NEWS released earlier this month that Thurrock will play host to one of the UK's new Freeports has sparked a huge level of interest in investment and relocation to the borough.

Thurrock Nub News reported on 3 March that the bid for Freeport status led by DP World London Gateway port and the Port of Tilbury in conjunction with Ford, the planned Thames Enterprise Par and Thurrock Council had proved successful.

Now the two ports have revealed a huge surge in interest and say they have received more new enquiries from businesses looking to relocate to the region this month than at any point in the last decade.

Enquiries have ranged from fresh space for industrial processes, manufacturing and logistics centres to electrification hubs, innovation incubators and support services as businesses look to utilise the development-ready, low tax and pro-trade platform.

Thames Freeport is a digitally linked economic zone connecting Ford's Dagenham engine plant, the global ports at London Gateway and Tilbury, and many communities in urgent need of 'levelling-up'.

Businesses looking to expand are being urged to take advantage of the tax benefits of relocating to the Freeport and being part of a customs zone, which will enable the businesses to continue to have low friction trade processes with the EU and global markets.

Chief Financial Officer at DP World in the UK , Alan Shaoul said: "We have seen a surge of interest in the last four weeks from businesses who want to understand more about the benefits of locating or expanding at Thames Freeport as the economy continues to recover briskly from the pandemic.

"Our London Gateway site alone has almost 10m square feet of land that has planning consent. This oven-ready land means that we have the capacity to expand our operational area, and therefore attract new foreign direct investment, within months not years."

Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer at Forth Ports (owner of the Port of Tilbury and Tilbury2), said: "We've made an early commitment across the Thames Freeport sites backed by substantial investment to ensure our facilities and development areas are ripe for fresh business growth opportunities.

"Our sites provide first-class global and domestic connections for businesses looking to site their activities at the heart of Europe's biggest consumer market and a resurgent industrial cluster to develop low carbon logistics solutions."

See the Thames Freeport website for more information.