Amid all the jobs doom and gloom, one business is about to flourish and take on hundreds of staff.

Thanet Earth, one of the country’s most ambitious growing projects, has launched the first phase of its recruitment programme.

The first advertisements for three senior management jobs are now appearing in the local press and online. Others for up to 550 jobs will appear as the project at Birchington develops.

Three enormous glasshouses and a packhouse are under construction, with four more planned next year. Each glasshouse is an individual business and employer in its own right.

When completed, Thanet Earth will be the biggest, most hi-tech producer of salads in the UK, and give Thanet a reputation for producing some of the country’s finest salad crops – tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Most of the production will be sold to supermarkets.

The hi-tech site features a high level of automation, designed for efficiency, speed and protecting crops from too much handling.

Thanet Earth Marketing is responsible for marketing the salad crops and running the packhouse, which is also a self-contained business.

Steve McVickers, managing director of Thanet Earth Marketing, said: "We’re at the start of something really exciting with Thanet Earth.

"We need a dynamic, flexible team who are looking to make their individual mark by embarking on a career with such an innovative, forward-thinking development."

Thanet Earth is a joint venture between Fresca Group (50 per cent) and Red Star Trading, Rainbow Growers and A&A, which between them own the remaining 50 per cent.