What Locate In Kent does

Locate In Kent (also operating as Invest Kent) is the official economic development and business investment initiative of Kent County Council, a UK local government authority headquartered at Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone. Established in 1997, the organisation functions as a free, confidential gateway service for businesses — both international and domestic — that are evaluating relocation to or expansion within Kent. It serves companies across five priority verticals: Agri-Food & Agri-Tech (anchored by a cluster of 2,500 food and drink companies), Ports, Transport & Logistics, Digital & Technologies, Energy, and (as a secondary vertical) Life Sciences.

The initiative's core products combine a human-led advisory service with a commercial property search platform hosted at property.locateinkent.com, which catalogues industrial, office, laboratory, retail, and land opportunities across the county. Featured assets include Kent Medical Campus (374,046 sq ft of healthcare-focused development plots near life science clusters), Kent Science Park/The Hub (a 550,000 sq ft research park spanning 47 buildings on 65 acres, awarded Best Life Science Research Facility in South East England by UKSPA), Crossways 241 (a 240,884 sq ft BREEAM Excellent-rated distribution warehouse), and Manston Business Park (light industrial units). Sector-specific programmes include the Food Accelerator Programme and networking collectives such as the Kent Developers Group and the Kent Co-working Collective.

Locate In Kent does not generate commercial revenue: it is funded by Kent County Council and operates with a small team (11–50 employees). The go-to-market motion is enterprise field sales combined with direct engagement from in-house business and property experts, supported by a content-led website, a property self-serve portal, newsletter, and PR/case-study marketing. Distribution relies on partnerships with Kent County Council and Medway Council, alongside regional partners such as Pillory Barn. Success is measured by tenant relocations and capital investment into the county rather than fee-bearing contracts.

Name

Locate In Kent

Legal name

Kent County Council

Website

https://locateinkent.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Locate In Kent (also Invest Kent) is the official economic development initiative of Kent County Council, providing free confidential advisory services and a commercial property search platform to businesses relocating to or expanding within Kent across agri-food, logistics, digital, energy, and life sciences sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Economic Development Services

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (5312), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Activities Related to Real Estate (531390)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531), Investment Advice (6282), Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Real Estate Market Research & Economic Advisory (Demand/Supply, Location Analytics) (BPAJANAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real Estate Investment Management (Acquisitions & Dispositions) (BPAJAMAK), Real Estate Investment Advisory (Acquisitions/Dispositions, Capital Allocation) (BPAJANAA)

Keywords

• Economic development services
• Commercial property search
• Investment advisory services
• Business relocation support
• Regional economic growth

Headquarters

HQ city

Kent

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government-Funded Economic Development: As an initiative of Kent County Council, Locate In Kent operates as a free support service funded by public money. The organization does not generate revenue from businesses but rather facilitates economic growth in the county.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Locate In Kent (operating as Invest Kent) is an economic development initiative of Kent County Council that provides free, confidential business advisory and commercial property search services to businesses looking to locate or expand in Kent, UK. The organization connects investors, businesses, and communities with opportunities in the region, supported by in-house business experts, property specialists, skills advice, and a commercial property search platform listing industrial, office, laboratory, retail, and land opportunities across Kent.

Product overview

Locate In Kent operates as a unified platform providing commercial property search and business investment support services for Kent, UK. The core offering combines a property search portal (accessible at property.locateinkent.com) with advisory services and sector-specific programmes. Key property assets include Kent Medical Campus (healthcare-focused development plots), Kent Science Park/The Hub (biotech and agritech research facilities spanning 550,000 SqFt), Crossways 241 (BREEAM Excellent-rated distribution warehouse), and Manston Business Park (light industrial units). The platform also supports businesses through the Food Accelerator Programme and facilitates networking via groups including the Kent Developers Group, Kent Housing and Development Group, and Kent Co-working Collective.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Business Advisory Services Free, confidential strategic business advisory covering opportunities, support programmes, and planning assistance for businesses looking to locate or expand in Kent. Delivered by in-house business experts.
• Commercial Property Search Platform Online property search portal enabling businesses to find and explore commercial properties across Kent, including industrial, office, laboratory, retail, and land opportunities, filterable by type, size, and location.
• Food Accelerator Programme Programme supporting food and drink businesses with growth and development opportunities in Kent, aligned with the county's strength as home to 2,500 food and drink companies.
• Kent Medical Campus A healthcare-focused commercial property campus in Maidstone offering plots for development of innovative commercial space for healthcare-related uses, situated near life science clusters at Kent Science Park and Discovery Park.
• Kent Science Park - The Hub A 550,000 sq ft research and technology park set in 65 acres of grounds, home to agritech, biotech, and biopharma businesses, featuring high-specification labs, offices, and coworking spaces across 47 buildings with biotech incubator facilities.
• Crossways 241 A 240,884 sq ft high-quality distribution warehouse at Crossways Commercial Park in Dartford, delivered to BREEAM 'Excellent' specification with 18m clear internal height, solar PV system, and EPC A+ rating.
• Manston Business Park Industrial business park offering light industrial units with steel frame construction, deep profile composite cladding, mezzanine floors, and parking facilities in Ramsgate.

Quantifiable outcome

• 300% growth in turnover and profits over 6 years for companies like Contracts Engineering
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kent County CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKent County Council operates Invest Kent/Locate in Kent as its economic development initiative. The organization is headquartered at Kent County Council's Sessions House and provides free business support services funded by the council.
• Medway CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedway Council partners with Kent County Council on the Invest Kent initiative, providing joint support for businesses looking to locate or expand in the Kent region.
• Pillory BarnminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAccountancy firm listed as a partner on the Invest Kent website, providing business support services.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cushman & Wakefield: Global commercial real estate services firm offering tenant representation, location advisory, and property search — overlaps with Locate In Kent's location-advisory and property-matching activities at a far larger scale.
• Rightmove (Commercial): UK's largest property portal with a growing commercial listings offering; an adjacent, larger-scale listing platform that could commoditize the property discovery function of Locate In Kent's portal.
• CoStar Group: Global commercial real estate information and listings platform; competes with Locate In Kent's property search portal at the data and listing layer with significantly greater scale and product depth.
• JLL UK: Global real estate advisory and brokerage with deep UK presence; competes for the same corporate relocation mandates and provides the kind of occupier location advisory Locate In Kent offers for free.

Direct peers

• London & Partners: London's official business growth and destination agency, providing free advisory and property support for businesses locating in London — the most direct UK counterpart to Locate In Kent's inward-investment and property-matching model.
• Invest Bristol & Bath: Inward investment and economic development partnership for the Bristol and Bath region, providing free advisory and property-search support to relocating businesses — a comparable sub-national FDI platform.
• Scottish Development International: Scotland's national inward-investment agency combining property/location advisory with sector-focused FDI promotion — a directly comparable public-sector-led investment attraction platform.
• Marketing Manchester / Manchester Growth Company: Regional economic development and inward investment promotion agency for Greater Manchester, offering comparable business advisory, property search, and sector-led promotion services competing for the same UK FDI pipeline.
• West Midlands Growth Company: Regional growth agency for the West Midlands running investor, visitor, and place-marketing functions with sector specialisms; competes with Locate In Kent for UK relocation projects.
• Invest Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland's regional economic development agency delivering free location advisory, property solutions, and sector programmes to attract and grow businesses, structurally very similar to Locate In Kent.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LocateInKent

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Locate In Kent