A council chief is to lead a mission of firms and local authorities to the world's biggest regeneration show next year.

Cllr Alex King, deputy leader of Kent County Council, has confirmed that he is spearheading a major expo designed to bring more jobs into Kent and the UK.

The UK has been chosen as next year's Nation of Honour at MIPIM, the global property festival held for the past 21 years in the French Riviera resort of Cannes. That means a higher profile for the country's regions.

It is not cheap for local council to promote themselves at MIPIM . Big players like Manchester and Birmingham can afford to attend but with the squeeze on public spending, many other authorities like will be priced out of the action, potentially missing out on jobs and investment.

So Cllr King is working with the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) to pull off a pioneering project - persuading private firms and local councils to band together to fund a major display at the 2011 MIPIM.

"We have a major opportunity in the run-up to the Olympic Games to showcase UK Plc and the bits of it that cannot afford to do it on their own," he told property experts in Cannes.

"I have wanted for some time to put all the local authorities together with the private sector and do something different. We will do some things that will be fun as well."

Although "no bullets were flying, we are in a period of serious economic warfare. We are fighting the worst recession since the Second World War. The real opportunity in periods of recession is for people to think outside the box, work together and come together with common aims."

Jackie Sadek, chairman of BURA and former boss of Kent Thameside Delivery Board, paid tribute to Cllr King, calling him a "most venerable, highly regarded and respected politician."

"Local authority participation at MIPIM is under threat," she said "We at BURA are moving decisively behind local authorities who may not be able to afford to come or justify coming and finding a route to market."