News

Businesses offered 100% rates relief under new five-year scheme

09 Oct 2026 3 minute read

Aerial view of the port at Port Talbot (pic supplied by Associated British Ports and free for use for all BBC wire partners)

Lewis Smith, Local Democracy Reporter

A new rates relief scheme for businesses operating out of the south Wales-based Celtic Freeport have been agreed by two county councils.

The scheme will offer up to 100% business rates relief for a period of five years for those operating in the designated tax sites of the Celtic Freeport at Milford Haven and Port Talbot.

The Freeport was first opened in 2024 to attract investment in green energy sectors such as low-carbon fuels, floating offshore wind, clean energy manufacturing, and advanced engineering.

Over a 25-year period it aims to deliver more than £8bn worth of investment and over 11,000 jobs in the area, with the site also expected to play a part in the roll-out of an offshore floating wind-farm in the Celtic Sea.

Freeports are described as special areas within the UK’s borders where different economic regulations apply such as tax incentives for eligible businesses within them.

They also offer simplified customs procedures and planning processes to boost redevelopment in the places close to them with other UK Freeports including the Thames, Teesside, and Liverpool City Freeports.

A report given to members of the Celtic Freeport public funds committee in October 2026 said: “The Celtic Freeport Business Rates Relief Scheme establishes a significant fiscal incentive intended to stimulate new economic activity within the designated Freeport tax sites at Port Talbot and Milford Haven, offering 100% business rates relief for up to five years to eligible businesses, with applications permitted until 31 March 2034.”

It added: “Relief is available only where businesses occupy new or previously unused space, can demonstrate genuine expansion or new activity, and have formal confirmation from the Celtic Freeport Company that their proposals align with the Freeport’s strategic objectives.”

Reimbursement

It also said that Welsh Government would fully reimburse the councils for correctly awarded relief, though acknowledged that incorrect awards could expose the authority to financial risk.

Elsewhere at the meeting, a separate report was approved for the repayment of cash from Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Pembrokeshire County Council, Associated British Ports, and the Milford Haven Port Authority during the establishment of the Freeport.

Officers said this would be in the region of £200,000 each, but highlighted that it could take at least another three or four years before any of the sites were developed to a point at which money could be returned through retained business rates.

The discussions come just months after a five-year plan was published by the Freeport setting out how it intended to deliver jobs and investment, as well as establishing it as a leading hub for energy, manufacturing, and engineering.

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