by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Business chiefs are being urged to champion the county wherever they go.

This army of Kent Business Champions are asked to talk up the county and underline its great credentials as a location for business growth and lifestyle with the aim of attracting more firms and jobs.

They will be given "toolkits" to help them spread the word, including a "Kent's Economic Story" factsheet, and "sing from the same hymn sheet."

They will also be encouraged to use social media and add promotional links and logos to their websites.

The campaign follows research - commissioned by inward investment agency Locate in Kent - into the county's unique selling points.

Yorkshire-based Thinking Place lists four key themes - business "fit" (for example, big names and brands, quality business parks and an enterprise zone on the Pfizer site at Sandwich); a good place to live and work; London "value" but at a lower cost; and "capital connections" between London, Paris, Brussels and beyond.

Locate in Kent, which has lost substantial funding from SEEDA, the axed regional development agency, hopes to enlist these business champions to add weight to its own marketing campaigns.

Speaking at a launch in Turkey Mill, Maidstone, Chris Kempt, pictured above, who recently moved his games business from St Albans to Canterbury, said he was proud to be in Kent. "What a great place to set up a business. The quality of life is amazing and yet the access to London is super convenient."

Deb Tate of Thinking Place, pictured right, said: "This is about a new narrative for the business offer of Kent. It's about homing in on the points of distinction. The London-Kent-Europe connection is at the heart of the new story."

Business people would be advocates, ambassadors, champions. It didn't matter what they were called but "having that consistency of story is very powerful."

Bosses can signal their support and find more details by emailing businesschampions@locateinkent.com