Working & Living in East Kent
Kent provides an amazing quality of life – combining traditional English villages and beautiful countryside, fashionable seaside towns and breathtaking beaches. Thanet alone has the most Blue Flag beaches in the UK. With trains to London taking between 40 - 90 mins max and France only a couple of hours away, it’s the ideal place to live and work.
East Kent, where we’re based, offers a diverse mix, the coast being described recently as ‘the new Shoreditch’ due to the number of people choosing to live here. Historical buildings sit alongside big-city stores and funky boutiques in Canterbury. And where else could you travel from the White Cliffs of Dover past vineyards and cider farms, castles and cathedrals, and end up with a spot of shopping in Bluewater, one of the largest retail centres in Europe.
Housing
You’ll get a lot more for your money in Kent than in London or many other parts of South East England. Average prices for comparable properties in Kent are approximately 50% cheaper than in London and at least 15% cheaper than the South East (source: Land Registry June 2014). Easy access to London is available so Kent residents can get the best of both worlds – close to London for entertainment and all London has to offer, but at a fraction of the price!
Schools
Kent has the highest number of grammar schools in England and Wales, with a wide choice of specialist schools, as well as independent and international schools. The recently published School & College Performance League tables for GCSE results identified pupils in Kent achieving higher than the national average in their GCSE results.
Universities & Colleges
Kent is home to four universities: The University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Greenwich and University of the Creative Arts plus a large number of colleges of further and higher education. All the universities are engaged in high level research in a variety of disciplines.