A business rates discount scheme in the Potteries is set to be extended for a further five years.

The business rates discount scheme for the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone, alongside the A500, has created 1,969 jobs since it was launched in 2016.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council says the zone is on target to create more than 4,300 jobs by 2028 and up to 116 hectares of brownfield land are set to be brought back into use.

The business rate discounts were initially due to end in March 2021. However, they were extended for four of the six sites of the zone - Tunstall Arrow, Chatterley Valley East, Cliffe Vale and Highgate & Ravensdale.

Now, if approved by cabinet on Wednesday 19 August, the scheme will be extended for a further five years, from March 2026, and will include the Etruria Valley area – meaning all of the sites in Stoke-on-Trent are covered.

Cllr Jane Ashworth, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: "The Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone has been a terrific success so far, bringing in jobs and businesses across a wide range of sectors and transforming a large swathe of former industrial brownfield land into an attractive area for modern businesses.

"So, it absolutely makes sense to extend and expand the business rates discount to help attract further inward investment and give companies the incentive to set up here, adding to the economic prosperity of the area - benefitting everyone."  

The business rates discount scheme is only applicable for professional services, manufacturing, industrial uses or creative industries. North Staffordshire firms moving into the enterprise zone have to demonstrate employment growth of 20 per cent to benefit from the scheme.

If approved, the scheme will run until March 2031.