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Humber Freeport highlights green energy and manufacturing
[ May 23, 2025 // Chris Lewis ]Humber Freeport highlighted the region’s investment proposition and growing momentum at the UK’s largest property and infrastructure event, UKREiiF in Leeds during May.
It joined representatives from across the region at UKREiiF in Leeds, the three-day event aimed at unlocking investment and driving regeneration across the UK.
Central to the panel discussions in which Freeport representatives took part was the Humber’s distinctive proposition as a world-leading hub for green energy and advanced manufacturing, alongside its significant potential to attract large-scale investment through collaborative partnerships.
Representatives included Humber Freeport chief executive Simon Green, both newly elected Mayors for the region – Hull and East Yorkshire Mayor Luke Campbell and Greater Lincolnshire Mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns – and senior leaders from the Department for Business and Trade.
At a panel discussing the unlocking of the Freeport’s potential through strategic partnerships, Green said: “Collaboration has been the consistent theme in everything we’ve achieved over the last two to three years. So far, we’ve helped secure over £1 billion of investment, with companies like Siemens already on site and creating jobs. We expect over 750 jobs to be generated from our early projects alone.
“The Humber offers a competitive advantage within key sectors, particularly in green energy. With 600 hectares of development-ready land across our sites, we’re ideally positioned to drive sustainable economic growth while supporting the UK’s net zero ambitions.”
Discussions highlighted significant investment opportunities across the Freeport’s sites, including the Able Humber Port, which offers nearly 200 hectares of land suited to energy developments and advanced manufacturing.
Dominic Gibbons, managing director of Wykeland Group and a partner of Humber Freeport, emphasised the gathering momentum across the Freeport’s sites, pointing out: “This is the fourth year of UKREiiF, and it feels like the Freeport is really starting to gather momentum across all of the sites. If all of our land – around 600 hectares in total – is developed, it’s a huge opportunity to generate business rates that stay in the region.
“That’s what the collaborative nature of the Freeport is all about – securing those returns, creating new jobs and bringing fresh investment into the area.”
Development director at Able UK, Marcus Walker, highlighted ambitions for the UK’s first offshore wind cluster port, which has the potential to create 7,000 jobs.
He said: “There’s already huge interest in our tax site from sectors like sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen, solar and other manufacturing industries. That’s become we’re surrounded by what you might call an embarrassment of riches – significant refinery capacity and strategic assets.
“We have the land, the infrastructure, and the ambition to create many high-quality jobs for the region.”
Humber Freeport was joined at UKREiiF by Harry Hopkin, a consultant at Sewell Advisory, who commented: “The ports are a huge factor. It’s important that we bring investors and government representatives to the ports to show what we’ve got to offer, and the many opportunities within the Humber estuary.
“You look at the investment from the likes of Siemens – people are beginning to see that the Humber is a place to invest. Siemens has been bringing people, skill and a workforce to the area, which puts us in good stead to become the place to go to for training and jobs.”
In addition to land development, the Freeport highlighted core propositions including customs sites offering tax advantages, a £25 million seed capital fund (of which approximately £14 million has already been allocated to projects within Greater Lincolnshire) and retained business rates that can be reinvested back into economic development projects through to 2046.
Simon Green also shared the Freeport’s focus on driving innovation through its innovation group, in partnership with the University of Lincoln and the University of Hull, which is working with partners like the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in Sheffield to bring back insights and best practices to the region.
“Our ambition is that the Humber becomes as synonymous with innovation and advanced thinking as it is with the physical products its manufactures. That’s what will sustain long-term success beyond just tax incentives or customs benefits,” he concluded.
Tags: Humber Freeport