AROUND 100 new jobs are on the cards at Kent's first hi-tech enterprise hub. The £700,000 Enterprise Hub is based at Horticulture Research International, a pioneering institute at East Malling, near Maidstone. It has won global fame for developing new strains of fruit and promoting organic production.

The hub aims to nurture growing businesses in food, health and the environment. It is sponsored by HRI, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), Kent County Council and East Malling Trust for Horticultural Research.

Bobby Neame, chairman of Faversham brewer Shepherd Neame and High Sheriff of Kent, is the hub’s so-called “business champion,” a prominent business figure who will promote the project in the corridors of power.

Dr David Parry, the hub director, said it was “a place, people and networks. It would promote innovation by giving start-ups access to money, the best expert advice and business support. It was likely to create around 90 jobs and 20 new ventures.

HRI would be offering incubator units at flexible rents for start-up enterprises, some of which would be spun off from its own activities.

“It’s what we need here and it’s what Kent needs,” he said. “It’s very exciting and challenging. “At the moment we have an empty building so there’s nowhere we can go but up.”

Hubs have been developed along the lines of those based around Oxford and Cambridge where hi-tech enterprises often started by bright young graduates are flourishing.

Kent has lagged behind in this knowledge-based revolution and enterprise hubs, a flagship project promoted by Kent-based SEEDA chairman Allan Willett, aim to improve the situation and create clusters of fast-growing firms.

The East Malling hub is one of eight hubs approved in the south east. The county’s next is likely to be based at Sittingbourne Research Centre with a third - possibly in Chatham or Broadstairs - expected to seek official backing next year.