WHITEHILL and Bordon’s Enterprise Zone has passed a key milestone, with technology and start-up businesses among those which could benefit the most.

Those looking to start, their business in Whitehill and Bordon, or who want to move an existing business to the town, could benefit from a £55,000-a-year business-rate discount.

East Hampshire District Council recently approved plans which will make the discount available to eligible ventures as part of the Government’s Enterprise Zone scheme, which aims to stimulate the economy by making life easier for businesses.

The Enterprise Zone, due to open in April next year, will encourage businesses to invest in commercial space at Louisburg Barracks.

The council said the digital sector was “the focus” of this Enterprise Zone, which would “establish Whitehill and Bordon as a hub for innovative technology businesses”.

In turn, this will create employment in the area.

The business-rate discount, available for up to five years, will create a possible saving of £275,000 for businesses situated in the Enterprise Zone by March 2022.

Additionally, an estimated £12million of retained business rates will be reinvested in the local area, in partnership with the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership to support the provision of infrastructure and encourage business growth.

The Whitehill and Bordon Enterprise Zone will launch on April 1 next year and operate for 25 years.

An aim among developers, councillors and council officers alike has been to create employment as part of the town’s regeneration.

Few critics of the regeneration scheme doubt that thousands of houses will be built, but the promise of 5,500 news jobs has been met with scepticism from some. But making the area desirable, and even financially beneficial, to would-be employers may go some way to quelling doubts.

Speaking after the district council’s cabinet approved the plans on Thursday, October 13, council leader Ferris Cowper said: “We are 100 per cent committed to the regeneration of Whitehill and Bordon, and the Enterprise Zone is a key part of our journey. Retention of business rates ensures that funds are directed straight back to the community to develop the area.”

Geoff French, chairman of the Enterprise M3 LEP, was also happy to hear of the district council’s formal approval. “Enterprise M3 LEP is pleased that East Hampshire District Council is proactively supporting the creation of the Enterprise Zone,” he said.

“By working together this will secure long-term economic growth and bring real value to the area’s businesses and communities.”

The plan is part of the district council’s avowed ambition to become “one of the most business-friendly councils in the country”.

Last autumn, then Chancellor George Osborne announced a new Enterprise Zone to cover Basing View, in Basingstoke; Longcross Park, in Chertsey, and Whitehill and Bordon.

Working with East Hampshire District Council, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Runnymede Borough Council, the Enterprise M3 LEP led a competitive bid for a multi-site Enterprise Zone.

The LEP said it would work with councils, developers and other stakeholders to invest the retained business rates locally, estimated to be in the region of £178m over 25 years, in ways which will “increase prosperity and create further development opportunities”.

This funding will be used to invest in “physical infrastructure and place-making projects”.

Business growth will be achieved in a number of ways which will include accelerating development of so-called grade A office space; establishing business-incentive schemes; positioning and marketing the Enterprise Zones as an “important digital cluster” and “attracting foreign direct investment”. In total, there are plans for 48 Enterprise Zones to be in place in England by April next year.