ARTICLE · 09 JULY 2021

Innovation - The Softer Side Of Freeports

Shoosmiths

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There are plenty of articles which set out the "hard facts" of Freeports - the locations, tax benefits etc. - but are we all missing the real point?

United KingdomGovernment, Public Sector

James Wood-Robertson

There are plenty of articles which set out the "hard facts" of Freeports - the locations, tax benefits etc. - but are we all missing the real point? One of the key objectives of the UK government was to "create hotbeds for innovation".

The bidding prospectus said:

"Freeports will focus private and public-sector investment in R&D, they will be dynamic environments that bring together innovators to collaborate in new ways, while offering controlled spaces to develop and trial new ideas and technologies."

So isn't it right that we should be saying more about Freeports being catalysts for wider change? There is a real opportunity here for different sectors to come together and innovate.

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