Kent has become an attractive prospect for overseas companies, a recent study shows.

Research conducted by Locate in Kent shows that 75% of jobs they have attracted in the past year are the result of foreign investment.

The promotional company was established in 1997, they have since been helping businesses to move to, or expand in, the county.

Locate in Kent had a target to create, or retain, 3,310 jobs over the last 12 months, and the promotion agency bettered this, achieving 3,325 opportunities from 46 successful projects.

Of those, 1,934 were new employment openings, being the highest number of direct jobs introduced in the last five years, and 619 were indirectly created by foreign investment in the area.

Foreign investment has seen a boost to the figures across the county, with leading retailers, such as Asda, Aldi and Lidl, contributing hugely to this.

It’s estimated that around 1,480 (77%) of the new jobs attracted by Locate in Kent came via foreign direct investment (FDI), up from 16% in 2013-2014 - with another 917 indirect and safeguarded jobs being from overseas companies.

Paul Wookey, chief executive of Locate in Kent said: “The FDI successes of the past year highlight the attractiveness of Kent as a businesss location.”

“The key to those successes lies in the retail distriubiton sector, where significant investments by Asda, Lidl and Aldo brought a combined total of 1,518 jobs.”

Alongside retail distribution, the high value life sciences sector also proved important, with US healthcare technology company Quvium, becoming the 100th tenant to sign up at Discovery Park, Sandwich - following Genea Biomedx who moved there in 2013.

Mark Dance, Kent County Council cabinet member for economic development said that Locate in Kent’s figures were encouraging, and they were beginning to reap the rewards of a proactive approach to attracting foreign investment.