Challenge and Opportunity

With a population of half a million people and a workforce of over a quarter of a million, Thames Gateway Kent is an ethnically and socially diverse sub-region with areas of prosperity, but also has some of the most deprived localities in the South East.

An Industrial Legacy

A generation ago, the decline and closure of many staple industries left a legacy of unemployment, a damaged environment, worn out and inadequate infrastructure, below-average educational attainment and under-investment in skills - an area with few expectations.

By the turn of the century, the economy had recovered, grown and diversified, but the underlying legacies were still evident.

Unemployment, though greatly reduced, remained above the regional average, and much of the area’s growth had been in consumption related sectors such as logistics and retail, rather than in ‘knowledge’ industries with their potential for sustained high value-added growth.

With fewer jobs in wealth-creating industries than elsewhere in the Greater South East, many people commute to London and elsewhere, while fewer graduates and other skilled people stay within the area.

As a result, like the Thames Gateway as a whole, North Kent still lags behind London and the wider Greater South East on many key indicators of economic and social well-being.

A Place of Opportunities

But North Kent is also a place of huge potential. With superb assets, a great location and  tremendous opportunities, it is well-placed to transform past legacies.

Some of the Potential –

  • Extensive tracts of brownfield land
  • Excellent high-speed rail links to London and Europe
  • Magnificent riverside locations, countryside and heritage assets
  • New Universities at Medway Campus and Further Education facilities
  • Relatively cheap business accommodation and housing costs

Some of the Challenges –

  • Fewer people have a degree compared with in the wider greater south east.  But they are increasing proportionately faster so the gap is closing
  • A lower proportion of the private sector jobs are in high-value knowledge-based industries compared with the wider greater south east region. But these are growing faster than the national trend 
  • More people are employed in the lowest skills occupations and fewer are in Managerial and Professional occupations.  But those in Associate Professional and Technical occupations are growing and those in the lowest skills occupations are decreasing.