THE organisation championing Kent and Medway within Thames Gateway has a new chief executive.

David Liston-Jones has been appointed to lead Thames Gateway Kent Partnership (TGKP), the organisation working on behalf of the three delivery boards for the area – Kent Thameside, Medway Renaissance and Swale Forward.

He arrives from a career in central government where he specialised in urban regeneration. Mr Liston-Jones’s most recent position was with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) as head of the regeneration sponsorship division.

Mr Liston-Jones’s relationship with Thames Gateway dates back to the mid 1990s at the Department of the Environment (DoE). He was one of the first heads of the Thames Gateway Unit between 1996-98 within the DoE.

His new role at TGKP will be to provide strategic leadership, coordinate funding bids and join up the key projects identified across Kent Thameside, Medway and Swale, as part of the drive to secure the area’s regeneration.

Mr Liston-Jones said: "The Thames Gateway is reaching a very exciting period in its development and I’m looking forward to playing a part, working with local partners, in helping to shape a successful and prosperous future for communities throughout North Kent and Medway."

Rob Bennett, chairman of TGKP, said: "David is the perfect man for the job and we’re delighted he has joined us. Over the next three years north Kent must deliver high levels of job growth and quality of life improvements if it is to maintain its share of the on-going ODPM funding programme, which is set to rise to £850million by 2008."

TGKP assists the individual delivery boards by lobbying government departments on behalf of the Kent element of Thames Gateway, as well as helping on projects or issues that need to translate national policies into the regional or local arena.

Mr Bennett added: "David will co-ordinate our efforts to ensure that other funding sources are optimised for the benefit of communities across Thames Gateway Kent, whether from the Department for Transport, Department for Health, Department for Education, Highways Agency, South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), and the local Learning and Skills Council.

"One key message is that now is the time for action, which is why David’s arrival is so timely, as we co-ordinate the preparation of an Economic Development, Innovation & Employment Action Plan for North Kent, on behalf of our partners to improve both competitiveness and prospects, especially in the knowledge-based economy."

Mr Liston-Jones takes over from Marc Hume, who has joined the University of Greenwich as director of enterprise.