Essex: a county of growth and evolution

Essex’s position in the UK, its proximity to the vibrant economies of London, Cambridge and Europe and its excellent air, road and sea logistics infrastructure means that it is a county superbly positioned for business possessing a reach across the UK, to Europe and the rest of world.

Essex has earned a reputation as an entrepreneurial and vibrant business environment and is among the UK’s top economies. This position will be further galvanised by a huge £5bn investment over the next 15-20 years into Essex’s industry, infrastructure and housing, adding stimulace to Essex’s internationally competitive economy.

Essex is a county of growth with high targets set around three main growth areas: Thames Gateway, Haven Gateway and the M11 corridor in the east of the county which includes London Stansted Airport.

Thames Gateway is Europe’s largest regeneration programme. Thames Gateway South Essex is home to Ford’s £300m pa R&D centre, Coryton Refinery – a major UK fuel supplier, and is a critical component supplier to Boeing.

Thames Gateway is also the site for the London Gateway Port, the UK’s first 21st century major deep-sea container port and Europe’s largest business park. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames near Thurrock in Essex, this development will provide unrivalled deep-seaport capacity and an integrated road, rail and sea network.

More than £1.5bn is being invested in the new development by DP World, one of the largest marine terminal operators in the world. This is the largest capital investment project in the UK and will lead to the creation of over 12,000 new jobs. In addition to the port itself, the site will see the development of a huge 9.5 million sq ft business park, the largest outside London.

Haven Gateway, which includes Harwich and Colchester in Essex and Felixstowe in nearby Suffolk, is one of the fastest growing areas in Europe containing the UK’s single most important cluster of seaports and a vibrant business community spanning many industry sectors. A total of 50,000 jobs are expected to be created in this gateway.

Haven Gateway is benefiting from private and public sector investment to develop business and skills infrastructures, housing and large scale town regeneration.

This regeneration project includes the development of Bathside Bay, a £300m deep-sea container port development at Harwich International Port, which will enable the port to handle up to four deep-sea container vessels simultaneously, making it potentially the second largest container port in the UK. This development will lead to the creation of some 800 direct jobs, with many thousands more resulting from inward investment by companies seeking to be close to this major seaport.

M11 corridor and London Stansted Airport, with its five year expansion plan, is one of the main reasons the Government has earmarked this region for house building and infrastructure improvements. Stansted is the UK’s third busiest airport currently serving around 23m passengers and 184,000 air transport movements a year. On October 9, 2008 the Government granted permission for increased passenger numbers on Stansted’s existing single runway allowing up to 35 million passengers a year. Stansted is also a major commercial airport and is London’s second largest airport for cargo, transporting over £8bn worth of freight every year accounting for approximately 13 percent of all UK air freight.

Invest Essex has experience in working with companies of all sizes wanting to locate in the county. Essex is a county of growth and INVEST Essex can help businesses maximise their potential and take advantage of the opportunities the county has to offer.