Folkestone

Folkestone

Start up and grow in Folkestone

Folkestone offers a well-established opportunity for businesses to start-up or grow and recruit locally. With a supply of graduates from the county’s three universities and expanding further education and apprenticeship training provision, businesses can find talent at all levels.

This growing town offers a high-quality urban lifestyle. Did you know that Folkestone averages almost 2,000 hours of sunshine a year making it one of the sunniest places in the UK? It has excellent connectivity to London and the Continent thanks to two High Speed 1 railway stations, good access to the M20 via three motorway junctions and the Channel Tunnel terminal. It is also just 15 minutes away from the UK’s largest and busiest seaport at Dover.

Folkestone is a growth hub for business, particularly for one of the UK’s fastest growing business sectors – creative and digital media. There is a cluster of successful arts and digital tech businesses around the Old Town and the Creative Quarter in high-quality business space, such as at The Workshop on Tontine Street, Motis Business Centre in the former Eurotunnel Exhibition Centre and at the Folkestone Business Hub in the town centre.

See what property space is currently available for your business by searching our property database.

Search for commercial property

Folkestone town centre has major retail stores, including Debenhams, and in the adjacent Old Town there are many independent shops, cafés, and galleries in and around the thriving Creative Quarter which has benefitted from investment from the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Close to the town centre is Folkestone Harbour and Sunny Sands Beach with its fishing boats, traditional pubs and great seafood. You can also explore the award-winning Coastal Park and the dramatic Folkestone Warren nearby.

The Folkestone Harbour Arm has been recently refurbished at a cost of over £3.5 million, as part of the wider regeneration of Folkestone Harbour and Seafront Development which is starting soon.

Here is a video about the regeneration plans:

Folkestone has a significant collection of contemporary artworks across the town which are on permanent display in public spaces, with contributions from Tracey Emin, Mark Wallinger, Yoko Ono and may well soon include the renowned “Banksy” that Folkestone is famous for.

Folkestone hosts many international events and festivals, including the Folkestone Triennial, an annual Book Festival and the Sacconi Chamber Music Festival. Major stars are attracted to the Leas Cliff Hall where you will find comedy and music, and theatre at the Quarterhouse in the Old Town and at the independent Silver Screen Cinema.

Along the scenic Leas there is a range of hotel accommodation for visitors to Folkestone, including the Burlington Hotel and Best Western’s Clifton Hotel, and the area offers meeting and business venues too. Out of town closer to the M20 is the Holiday Inn Express and Premier Inn.

Download a Folkestone map or find out more about the area on the Folkestone and Hythe tourism site.

Where to live in Folkestone

According to a survey by ShortList magazine, Folkestone is one of the ten ‘Coolest new UK areas to buy a house’. So home buyers might be surprised to find that £300,000 will go a long way in our area.

The new Eversley Park development by Quinn Estates and Pentland Homes in Folkestone, with its choice of high quality four bedroom detached properties, is only a few minutes’ walk from Folkestone West railway station which is less than an hour from London by High-Speed train.

 

CLOSE
CLOSE