West Midlands Investment Zone

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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.

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.

We are in the first phase of a 10-year programme (2024-2034), the current delivery trajectory focuses on developing three sites, supporting businesses, upskilling the workforce and building on the innovation ecosystem.

The West Midlands Investment Zone will transform our regional economy.

By 2029, the West Midlands Investment Zone is expected to have:

Catalysed the creation of over 30,000 jobs across the region.
Supported £1.8bn in growth in advanced manufacturing and strengthened the region's position as a national leader.
Enabled site land remediation, new office and lab space, and improved traffic infrastructure.
Business rate retention for regional reinvestment.
Catalysed more than £5.5 billion of new investment through the sites.
Supported 360 new learners to complete L4/L5 qualifications and Leadership and Management training through the Skills Programme.
Supported IP-rich companies with growth through the Equity Fund.
Created/safeguarded around 2,000 jobs through the Supply Chain Transition (SCT) programme,
Supported the growth of businesses' turnover within two years of taking part in SCT, boosting the region’s economy by around £30 million.
Strengthened the local innovation ecosystem regionally, strengthening R&D and unlocking key sector development.

Tangible outputs are geared towards the first 5 years, based on anticipated investment, development and new job growth projections. Our 2029 targets provide a longer-term vision to demonstrate how successful growth in the WMIZ could drive wider economic prosperity.

Between 2024 and 2029, £80 million in funding is available. £15 million of this is kept by the UK Government for tax incentives on capital sites, leaving £65 million to be shared between site capital projects and regional programmes.

The regional programmes are for business support and skills programmes to break down wider barriers to economic growth and create a thriving business and talent ecosystem for existing and new businesses to flourish.

West Midlands Investment Zone - 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)
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 (BRR) 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 tax revenues back into the region. Over the 25-year lifespan of the West Midlands Investment Zone, it’s anticipated to generate £1.5 billion of business rate uplift. These funds will be reinvested firstly into sites to ensure their development and further rates uplift generation, and then in projects right across the region to support further sector growth and wider local growth priorities.

Birmingham Knowledge Quarter

Aimed at supporting Research & Development in digital-tech and health-tech-centred enterprises.

Coventry & Warwick Investment Zone

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.

Regional Programmes

We consulted with our stakeholders and devised Regional Programmes focussing on business support, enhanced and higher level skills programmes to break down wider barriers to economic growth, which are outlined below.

Supply Chain Transition (£12.5m) – this programme will provide:
- An audit of existing capacity and capability within businesses
- Intensive one-to-one technical advice and guidance
- R&D Grants (£6m)
- Leadership and Management training
- To find out more, please click visit Supply Chain Transition Programme.

Skills Development (£2.5m)
- Modularised skills interventions including training for future jobs in advanced manufacturing, to support upskilling and reskilling of existing workforce.
- Place-based skills ‘hub’, which provides support for local residents through careers advice, access to training, and engaging activities to encourage participation and create pathways into WMIZ jobs
- Business engagement, including job rotation to upskill/reskill, apprenticeship incentives aligned to specific occupations to build workforce capacity, and employer partnerships.
- Capacity building in the skills sector, such as assessment of capacity to provide skills training within further education and private training providers and enhancing collaboration across higher education.
Equity Growth Funding (£2m) –This will support equity investment into IP-rich, pre-revenue and early-stage businesses aligned with the Investment Zone’s sector priorities. The aim is to unlock innovation-led, inclusive economic growth in advanced manufacturing and related sectors by addressing regional equity finance gaps and catalysing further private investment.
International Promotion (£2m) – Led by the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC), this workstream markets the region’s strengths globally to attract foreign investment to the sites through events, delegations, and campaigns.
Team Capacity Support (£7m) – Building capacity to help local authorities and the WMCA to bring the Investment Zone to life.