An entrepreneur plans to build Britain's first Silicon Valley village from a 245-year-old Napoleonic fort and former prison which will boast a Dragons' Den-style tech-hub,luxury hotel and a vertical indoor farm.
Businessman David De Min hopes to transform the 33-acre fortress Dover Citadel on the Kent Coast into a world-renowned tourist and business destination which will also feature its own whiskey distillery,wellness spa and music and arts venue.
He bought the site from the Ministry of Justice three years ago for £1.8 million but estimates the ambitious project may reach between £200million and half a billion pounds once finished so is currently working on securing funding from undisclosed Emirati Royals among other potential investors.
The oldest part of the fort - perched high on Dover's famous White Cliffs overlooking the coast of France some 20-miles away across the Channel – was built in 1775 and became the first line of defence against Napoleon Bonaparte and his naval fleet.
It was later used as military barracks in the Crimean War and both World Wars but in 1956 the Citadel was handed over to HM Prison Service where it served as a Young Offenders Institution until 2002 when it became an Immigration Detention Centre before closing in 2015.
Mr De Min would like the wellness retreat to have similar to what they have in Switzerland – 'whereby people could stay in the hotel and use the wellness clinic,in which we would customise meal plans based on someone's blood type'
'Dover is the entry point into the UK from the continent and I want to show Europe and the world that Britain is still thriving when it comes to technology.'
His plans have been given a mixed reaction by locals,however.
Fiona,a customer service assistant for travel agent TUI told the Sunday Times at the weekend: 'Attracting luxury clientele is not going to affect any of us on the high street.'
Others welcome the prospect of bringing business to the area,where the child poverty rate is 35 per cent.
Heather Horne,64,who runs Stanley's coffee bar and lounge argued: 'The town is dying on its feet. Anything that brings something to Dover would be brilliant.'
© OfficialAffairs
