we begin our work with Government to create jobs, drive innovation and build sustainable, long-term opportunities now and in the future. The wide coalition of public and private partners brought together by the LEP puts us in the strongest possible position to bring this vision for a Solent Freeport to reality.

“As the Nation’s Global Gateway, the Solent Freeport will be critical to ensuring that the UK can remain competitive on an international stage in the years ahead and the LEP is committed to ensuring that our local communities – and in particular our young people – can benefit from the opportunities created.”

Councillor Barry Rickman, Solent LEP board member and leader of New Forest District Council, added: “Today’s announcement is fantastic news for the Solent area and our economy. As a coastal area, we have communities that have been very badly impacted by the pandemic and today’s news represents an opportunity for us to start to recover and create much needed new jobs in those areas.

“Over the longer-term, we see the Solent Freeport as an investment in all our futures that will enable us to secure investment in new technologies, sectors and environmental innovation. We look forward to working with Government over the coming months to further develop the Solent Freeport for the benefit of our local businesses and communities.

BUSINESSES located within the freeport zones will benefit from having no tariffs to pay on imports and exports unless they are exported into the UK. Other major benefits include tax breaks, including no stamp duty, full rebates for construction and machinery investment and five years of zero business rates.