Bosses at Britain's oldest brewery are confident Kent is an ideal place for future economic development.

Jonathan Neame, chief executive of the Faversham-based brewer Shepherd Neame, thinks forthcoming developments in the north of the county - such as the Ebbsfleet Garden City and Paramount Park - make it a good place for business.

He was speaking on the back of strong financial results for the historic brewery, which saw its annual turnover grow by nearly 3% when latest figures were released yesterday.

"I think the outlook for Kent is looking good for future investment, particularly in areas like north Kent with all the recent announcements around Ebbsfleet and hopefully more to come," he said.

"We're positive about Kent, we're positive about the sector and we're positive about the position Shepherd Neame has got in the sector."

The company's turnover grew to £138.7m compared to £134.9m in 2013, something Mr Neame is pleased about.

"I think the company is in good shape," he said.

"We've made good steps during the downturn and we're now beginning to see an economic uplift.

The company - which was established in 1698 and employs around 1,200 staff - has invested in development over recent years and Mr Neame can now see the benefits.

"We've increased investment year-on-year during the downturn and I think we're bearing the fruit of that right now," he said.

"The industry has seen a number of closed pubs during the last five or six years.

"We've sold a number of pubs but what is much more important is what we have invested.

"We've invested lot in accommodation, invested a lot to improve the catering and food offer and in the last year we've put record investment into our pubs."

Shepherd Neame's annual figures were announced on Tax Equality Day, when more than 15,000 pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK cut the price of food and drink by 7.5% yesterday.

It was part of a campaign to reduce VAT and Mr Neame supported the principle behind it.

He said: "Fundamentally, our sector is still very heavily taxed - we pay 12 times more tax on beer than in Germany.

"A lower tax sector undoubtedly would create more investment, more dynamism, more innovation and thereby more jobs.

"People need to continue to lobby on these points so the industry can thrive in the future."