Thread by @patricklohlein

Good balanced report by @JoeCoshan on the announced closure of car parts factory Antolin Interiors in Sittingbourne.

The point about an "unfavourable geographical location" has interesting implications for post-Brexit Kent as a whole.

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1) kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/…

Brexit is likely to make the UK more "insular" in an economic sense because business likes to be close to its suppliers and markets.

Outside the Single Market, we can therefore expect a relocation of the UK's centre of economic activity towards its geographical centre.

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This is positive on many levels. Being close to customers and markets doesn't just reduce costs for business, but has positive implications for society at large, not least because the North and Midlands need and deserve more investment, but it raises concerns for Kent.

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As part of the Single Market, Kent has been in a highly favourable geographic location, a "Gateway to Europe" attractive to investors.

Cut off from pan-European supply chains and markets, it becomes remote to the centre of the economy it is a part of.

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The M25 is a barrier to the rest of the UK that causes friction in domestic trade. It reduces predictability for the timing of deliveries and those making business trips from Kent to other parts of the UK generally need to allocate an extra hour to get to meetings on time.

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To those who don't know the county well this may appear to be a welcome move. There is an urgent need to stimulate economic growth in other parts of the UK and
Kent is generally perceived to be more affluent than elsewhere. After all, these jobs are moving to the North ...

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But truth is that we have strong regional disparities within Kent. North Kent where much manufacturing is based is nothing like affluent Tunbridge Wells. It also lags in education attainment, which means it needs employment opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled workers.
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If the move of this factory is the start of a new trend of manufacturing moving out of Kent, we therefore have to ask what jobs will fill the place of those lost? Entering the knowledge economy is not an option for most people with low grades of educational attainment.

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What kind of companies will want to invest in a place that is at the periphery of the economy when they can chose to be in locations that are cheaper and more favourable?
Is it feasible or desirable to let the local economy decline and turn everyone into commuters?

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Whether you were for or against Brexit, it is undeniable that it will leads to some economic upheaval.

Whatever happens next, these are concerns that need to be addressed.

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