£5.5m business centre on campus

The centre is the first phase of building a technology park

A £5.5m project to build an innovation centre for technology-based business in Kent has been given planning consent.

Canterbury City Council said the centre on University of Kent's campus in the city would be "an important facility".

"We have long been a centre for learning, but this is a very important step to linking that with enterprise," council chief Colin Carmichael said.

The project is being run in partnership between the university and South East England Development Agency (Seeda).

Seeda said the centre, for entrepreneurial individuals and companies, was the first phase of a technology park.

Construction is expected to start next spring, with the building set to open in the following year.

'Outstanding opportunity'

The companies will be focused on new technology-based products or services to complement the University of Kent's research strengths.

The centre will be operated by a company on behalf of Seeda and will also house the Canterbury Enterprise Hub, which is already on campus and houses 15 companies.

Professor Julia Goodfellow, university vice-chancellor, called it "an outstanding opportunity" for the university and the region.

And Peter Cusdin, Seeda development director, said it would be "a superb facility".