New Head of Marketing joins Discovery Park
Kent-based life sciences cluster Discovery Park has appointed Kirsty Budden as its new Head of Marketing.
Budden has more than 18 years’ experience in marketing, having worked for some of the world’s biggest technology brands in Nintendo and Samsung, along with Kent’s inward investment agency, Locate in Kent.
Budden said: “Discovery Park already has a fantastic reputation for providing state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure. I’m looking forward to building on that and bringing my knowledge of Kent and what it offers as a place for business, to really help tell the story of why Discovery Park is the ideal location for science and technology businesses to succeed.
“While Kent may not be considered part of the scientific golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge, it really does have a strong, competing proposition.
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“Not only do we have the space for businesses to both start-up and scale-up, the county also has great connections to London and direct links into the likes of the Crick Institute, amongst many other benefits. It's important we start to shift the mindset and encourage people to think beyond the usual horizons as there’s so much ground-breaking science happening here.”
Born and raised in Kent, Budden earned a degree in Marketing & Business from Canterbury’s Christ Church University before working for a number of marketing and advertising agencies in London. She returned to Kent 11 years later with marketing agency Zest, then worked for Locate in Kent and Maidstone-based professional services firm Outset Group.
Mayer Schreiber, Discovery Park’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This role is a key, strategic addition to the team. With our ambition to double the number of employees on site to 7,000 in the next decade and create a centre of excellence in neuroscience and manufacturing village, we need to reach out to both London and international audiences.
“Kirsty’s experience in attracting inward investment and strengths in marketing will help us achieve that.”
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