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As Mayor of the East Midlands, I am determined to unlock our region’s full potential. With unique industrial strengths in energy, aerospace, automotive and rail, alongside strategic incentives and world-class assets, the East Midlands is ready to grow and welcome new investment.

Our Vision for Growth builds on our successes, identifying opportunities to deliver 100,000 new jobs, 52,000 new homes and £4 billion for the UK economy. Now is the moment to invest: join us in making the East Midlands the best place to live, work, and learn.

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Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands

East Midlands Airport is the UK’s

most important

airport for dedicated cargo flights.

1,000 tonnes of cargo a day

£40bn of trade to and from the UK and £11bn of non-EU imports and exports each year

STEP Fusion

Situated on the banks of the River Trent, West Burton was selected as the site for the ground-breaking Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production. Part of the Supercluster in our new East Midlands Vision for Growth, the development will produce a globally significant centre to generate highly skilled labour & innovative supply chains.

East Midlands Freeport

Located at the heart of the UK, East Midlands Freeport (EMF) is the country’s only inland freeport and a strategic hub for global trade. Home to East Midlands Airport, the UK’s busiest ‘pure’ cargo airport, EMF offers unmatched connectivity and logistical advantages, housing the East Midlands Intermodal Park and being on the M1 Motorway. With investment sites in our Trent Arc, EMF’s unique position and beneficial economic regulations stimulate innovation, encourage investment, and allow businesses to leverage their commercial and industrial strengths.

SmartParc

SmartParc SEGRO is a state-of-the-art food manufacturing and distribution park providing food manufacturing facilities from start-up incubation units to large-scale manufacturing facilities, ranging from 50,000 sq ft to 400,000 sq ft. The campus is already home to an innovative HelloFresh distribution centre (the company's largest in Europe), as well as a 23-acre frozen manufacturing and logistics facility, currently under construction on behalf of Greggs. The campus will also feature a 'Food Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence'.

Nottingham Regeneration

Nottingham City Council has launched a £4 billion development programme to revitalise and regenerate the city. This ambitious project aims to transform Nottingham into a vibrant and sustainable city by focusing on key areas such as infrastructure, housing, and green spaces. Part of our Trent Arc growth strategy area, the programme includes a wide range of initiatives, including the construction of new homes, the development of modern office spaces, improvements to transport and connectivity, and the creation of attractive public spaces. The aim is to become a leading destination for business and innovation, while also prioritising environmental sustainability and promoting community well-being.

East Midlands Investment Zone

The Island Quarter, Nottingham

Derby Station Quarter

Derby – home to Europe’s largest rail cluster – has been chosen as the HQ location for Great British Railways (GBR). Rail Campus Derby is an ambitious plan to leverage GBR’s presence – capitalising on the city’s reputation as a pioneering global centre for rail R&D to attract more rail-related businesses intending to expand and relocate.

Alongside this, Derby has formally adopted new interim planning guidance for an exciting new quarter around the city’s main train station. The Station Quarter aims to create a vibrant, sustainable urban community, featuring new and improved spaces for hospitality, meeting up and entertainment, as well as 1,500 new city centre homes.

Derby – Heart of the City

Based in and around Derby’s award-winning, historic Cathedral Quarter, the Cultural Heart of the City scheme is the linchpin of a dramatic rejuvenation of Derby’s city centre with investment opportunities for office, leisure and residential development and a key opportunity within our Trent Arc growth strategy area. Derby has seen over £5bn invested into the city since 2005 from the public and private sectors and schemes completing in 2025 include the £35m Victorian Market Hall, creating a hub for F&B, pop-ups and makers and traders, and a £45m, 3,500-capacity performance venue, funded by Derby City Council and operated by ASM Global.

Automated Distribution and Manufacturing Centre

Located in our Heartlands Growth Strategy Area, the Automated Distribution and Manufacturing Centre (ADMC) will be an international centre of excellence, providing access to the latest technologies and best practice in automated distribution. Its home will be at the £100m innovation and technology park site on Lowmoor Road, Sutton in Ashfield, opposite Sutton Parkway train station. The ADMC is ideally located because of its central location in the county, great transport links, and the strong manufacturing base in the area. It is also found close to Vision West Notts College technology campus, as well as the A38 and M1 and near major cities.

The Island Quarter, Nottingham

Located within our Trent Arc Growth Strategy Area, The Island Quarter presents a lucrative £1.4bn investment opportunity for those seeking to be a part of Nottingham’s new and unique city destination. This innovative 36-acre site has been masterfully designed around the 15-minute city concept, creating a hub for living, working, and socialising. At the heart of the development is a ‘green river,’ which is surrounded by more than 20 restaurants and bars, a 223-room IHG hotel, over 900 residential units, nearly 60,000 sq ft of office space, and 693 student accommodation beds.
With a range of amenities and a central location, The Island Quarter is set to become a highly sought-after destination, offering exceptional potential for investment returns.

Fairham Life

Fairham is a 606-acre site on the southern edge of Nottingham (part of our Trent Arc Growth Strategy Area), set to become the region’s prime commercial and residential destination. Boasting world-class connectivity, Fairham sits alongside the new £150 million A453 Remembrance Way that links directly to the M1.

The development includes more than £100 million of new infrastructure improvements as well as up to 3,000 new homes, a new neighbourhood centre with local shops, a health centre, community buildings and a new primary school. Up to one million square feet of employment opportunities will also be delivered at Fairham Business Park.

Drakelow Development

Formerly home to three coal-fired power stations, the 282-hectare Drakelow site has approval for an employment park, over 2,000 homes, and a local centre with retail, leisure, and education facilities. This area is home to global businesses such as Alstom, JCB, Nestlé, Rolls-Royce, and Toyota UK. Permission also exists on the site for new power generation facilities alongside an existing solar farm.

Drakelow lies adjacent to Burton upon Trent in the National Forest, close to the A38/A50 intersection of the national road network and near to Birmingham International and East Midlands Airports and mainline railway stations. The site sits on the primary corridor between the East and West Midlands conurbations.

Formerly home to three coal-fired power stations, the site is one of the largest brownfield sites in the region. It is bounded by the River Trent and a nature reserve and encompasses a National Grid sub-station and a large area anticipated for further employment opportunities in the future.

To improve connectivity a new bridge over the River Trent and bypass of the village of Walton upon Trent are to be completed in 2026, linking the site directly to the A38 at Barton Turn. Access is currently available from the north for construction.

Heart of Chesterfield

Chesterfield town centre is undergoing an exciting transformation, with major refurbishment across key sites. Investment opportunities span retail, leisure, office, health, and hospitality, alongside residential developments to enhance town centre living. Chesterfield Borough Council seeks developers to create vibrant spaces contributing to a thriving community. The £20 million Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield Project is improving public spaces, including a revamped marketplace and cultural offerings at Stephenson Memorial Hall. Developments such as Chesterfield Waterside, Northern Gateway, town centre living schemes, and the Chesterfield Station Masterplan will further shape a dynamic and sustainable town centre.

New Stanton Park

New Stanton Park is the most development-ready destination for manufacturing and logistics businesses in the East Midlands, with Italian manufacturer Fassa Bortolo securing permission for a manufacturing plant and freight logistics specialist DX Group already active form the site.

Covering more than 200 acres, New Stanton park has a direct rail connection to the Midland Mainline (with a large goods siding) and excellent connectivity to the major road network, with Junction 25 of the M1 less than 10 minutes’ away.  It has outline consent for B1, B2 and B8 industrial and logistics uses, can accommodate up to 30m eaves height and a single building of up to 1 million sq ft. Site infrastructure is already in place and excellent utilities provision includes a power supply up to 36 MvA. An amenities plot, led by McDonald’s, Starbucks and InstaVolt EV charging, is already open. It is close to extensive skilled labour markets.

Markham Vale

A 200-acre site, sitting next to the M1 at Junction 29A, Markham Vale is already home to dozens of businesses. The new Trade Park development is now available, with units ranging from 3,817 – 17,000 sq. ft.

Phase One of ARK will bring industrial space ranging from 17,050 – 39,950 sq. ft. by November 2025. Coming soon, the Nova scheme will see two units, comprising 242,000 and 491,000 sq. ft. of prime commercial space.

Peak Resort (Birchall Estate)

Consented on 283 acres (114 hectares) of reclaimed former opencast land, PEAK proposes the UK’s first purpose-built national park gateway ‘resort town’. Planning approvals totalling 168,000 sq. m. have been granted to facilitate extensive experiential retail, leisure and educational facilities, a wellness clinic, 2,850 car parking spaces and up to 2,000 hotel rooms and 250 holiday lodges. The development also has consent for its own energy park.

Phase One has officially broken ground and is scheduled to open to visitors in 2027/8.

East Midlands Investment Zone

The East Midlands Investment Zone was formally announced in October 2024. The EMIZ will focus on the development of the Advanced Manufacturing and Green Industries sectors across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Three sites have been designated to host a package of incentives including Business Rate Retention and Tax reliefs. These sites are Infinity Park Derby (part of our Trent Arc), Hartington Staveley (part of our Canal Corridor) and the Explore Park, Worksop. EMIZ is boosted by a £140m investment package over ten years which will improve innovation, create thousands of jobs and lever in private investment to the sectors and area.

Cinderhill Employment Park

175-acre Industrial and Logistics Park adjoining A38 with planning consent to accommodate up to 1.34 m sq. ft buildings ranging from 80,000 sq. ft to 520,000 sq. ft. with potential to deliver Large Footprint. The site and its development has been recognised in Local Plans with the aim to bring forward a strategic mixed use site including business and industrial development that can contribute to meeting employment requirements at the regional, subregional and local levels.

The site is located between the towns of Belper and Ripley adjacent to the A38 and north of Derby Road, Denby. The site is bound by the A38 dual carriageway which runs in a north/south direction along the western boundary with the established I & L corridor, 8 miles from Derby/ J28 Mansfield. Delivery Timescale: 1-7 years with buildings available from 2027.