Maine Stays Journal · Local guide
DY5 Enterprise Zone: Brierley Hill's business district explained
DY5 is Dudley's Business and Innovation Enterprise Zone, created in 2017 around the Waterfront and five other sites in Brierley Hill and Pensnett. It offered businesses up to £55,000 of business rate relief a year for five years and, by Dudley's count, has brought 970 new jobs and 120 new businesses.
What DY5 is
DY5 is Dudley's Business and Innovation Enterprise Zone, named after the Brierley Hill postcode district. It was created in 2017 and covers 40 hectares of land set aside for offices, technology, industry and housing.
It is made up of six sites. Five are in Brierley Hill: the Waterfront, Harts Hill, Canal Walk, Archill and Blackbrook Valley. The sixth is the Dreadnought Business Park in Pensnett.
Pensnett and the Dreadnought site
The sixth DY5 site, the Dreadnought Business Park, is in Pensnett, a village about 2 miles south-west of Dudley that has been part of Dudley since 1966. Its name joins the Celtic pen, a hill, with the Anglo-Saxon snaed, a piece of woodland. Pensnett Chase, the common land around it, was enclosed by an Act of 1784 that kept the mining rights for the lord of the manor. Coal and ironstone were worked here for centuries.
What it offered businesses
Firms moving into the zone could receive up to £55,000 of business rate relief every year for five years, along with land remediation funding, superfast broadband and a streamlined planning process. When it was created, nearly 15% of the borough's workforce worked in manufacturing, which gave incoming firms a skilled local workforce to draw on.
What it has delivered
Two years in, in April 2019, the zone had 26 businesses, 610 new jobs, five hectares of land developed and nearly 6,000 square metres of floor space refurbished. Its 25-year targets included 300 new businesses, 110,000 square metres of new offices, 36,000 square metres of technology space and 65,000 square metres of industrial space.
Dudley's latest figures put the total at £33 million of investment value, 970 new jobs and 120 new businesses, with 16.25 hectares developed, 18,892 square metres of floor space refurbished and 37,716 square metres of new floor space built.
The first enterprise zone here
DY5 is not the first. In 1980 the government made the farmland next to the Round Oak Steelworks an enterprise zone. That zone produced the Merry Hill Shopping Centre and the original Waterfront offices. A 2011 bid for new enterprise zone status for the Waterfront was turned down before DY5 succeeded.
What the 1980 zone offered
The 1980 zone gave businesses relaxed planning rules, enhanced capital allowances on industrial and commercial buildings, exemption from Development Land Tax and ten years free of business rates. No large manufacturer arrived, so the Richardson brothers, who had bought both Merry Hill Farm and the Round Oak site, turned the farmland to shops and leisure instead.
Working in DY5
The tram extension now under way is designed to serve the Waterfront business park, with the Midland Metro Alliance aiming to reach Merry Hill in 2028. For crews and project teams working on DY5 sites, our house, The Merry Hill Lounge, is about 2 miles by road from the Waterfront, with free off-road parking for vans as well as cars.
Where to stay: The Merry Hill Lounge
- Four bedrooms and a sofa bed, sleeping up to 10
- Two bathrooms, a full kitchen and a washer dryer
- Free off-road parking with room for vans as well as cars
- 500 Mb Wi-Fi and a private back garden
- Bills included, with up to 20% off stays of 28 nights or more
Sources
- Dudley Business First: DY5 Enterprise Zone
- Black Country Radio, 25 April 2019
- Wikipedia: Merry Hill Shopping Centre
- Wikipedia: Brierley Hill
- Wikipedia: Pensnett
- Midland Metro Alliance, 11 July 2025
Sources checked on 6 October 2026. Road distances are measured on OpenStreetMap from the house, The Merry Hill Lounge, on 6 October 2026.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the DY5 Enterprise Zone?
Dudley's Business and Innovation Enterprise Zone, created in 2017 across 40 hectares at six sites in Brierley Hill and Pensnett.
What incentives did DY5 offer?
Up to £55,000 of business rate relief a year for five years, land remediation funding, superfast broadband and streamlined planning.
How far is The Merry Hill Lounge from the Waterfront?
About 2 miles by road from the house.
Your Black Country stay,
sorted.
The Merry Hill Lounge: a whole house in Brierley Hill for up to 10, with parking, fast Wi-Fi and every bill included.