Goole is fast becoming an advanced manufacturing and logistics hub
5 February 2025
Goole in East Yorkshire is fast becoming an investment hot spot for the advanced manufacturing and logistics sector, thanks to the affordability of its land, its central location in the UK, multi-modal transport links and readily available workforce.
The town’s unique offering has already attracted a host of major players from the sector, including Guardian, Siemens, Croda, Elite Office Furniture and Howden’s Joinery, earning it a reputation as a busy hub for advanced manufacturing and logistics.
As the UK’s most inland port, Goole offers easy access to Europe and beyond via the Humber estuary for the import of raw materials and export of goods, but also boasts equally impressive road and rail links. What’s more, businesses opting to locate on a new Freeport Tax site that’s being developed in Goole will be able to enjoy a string of additional benefits, including accelerated capital allowances, relief from stamp duty and land taxes, and relief from business rates and employer’s National Insurance contributions for the first three years of being operational.
Tom Wheldon, Director at Henry Boot Development, a development partner in Goole’s Freeport Tax site, said: “Goole is becoming second to none for advanced manufacturing and logistics due to its skills base. There’s a real cluster developing here; it’s a unique selling point.
“The Freeport is mega in terms of the scale of opportunity and investment to attract inward investment to the area. For a typical occupier, the benefits are roughly the equivalent of two years’ additional free rent! That’s a significant amount of cash in their pocket that allows them to invest.”
Astonishingly, industrial land prices are 51 per cent cheaper in East Yorkshire than elsewhere in England (excluding London) and the Goole area also offers an abundance of flexible Greenfield land, offering a blank canvas to potential investors. Meanwhile, 3.4 million people of working age live within a 60-minute car journey radius.
Leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Councillor Anne Handley: “In recent years, Goole has undergone a phenomenal transformation and the level of support on offer to businesses from East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Invest Goole and Supply Chain Network teams is excellent. The town is going from strength to strength; Goole is where it’s happening!”
