Teesside Freeport is the largest Freeport in the United Kingdom, where special arrangements apply for

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

ation and

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

. It was launched in 2021. Teesworks Business Secretary Visit

The freeport covers 4,500 acres across multiple sites including: *Teesworks, a former steelworks described as Europe's largest

brownfield site Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

Wilton International Wilton International is a multi-occupancy industrial area between Eston and Redcar, North Yorkshire, England. Originally a chemical plant, it has businesses in a variety of fields including energy generation, plastic recycling and process resea ...

(a former ICI site in

Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Its council has been a unitary authority since 1996. The borough was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh, and was one of four ...

) *

Teesside International Airport Teesside International Airport , formerly Durham Tees Valley Airport, is a small international airport in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It primarily serves Teesside (including Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees), south and ...

, *the sea ports of

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

and

Teesport Teesport is a large sea port located in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, Northern England. Owned by PD Ports, it is located approximately inland from the North Sea and east of Middle ...

South Tees Development Corporation The South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) is the first mayoral development corporation outside of Greater London, established under the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. It was created to "promote the economic growth and comme ...

, which predates the freeport, has made substantial investments at the Teesworks site. With the announcement of the freeport, and the anticipated demand for land within it, the programme of demolition and remediation work was accelerated.

Developments

In 2022 work began on a £400m factory for

SeAh Wind SeAh Wind () is a British company located in Middlesbrough. It is a subsidiary of SeAh Steel Holdings, a South Korean steel company, and manufactures monopiles, which are substructures for offshore wind power generation. It was registered as a co ...

to make

offshore wind turbine Offshore may refer to: Science and technology * Offshore (hydrocarbons) * Offshore construction, construction out at sea * Offshore drilling, discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater through drilling a well * Of ...

bases on part of the Teesworks site acquired by Teesworks Ltd for £100. Other projects have been announced. A Net Zero Teesside Power project broke ground in 2023. NZT Power is a gas-fired power station with carbon capture and storage capability, aiming to become a de-carbonised industrial cluster.

Criticisms of the project

Politicians and the media have criticised Teesworks for possible pollution of the Tees in the context of an unexplained shellfish die-off near Teesside and for a perceived lack of transparency in the transfer of assets.

Pollution concerns

In October 2021 work started on the 1.2 km South Bank Quay project to provide a deep water facility. In the same month thousands of dead crabs and lobsters were washed up on the Tees estuary and beaches along the North-East coast of England. The deaths were first reported in

Seaton Carew Seaton Carew is a seaside resort in the Borough of Hartlepool in County Durham, England. It gives its name to the Seaton ward, which had an estimated population of 7,194 in 2021. It is deemed part of the Hartlepool built-up area by the Office f ...

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority. It is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, and is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdiv ...

and

Seaham Seaham ( ) is a seaside town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham, England, Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as ...

. Some people blamed dredging of the Tees, but this was not supported by government enquiries.

Corruption allegations, transparency concerns and inquiry

The corporate structure behind the freeport includes multiple subsidiary companies of which several have local business owners Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney as directors. MPs have alleged that significant assets have been transferred to these directors without a formal

tendering An invitation to tender (ITT, also known as a call for bids or a request for tenders) is a formal, structured procedure for generating competing offers from different potential suppliers or contractors looking to obtain an award of business activ ...

process as is usual for public-sector development projects in the UK.

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

MP Andy McDonald, citing a ''Private Eye'' article in Parliament, said that the only economic growth being delivered at Teesworks "is into the accounts of Ben Houchen's pals, Messrs Musgrave and Corney". He alleged that for a £100 investment, the developers would "benefit to the tune of £100m".

Teesworks; independent inquiry

The government announced an independent inquiry in May 2023. On the same day the freeport's director, Nolan Gray, announced that he was leaving; the

Tees Valley Combined Authority The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the Combined authorities and combined county authorities, combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in North East England consisting of the following five Unitary authority, unitary authoriti ...

(TVCA) said that the role which was created in 2021 was no longer necessary and that Gray would not be replaced. The inquiry reported in January 2024. It found no evidence of corruption, but criticised lack of transparency. Some people would have liked more involvement on the part of the National Audit Office.

References

{{reflist

External links

Teesside Freeport - Britain’s best connected trade region
Places in the Tees Valley Special economic zones of the United Kingdom