Grow For It campaign at the London Stock Exchange

by business editor Trevor Sturgess

East Kent is open for business big time, Londoners have been told.

Stepping up the Grow for It campaign to woo firms to the east of the county, Kent County Council leader Paul Carter told a 100-strong audience in the London Stock Exchange today the area suffered from myths about apparent remoteness and poor transport links.

"We need to unlock east Kent's potential and bust some of those myths," he said. It was well connected by high speed trains to London and the continent, rents were up to a 10th of London prices, and the quality of life was unsurpassed, with stunning countryside. "East Kent is really open for business big time," Cllr Carter, pictured right, said.

East Kent was one of the best-kept secrets in the south east, possibly in the country, he added. "I hope the London audience has been impressed by what east Kent has to offer. We need to raise awareness of the opportunity there which is why we're investing in the Grow for It campaign."

Five East Kent MPs - Laura Sandys (South Thanet), Julian Brazier (Canterbury), Charlie Elphicke (Dover), Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) and Sir Roger Gale (North Thanet) joined the audience, along with seven business leaders whose enterprises have grown in the area.

As falling share prices were reflected in red by the Stock Exchange's information banners, the red Grow for It logo demonstrated a quite different message - that east Kent is on the up.

Ms Sandys said east Kent had raised its sights and ambitions over the past five years. "This is about growing the economy of East Kent and it's really exciting," she said.

The aim is to attract 3,000 jobs to east Kent, especially at Discovery Park - formerly the Pfizer site at Sandwich - by 2017.

Former Dragons' Den panellist Doug Richard and business minister Michael Fallon (MP for Sevenoaks) gave further heavyweight support to the campaign devised by London-based agency Seven Hills. It also features adverts alongside Tube station escalators, and on the sides of red buses.