Two councils have won an award for an Enterprise Zone that is expected to facilitate 2,000 jobs and 55 new businesses.

Purbeck District Council and Dorset County Council have won an award for the new Dorset Innovation Park Enterprise Zone at Winfrith.

The Federation of Small Businesses' (FSB) award for “Most Innovative ‘Small Business Friendly’ Programme or Project” was presented to leader of Purbeck District Council, Gary Suttle.

The Dorset Innovation Park is the county’s second largest employment site. It received the enterprise zone status officially in April 2017.

Enterprise Zones are geographically defined areas, hosted by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), in which commercial and industrial businesses can receive incentives to set up or expand.

There has been significant investment in the whole site by Purbeck District Council, Dorset County Council, the Homes and Communities Agency, and Dorset LEP which also led on securing enterprise zone status.

Cllr Suttle said: “When the site’s previous owners went into receivership, the councils and Dorset LEP took decisive action to save the site from total collapse. We were committed to restoring confidence to existing companies and secure its future as the base for advanced engineering businesses.”

He added: "The former nuclear energy test site presented a unique and challenging opportunity for economic growth and I am proud that we have been recognised for our commitment."

The park is already home to world leaders in marine, defence and advanced engineering, including Atlas Elektronik, QinetiQ and Optasense. The commercial proposition is to create a sector focus in an advanced engineering cluster of excellence building on strengths in marine, defence and energy.

The site is strategically important for Dorset and is recognised by the Department for International Trade as a strategic employment site marketed for inward investment activity.

Rob Dunford, Interim Director Dorset LEP said: “For Dorset LEP the Enterprise Zone represents significant government commitment to Dorset’s long-term economic growth and the development of Dorset Innovation Park Enterprise Zone is a priority for the LEP. We are accountable to government for the success of the Enterprise Zone over a 25 year period and will continue to work closely with our local partners on taking it forward.”

Cllr Deborah Croney, Cabinet member for economy, education, learning and skills at Dorset County Council, said: “Dorset Innovation Park represents a significant commitment and investment by the two local authorities and the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership to economic growth and support for small businesses. We are delighted that this initiative has been recognised by FSB.

“Helping to grow our small business community is a key priority, not just in terms of economy and growth, but also for employment opportunities in the local economy.”

The construction of 20 new employment units on the site is nearing completion as part of a £2.5million workspace project by Purbeck District Council and Dorset County Council, made possible by funding secured by Dorset LEP via the Government’s Local Growth Fund.