Investment opportunities

As the capital cost of vehicles using alternative fuels falls, demand for green power will grow exponentially. The UK does not currently have sufficient people or robust supply chains in place to produce hydrogen at scale. However, Kent is at the forefront with plans submitted for a large-scale hydrogen plant at Kemsley Fields Business Park in Sittingbourne.

The food and drink production industry is one of the UK’s largest manufacturing sectors and features heavily in Kent’s economy. Approximately 1 in 4.5 British apples come from commercial orchards in Medway, a sign of the continued success of this sector in Kent, the Garden of England. The largest agricultural sector in Kent is largely soft and top fruit, salad and grapes for wine given the county’s favourable climate and geology. Kent is famous for apples, strawberries and proudly boasts producer brands such as A C Goatham & Son, Chambers, Berry
Gardens, Hugh Lowe, Thanet Earth and Linton Park as well as some of the country’s leading viticulture businesses.

Logistics schemes in Kent tend to be fully let before practical completion. This is due to the excellent motorway connectivity to mainland Europe, London and the rest of the UK. This combined with the fact they are built to the highest sustainability standards makes them attractive for businesses relocating or growing in the UK.

There is a real opportunity for agile firms that can automate and in Kent we are already building that environment. With the green engineering centre launched by East Kent Colleges Group in 2023 and Christ Church Canterbury University’s world-class engineering school both focussing on automation skills, Kent is developing the skills that employers will need and showing the way for the UK.

With plans for decarbonising freight at the Port of Dover and other examples where Kent is championing the road to net zero, there is a growing opportunity for decarbonising the logistics sector in the region. This includes harnessing new technology, fuel systems including hydrogen and methods of ‘last mile’ delivery.

Events over recent years have shown that the balance of risk has shifted against long and complex supply chains. Production in Kent is increasingly more attractive than sourcing from Asia and even the EU, for time critical projects. As with logistics, shortage of qualified engineers is an issue for the UK as well as a robust supply chain to produce many of the components needed. There is an opportunity here in Kent for agile manufacturers that can increase automation with engineers that can adapt. Our cluster of defence manufacturing and supply businesses add another route to growth in support of increased UK defence spending.

Kent has the largest concentration of ports in the Southeast. Complementing the Roll-on-Roll-off at Dover and the Channel Tunnel Le Shuttle at Folkestone, international dry bulk docks are on the River Thames at Dartford and Northfleet. On the River Medway ports at Grain, Sheerness, Chatham and Sittingbourne offer dry and liquid bulk, break bulk and a deep water container terminal.