Ebbsfleet Garden City, Kent Enterprise Zones, NKEZ

North Kent Enterprise Zone

where businesses thrive

Discover the North Kent Enterprise Zone

The North Kent Enterprise Zone is where innovative businesses come to thrive, communities grow and people can enjoy a better quality of life.

North Kent is the ideal location to start-up or grow a business. Our business zones in Ebbsfleet, Medway and Maidstone all benefit from sustained support for economic development and provide an abundance of opportunities for potential investors.

With excellent connections to London and Europe, the North Kent Enterprise Zone offers some of the south-east region’s best-situated new business locations for entrepreneurial growth. Each site will provide state-of-the-art commercial space and a positive business environment for high-value, forward-thinking companies.

The Enterprise Zone’s three exceptional locations, Ebbsfleet Garden City, Kent Medical Campus and Innovation Park Medway are looking to attract companies and investors in key sectors including medical & healthcare research, training & practice, advanced manufacturing, engineering, and digital technologies.

 

Key facts about the North Kent Enterprise Zone

High speed rail and road networks with great connectivity to London and Europe
Close to London, one of the world’s most prosperous cities for business and culture
Business environment where innovative, high-value companies and growing businesses will thrive
Access to a highly skilled local workforce
Sector focus on medical and life sciences, engineering and digital technologies
A supportive environment that will help growing businesses to connect, collaborate and compete

Enterprise Zone Benefits

Business rates

Enterprise Zones are Government-designated areas in England that offer incentives including local retention of business rates to invest in site development and delivery.

Simplified planning application

Locating onto an Enterprise Zone also allows occupiers to benefit from fast-track planning treatment, with local authorities streamlining the process for businesses investing in these zones.

Why the North Kent Enterprise Zone?

Access to London and the continent

Connectivity is at the heart of the Enterprise Zone’s proposition. Our business sites in Maidstone, Ebbsfleet and Medway have easy and fast access to London, as well as excellent connections to the rest of the UK, and mainland Europe*.  Close to high-speed rail links and strategic transport networks, Kent offers unparalleled access to regional, national and global markets.

*Note that Eurostar services from Ebbsfleet are currently suspended in response to the downturn in international travel caused by the Covid-19 pandemic – to be reviewed in late 2022.

Attract a top-quality workforce

Kent is home to top-class research, development and training facilities including four universities and three well-regarded further education colleges.  A highly skilled local workforce provides businesses with a pipeline of expertise and talent.

Better quality of life

Kent and Medway offer some of the best places in the UK to live and work with an ever-growing and diverse housing market. Excellent schools, leisure facilities and extensive shopping and dining opportunities are on the doorstep, ranging from independent local shops and restaurants in historic town centres such as Rochester, Maidstone and Gravesend, to the largest regional shopping centre in the South East outside London, at Bluewater in Greenhithe.