Supply in demand for Maidstone

When Radio 1 descended on Maidstone for its annual music festival, The Big Weekend, at Mote Park in May 2008, it spoke volumes about how the town's image has changed. It now boasts the largest economy in Kent and the town's shopping precinct is ranked in the top 10 retail centres in the south-east. At more than 1m sq ft of floor space, it is bigger than Bluewater.

Demand for grade A office space is strong. Out-of-town offices have been able to achieve headline rents of £24/sq ft at Eclipse Park. John Foster, economic development manager at Maidstone Borough Council, says it recognises the town's successes and is building on them.

"Maidstone has intrinsically got the right qualities to be the commercial, office and shopping centre of Kent because its location is second to none." He continued: "We have recently become a growth point and the government has entered into a partnership with the Council, recognising our ambitions for growth. We want to increase the number of residential properties in the town but we want to balance that with increasing Maidstone's profile as an employment area."

David Hicken of dha Planning believes confidence in Maidstone's office sector is growing and supply will start to creep up. "If one or two people start to invest in Maidstone, it will breed confidence. Maidstone now has that."

Next step...
For more information, contact John Foster on 01622 602394 or visit www.locateinmaidstone.com.