Insider Media Limited

Enterprise zones across the West Midlands could offer a lifeline for small and medium-sized businesses along the route of HS2 which are forced to move. That's the view of Andrew Cook at property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).

Cook said that businesses which are forced to move by compulsory purchase could be financially better off if they are prepared to move into one of the new zones.

The Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP board has submitted plans to form a zone in Birmingham city centre and is also planning an 'enterprise belt' stretching from Staffordshire and North Worcestershire along the M42.

Other zones have also been proposed in Staffordshire, Worcestershire, the East Midlands and the Black Country.

Cook, director of valuation in the Birmingham office of national commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton, said: "While we are in full support of HS2 and the economic benefits it will bring to the region, the terms of the compulsory purchase legislation under which the HS2 promoters will have to proceed mean that small and medium businesses will be offered the value of their property plus an additional sum of up to 10 per cent to compensate for inconvenience.

"However, it could be that if they are close to an enterprise zone or areas where other business incentives are in place, this could be an opportunity for them to relocate and benefit from a considerable reduction in overheads. As such, HS2 could be the spur for a new start to the business or an opportunity to upgrade their premises."