Redevelopment work this week began on a former ironmaking complex which will form part of Teesside’s Freeport zone.

On Monday (March 1) a demolition team moved into the former Redcar Steelworks’ coal-handling facility, which is at the heart of the new Freeport and will eventually become a home to firms in the offshore wind, clean energy, chemicals and process, and advanced manufacturing sectors.

Covering 4,500 acres, the Teesside Freeport incorporates The Teesworks, Wilton International, Teesside International Airport, the Port of Middlesbrough, the port of Hartlepool, Liberty Steel, LV Shipping and PD Ports. That makes it the biggest in the UK.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen was the driving force behind the bid and he hopes the announcement will lead to the creation of 18,000 highly-skilled jobs in five years and the local economy will get a £3.4bn boost.

“The Teesside Freeport marks the start of us returning to our rightful place on the world stage as a global player in advanced manufacturing and engineering,” said the Tees Valley Major last night. “Today’s announcement now means that investors from across the world will choose to bring their investment to Teesside instead of elsewhere in the world. Investment that previously would have wandered off to Holland or Germany will now come to Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool – creating thousands of well-paid jobs for local people.”

“With the largest development site in Western Europe, amazing infrastructure, a workforce to be envied and now the UK’s largest Freeport, we’ve put the building blocks in place for local people to benefit from the tsunami of jobs and investment that will come to our area in the weeks and months ahead.”

Teesside’s reputation as an area heavily involved with the provision of clean energy is bound to have been a factor in the decision and Andy Koss, CEO of Sembcorp Energy UK, which is based at Wilton International in Middlesbrough, welcomed the decision and believed it would help the country achieve its key environmental targets.

Andy said: “Teesside has a long association with the chemical sector and we know that this creates highly skilled roles, generates significant value for the UK and helps to develop supply chains for the region.

“At Sembcorp Energy UK, we have development land available and an established “plug and play” infrastructure, enabling the benefits of a freeport zone to be realised quickly as new investors will have the utilities they need as soon as they are operational. We will continue to work with our partners in the region to make this a success.

“We also believe that this announcement will support a transition to a low carbon economy and our own plans and those of our existing customers to decarbonise our operations, as Teesside is also well placed to deliver on the Government’s Net Zero targets.”

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.