Teesside Freeport, chaired by Tees Valley Mayor, Lord Ben Houchen, says it has an inward investment pipeline of 67 live projects with a potential of £17.9bn private investment and 6,465 jobs. A delegation of Japanese companies and a Chinese company are said to have visited the area in recent weeks.
No names are given, as is not unusual until deals are done. “At future meetings a breakdown will be provided of enquiries directly relating to Teesside Freeport tax sites,” says a report for the Freeport board on 20 March.
“A high‑level delegation representing 22 leading Japanese businesses visited the Wilton Centre on 16 February 2026 as part of a UK East Coast Clean Energy and Net Zero investment and trade opportunity, coordinated by Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO),” according to the report
“After hearing from four local businesses, the delegation praised the region’s ambition and the strength of its clean energy ecosystem. Several investment and partnership opportunities are now being progressed as a direct outcome of this visit,”
The report goes on: “Tees Valley has been shortlisted by a Chinese client looking for a location for a battery energy storage system. Four locations are being viewed across region on 17 March. This presents a capex (capital expenditure) opportunity of £200mn and 300 jobs.”
What are freeports?
Freeports and investment zones are a legacy of the Conservative Government’s levelling up strategy.
There are eight freeports in England, defined as geographic sites where specific economic regulations, such as tax reliefs, business rates retention, planning and targeted public investment, are applied. Three of them, including Teesside, are combined with investment zones.
Teesside Freeport incorporates 4,500 acres at sites across the area, including, but not only, the ports of Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, Teesworks regeneration site, Wilton International and Teesside International Airport.
The aim is to encourage investment and job creation, but freeports are controversial because some claim the investment and jobs would have happened anyway or would be displaced from elsewhere.
Concerns have also been raised about crime, including trade in counterfeit and pirated goods, drug trafficking, smuggling and money laundering.
Comment
Teesside Freeport is something of a forgotten outpost in Houchen’s, empire. In fact, freeports in general seem to be a left-over from the Conservative Government that its Labour successor cannot make up its mind what to do about.
The House of Commons Trade and Business Select Committee opened an inquiry into freeports and investment zones in June 2023 and published a report in April 2024. The government’s response was due in June 2024 and is thus approaching two years late.
The delay may be connected with Teesport specifically, as the Select Committee considered the findings of the independent Teesside Review as part of its inquiry. The Review was set up in May 2023 by then Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove following allegations in the Commons by Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough (now Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) of corruption connected with the Teesworks site. The inquiry did not find evidence of corruption but did find that standards expected when handling public funds had not been met.
The select committee concluded its report with a recommendation that the Secretary of State “must direct the National Audit Office to scrutinise the expenditure of public funds associated with Teesside Freeport, Tees Valley Combined Authority and South Tees Development Corporation.”
However that may be, the ambitious claim of a £17.9bn, 6,465-job investment pipeline for the freeport is an opportunity to remind ourselves of this unfinished business. As to the investment and the jobs, we will have to wait and see.
