The North East’s next decade: How Freeports can unlock investment, innovation and trade

Freeports have become one of the most debated tools in the UK’s modern industrial strategy: praised as a catalyst for investment and exports, and questioned for whether they genuinely create new value or simply move activity around.

For the North East, the question isn’t theoretical. With airport-anchored infrastructure, growing innovation capacity, and a renewed focus on trade corridors, the region is well placed to turn policy into measurable outcomes.

Why Freeports sit at the centre of the debate

The commentary tends to cluster around three points:

• Additionality: do Freeports create net-new jobs, exports, and productivity, or displace them from nearby areas?

• Quality of growth: are we building higher-value clusters (innovation, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, clean tech), or just warehousing and low-margin logistics?

• Governance and delivery: do Freeports have the leadership, partner alignment, and investment pipeline to convert incentives into real projects?

  
  

The right answer is usually: it depends on execution.

The North East’s opportunity: turning “zones” into “systems”

A Freeport can be a boundary on a map. An industrial strategy needs to be a system.

In practice, the North East’s advantage is the ability to connect four ingredients in one place:

• Global connectivity (air routes, cargo capability, and speed-to-market)

• Infrastructure-ready sites (space that can scale from 10,000 sq ft to much larger footprints)

• Innovation capacity (universities, spin-outs, applied R&D, and sector specialisms)

• Capital and partners (investors, corporates, government agencies, and international networks)

  
  

When those elements are coordinated, Freeport incentives stop being the “strategy” and become the accelerator.

Teesside: a practical example of Freeport-led delivery (ISS Freeports)

One of the most useful ways to move beyond the debate is to look at what delivery can look like in practice.

ISS Freeports is positioned as an initiative to transform Teesside into a globally connected trade and innovation hub, anchored at Teesside International Airport and connected into the wider ISS Airview global ecosystem.

The ambition is explicit and measurable. By 2030, ISS Freeports aims to:

• Deliver over £980 million in annual economic impact

• Create more than 10,000 new jobs

• Activate over 1 million sq ft of Freeport assets

  
  

Just as importantly, the model is designed around more than incentives. ISS Freeports is framed as a fully integrated ecosystem with infrastructure-ready sites and capital-backed plans, targeting active trade corridors to India, the GCC, and wider Asia.

What we’re seeing from investors and corporates

From conversations across the ISS ecosystem, the strongest signals are consistent:

• Investors are backing execution, not slogans. They want to see investable projects with clear demand, credible operators, and a realistic route to revenue.

• Corporates are looking for de-risked entry points. They’re more likely to commit when there’s a ready-made landing pad: space, local delivery partners, and a clear pathway through compliance, hiring, and supply chain setup.

• Internationalisation is becoming a differentiator. Regions that can connect companies to active trade corridors and high-growth markets win disproportionate attention.

  
  

This is where airport-anchored hubs matter: they compress time. Deals, delegations, and market-entry work move faster when the ecosystem is physically designed for international business.

The next decade: three bets that will matter most

If the North East is to convert Freeport policy into long-term industrial advantage, three bets stand out.

1) Build clusters, not just capacity

Warehousing alone won’t define the next decade. The region’s win is in innovation-led trade: sectors where IP, talent, and regulation create defensible value.

2) Treat market access as infrastructure

Export pathways, distribution partners, and in-market credibility need to be built as deliberately as roads and buildings.

3) Make “soft landing” a regional product

Inward investment doesn’t land itself. The North East can compete globally by offering a repeatable, high-trust landing experience for international firms: workspace, introductions, compliance support, and a clear growth plan.

Where ISS Airview fits

ISS Airview is designed to connect the dots that industrial strategy often struggles to join up:

• A flagship hub at Newcastle International Airport within an Enterprise Zone

• A platform that integrates investment, innovation, and internationalisation

• Support for scaleups, investors, governments, corporates, and talent

• A connected partner network across emerging and established markets

  
  

In other words: ISS Airview helps turn the region’s strengths into a repeatable pathway—supporting outward growth for UK scaleups and creating a credible landing pad for inward investment.