Reform UK will make the Black Country Britain's first Industrial Stronghold, with a package of tax breaks and planning reforms to reverse decades of industrial decline.
Speaking at a rally in Wolverhampton, Reform UK Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick announced a new deal to help businesses expand, create high-quality jobs and rebuild the communities successive Conservative and Labour governments have left behind.
“A Reform government will create Industrial Strongholds to bring industry back to the places that invented it”, he said.
“In every one, businesses will get big tax breaks if – and only if – they grow and develop their firms there.”
The first Stronghold will cover Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell,Walsall and Cannock Chase. Further Strongholds will be established in regions hardest hit by decades of decline.
The policy will reward businesses that invest in the area, expand their premises and take on more workers.
Speaking at a rally in Wolverhampton, Reform UK Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick announced a new deal to help businesses expand, create high-quality jobs and rebuild the communities successive Conservative and Labour governments have left behind.
“A Reform government will create Industrial Strongholds to bring industry back to the places that invented it”, he said.
“In every one, businesses will get big tax breaks if – and only if – they grow and develop their firms there.”
The first Stronghold will cover Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell,Walsall and Cannock Chase. Further Strongholds will be established in regions hardest hit by decades of decline.
The policy will reward businesses that invest in the area, expand their premises and take on more workers.
A new deal for every street, every trade, and every firm, whatever its size
Employers' National Insurance contributions will be halved on the first 50% of earnings – subject to a threshold – for net additional employees for five years, making it cheaper for firms to take on more workers.
Businesses will also benefit from 10-year exemptions on the additional business rates generated by new investment and improvements. The exemptions will extend to businesses opening in high street retail units that have stood empty for more than two years, helping bring abandoned premises back into use and reviving failing high streets.
New brownfield residential buildings, extensions and substantial improvements will qualify for 100% first-year tax relief.
Alongside these incentives, Reform will streamline planning through a presumption in favour of development consistent with an updated local plan, strictly limiting the circumstances in which applications can be refused.
“And by enabling these businesses, by getting out of their way, we will bring industry back to this country”, Jenrick said.
“And the very first one in Britain will be in and around the Black Country.”Despite years of neglect, the area retains enormous potential, with a resilient manufacturing base, brownfield land ready for redevelopment and direct access to the M5, M6 and M54.
Yet around 7,000 jobs were lost in the Black Country in 2024 alone. Reform’s plan will give firms the incentives to invest in its recovery.
This latest announcement builds on Reform’s commitments to restart licensing for new oil and gas fields, abolish the energy profits levy and scrap the Emissions Trading Scheme, tackling the energy costs holding British industry back.
For Jenrick, the ambition reaches across the whole area: “All of it. Wolverhampton. Dudley. Sandwell. Walsall. And Cannock.”
“A new deal for every street, every trade, and every firm, whatever its size.”
Businesses will also benefit from 10-year exemptions on the additional business rates generated by new investment and improvements. The exemptions will extend to businesses opening in high street retail units that have stood empty for more than two years, helping bring abandoned premises back into use and reviving failing high streets.
New brownfield residential buildings, extensions and substantial improvements will qualify for 100% first-year tax relief.
Alongside these incentives, Reform will streamline planning through a presumption in favour of development consistent with an updated local plan, strictly limiting the circumstances in which applications can be refused.
“And by enabling these businesses, by getting out of their way, we will bring industry back to this country”, Jenrick said.
“And the very first one in Britain will be in and around the Black Country.”Despite years of neglect, the area retains enormous potential, with a resilient manufacturing base, brownfield land ready for redevelopment and direct access to the M5, M6 and M54.
Yet around 7,000 jobs were lost in the Black Country in 2024 alone. Reform’s plan will give firms the incentives to invest in its recovery.
This latest announcement builds on Reform’s commitments to restart licensing for new oil and gas fields, abolish the energy profits levy and scrap the Emissions Trading Scheme, tackling the energy costs holding British industry back.
For Jenrick, the ambition reaches across the whole area: “All of it. Wolverhampton. Dudley. Sandwell. Walsall. And Cannock.”
“A new deal for every street, every trade, and every firm, whatever its size.”
