Strategy

Kent & Medway Economic Framework

The Kent & Medway Economic Framework was released in early 2024.

Developing our ambitions and key action areas involved extensive consultation with businesses and other partners, including the Kent and Medway Economic Partnership and its Business Advisory Board.

We live in an uncertain and dynamic world, and plans need to respond to events. This Framework is therefore a flexible statement of shared priorities. It will evolve over time, as new opportunities and challenges emerge, and delivery will take place through a range of partners.

Three overarching Objectives: supporting the development of an economy that is more “productive, sustainable and inclusive”. These are essentially statements of general desirable outcomes: they are not unique to Kent and Medway, but set out a direction of travel.

Introducing the five Ambitions

To help deliver our three Objectives, there are some key themes on which action should be focused over the next few years. We have called these the five ‘Ambitions’, and they seek to:

  1. Enable innovative, productive and creative businesses
  2. Widen opportunities and unlock talent
  3. Secure resilient infrastructure for planned, sustainable growth
  4. Place economic opportunity at the centre of community wellbeing and prosperity
  5. Create diverse, distinctive and vibrant places

Please click here to read the Kent and Medway Economic Framework

 

Local Growth Plan – In Development

Kent & Medway is currently developing a Local Growth Plan to sit alongside the Framework. We are aiming for this to be produced in early 2026. The plan will outline how we can support growth across all businesses, while maintaining a sectoral focus. On 13 November 2025, KMEP agreed to particularly focus on four priority sectors in Kent & Medway, which are:

  • Agri-food and Agritech – given Kent & Medway’s role in national food security.
  • Ports, Transport and Logistics – given Kent & Medway’s key role in UK trade and border security.
  • Energy – given our key role in energy security, hosting electricity interconnectors, the offshore array, and the UK’s main LNG import port.
  • Digital – broadly defined to include digital manufacturing and digital creativity, and linked to our role in cyber security.