The Government has confirmed that it will create a second Enterprise Zone in Leicestershire, which it says could bring more than 21,000 jobs to the region.

Plans for the £180 million Enterprise Zone were first announced by then Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne last year. It will be known as the Loughborough and Leicester Science and Innovation Enterprise Zone.

Nick Pulley, chairman of the Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), said: “Confirmation of this second Enterprise Zone will make Leicester and Leicestershire extremely attractive to science, innovation and high-tech manufacturing companies looking for research facilities plus industrial and office space to base and expand their businesses.

We have already seen this model working brilliantly at the MIRA Technology Park in the automotive sector; we will look to replicate that in the science, innovation and high-tech manufacturing sectors.”

The Loughborough and Leicester Science and Innovation Enterprise Zone will be led by a partnership involving the LLEP, Loughborough University, Leicester City Council, the University of Leicester, Leicestershire County Council and Charnwood Borough Council.