A £180,000 creative skills campaign has been launched to boost business.

The Tonic Creative Business Project aims to help firms and individuals in Medway and Folkestone, areas that are using the arts and creative talent to revive their areas.

The year-long scheme was unveiled this week on board HMS Gannet in Chatham Historic Dockyard.

It offers nine free courses at several venues, with successful completion giving credits towards a university degree.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that creative industries are vital to the UK's economic growth.

Tonic organisers say that by improving creative skills, businesses can be more profitable and compete better with overseas firms.

They also claim that individuals will benefit because of better job opportunities and the chance of going go on to higher education.

Courses cover creative thinking, enterprise and innovation, entrepreneurship for creatives, event design, marketing, problem solving, project management, team-building and negotiation, and visual presentations.

Project manager Louise Tucker said: "People have to upskill if they want to compete in the modern world. We’re very under-skilled, particularly in this area and in these sectors. We are one of the leading creative nations but we could very quickly lose that lead. If they don’t adopt design and branding techniques very quickly, they’re going to lose that edge."

Dianne Taylor, executive dean of the University College for the Creative Arts (UCCA) in Rochester added: "It’s a revolutionary scheme, very exciting."

Tonic is funded by the Kent and Medway Lifelong Learning Network and involves UCCA, the Universityof Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, and other colleges across the county.