Maidstone, with a population of nearly 140,000 people, is one of the largest towns in Kent and also the county's administrative centre. It is home to Kent County Council, Maidstone Borough Council, Kent Police and the Kent Fire Authority. Lewes, as the County Town of East Sussex, provides the location for the East Sussex County Council offices and the headquarters of the Sussex Police, Fire and Ambulance services. Other principle towns and areas of business include Ashford, Brighton, Canterbury, Dover, Eastbourne, Folkstone, Hastings, the Medway towns, Sittingbourne and Thanet.

Figures published by the office for national statistics show that for the period 2000-2001, Kent and East Sussex had a combined labour force of some 886,000 people, while the unitary authorities of Medway and Brighton & Hove had labour forces of 125,000 and 127,000 respectively. In March 2001, there were approximately 98,500 business sites in the four areas, the majority of which, approximately 85 per cent, had fewer than 10 employees.

Economy:
The economies of Kent and East Sussex are dominated by the service sector, which, according to both East Sussex County Council and Kent County Council, is responsible for approximately 80 per cent of employment in the area. Public service sectors such as administration, education and health are particularly important to the two counties, but there are also thriving hospitality, ICT and financial sectors. Manufacturing accounts for around 18 per cent of employment and, despite the fact that much of East Sussex is rural, employment in agriculture and fishing is minimal.

Although the South East as a whole is one of the most affluent economic regions in the UK, the counties of Kent and East Sussex do not enjoy the same level of prosperity as the rest of the region. A comparison of weekly pay in the New Earnings Survey 2001, shows average pay in East Sussex to be the second lowest of the counties and unitary authorities in the South East, at £388.03 per week, while for Kent the figure is £419.75 per week. Both these figures are well below the average for both the South East region and Great Britain, at £473.32 and £444.34 respectively. According to East Sussex Council, unemployment in the county was 3.8 per cent at the beginning of 2002, which, while below the rate for Great Britain, is well above the rate of 2.5 per cent for the whole of the South East region. Unemployment figures published by Kent County Council for March 2001 put the unemployment rate in Kent at 3 per cent.

Over the next 10 years the region will see high levels of investment. Some of the country's largest residential and industrial developments are taking place in Kent and significant investment in infrastructure has already begun to increase the attractiveness of the area to potential residents and employers. The Thames Gateway Kent Partnership, as its name suggests, is the body responsible for the strategic regeneration of the North Kent part of the Thames Gateway and is comprised of a number of public, private and voluntary sector organisations. It is responsible for an area stretching from Dartford, through Medway, to Faversham and the Isle of Sheppey and is involved with a large number of projects, ranging from the development of transport infrastructure to the creation of residential and business property.

Some of the major projects the partnership has been involved with are at Bluewater, Ebbsfleet and Eastern Quarry. The Bluewater development is perhaps the most visible sign to date of the investment in the area. Located in a disused chalk pit along side the M25 and just south of the Dartdord Tunnel, Bluewater is Europe's largest out of town shopping development. The shopping centre was opened in March 1999 and has three central shopping arcades, various eateries, several performance spaces and parking for 12,000 vehicles, all set against a backdrop of landscaped lakes and the existing chalk cliffs.

The project at Ebbsfleet, which is currently underway and due for completion by around 2015, will increase employment opportunities in the area and offers the potential for significant numbers of people, who currently commute into London, to work closer to home. New homes and community facilities will be built, along with related road and public transport improvements, and an international and domestic railway station will be constructed by 2006. Once complete, a journey to St Pancras station in the centre of London will take just 17 minutes, while Paris will be just over 2 hours away. According to the Thames Gateway Kent Partnership, successful development at Ebbsfleet will complement Bluewater and the existing centres of Dartford and Gravesend and help to create more than 50,000 new jobs and 29,000 new homes in the longer term.

Eastern Quarry is one of the largest development sites in the area, covering some 300 hectares, and is located between Bluewater and Ebbsfleet at the southern edge of Swanscombe. The development will be largely responsible for providing new homes and schools, to complement the major employment generating development at Ebbsfleet and the retail development at Bluewater. The projected capacity of the site is approximately 7,250 dwellings and it is hoped that the first of these will be completed by around 2006. By 2011, the aim is to provide 1,350 dwellings and 50,000 square metres of employment floor space, along with the necessary community and transport infrastructure.

Local Infrastructure:
In general, the transport infrastructure in Kent and East Sussex is good and will improve with the completion of the development at Ebbsfleet. The Channel Tunnel at Folkstone provides access for cars and freight to mainland Europe. There is currently a Eurostar station at Ashford and the new station at Ebbsfleet will serve Eurostar trains from 2006/7. There are numerous ports in the two counties including those at Dover, Folkstone, Newhaven and Sheerness. Kent and East Sussex benefit from excellent domestic and international air links. Local airports such as Shoreham airport and Manston International airport provide facilities for business aviation and the major international airports of London Heathrow and London Gatwick are within easy reach.

Cliffe in Kent has also been identified as the possible site of a new £11 billion airport, which, with 4 or 5 runways and a capacity for 120 million passengers a year, would replace Heathrow as the country's busiest airport. In November 2002, the Cliffe proposal received the backing of the Strategic Aviation Special Interest Group (SASIG), an offshoot of the local government association that represents 74 councils covering more than half of England's population. Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance also gave the project its support. The proposal for an airport at Cliffe is one of the options currently being considered by the government to cope with the predicted tripling of air passenger numbers by 2030. A decision on the airport is expected to be published in a government White Paper in spring 2003. If approved the airport would open with two runways in 2011, with a further two or three to be operational in the following years.

Local Workforce:
According to the Labour Force Survey 2000, well over a quarter of a million people in Kent and Medway are employed in management and administration, professional occupations and associate professional & technical employment. A further 112,000 people are employed in clerical and secretarial areas of work. According to the development agency 'Invest in East Sussex' over 64 per cent of the workforce in East Sussex is employed in skilled occupations. Education in the two counties is well provided for and Kent has one of the highest rates of adult participation in education in the country, at 99 adults per 1000 compared to the national average of 59, according to 'Locate in Kent'. There are two Universities in East Sussex (The University of Brighton and The University of Sussex), while Kent benefits from four Universities (The University of Kent, The University of Greenwich, Imperial College at Wye and Canterbury Christchurch University College). There are also numerous further education institutions located throughout the two counties offering a wide range of business and technical qualifications. Despite this however, according to Kent County Council, there is a skills shortage in key growth areas such as teaching, pharmaceuticals and information and communication technology.

Standard of Living:
Development in the region gives a great deal of consideration to the lifestyle of its inhabitants and those that it hopes to attract. As a consequence, the areas of Kent and East Sussex are becoming increasingly attractive to employers and individuals alike. In addition to the numerous theatres, restaurants, shopping and entertainment centres located throughout the region, the city of London, with all that it has to offer, is within easy reach. In addition, Kent, known as 'the garden of England' has approximately 180 gardens open to the public, ranging from ancient woodland to landscaped park land, flower gardens and specialist herb gardens.

According to the Residential Property Price Report published by the Land Registry for July-September 2002, house prices in the Kent and East Sussex are consistently above the average for England and Wales and prices increased at a greater rate than the rest of the country between September 2001 and September 2002. However, within the South East region as a whole, prices in Kent and East Sussex are considerably lower than they are in most other places in the region.

Business Costs:
There are several financial incentives for companies that are considering relocating or expanding within Kent and East Sussex. The majority of central government funding available in the South East has been allocated to various parts of the two counties including Ashford, Brighton & Hove, Canterbury, Dover, Medway and Thanet. These areas have been awarded either Assisted Area Status and/or Enterprise Grant Area Status.

In Assisted Areas, grants are available to companies looking at investing in the area for the first time or to companies already based in the area with plans for expansion, modernisation or rationalisation. The amount available is linked to the cost of the project and to the number of jobs that are created or saved in the three years after the investment has been made. In Enterprise Grant Areas, small and medium sized enterprises can be given one off grants to help them invest in a variety of areas such as supply chain improvements, innovation, R&D and environmental sustainability, providing that it can be demonstrated such investment could not take place without the grant.