THE site manager at Sittingbourne Research Centre has welcomed news that it has been sold for £19.75 million.

Richard Williams called for more investment in the site by the new owners, clients of London-based La Salle Investment Management, who bought it from Ashtenne Holding.

He said: "I am quite pleased that the site has become more valuable and available. From my point of view it is a good thing and I would like to see more investment in it."

Ashtenne bought the site in May 2001 for £11.3 million pounds but have seen its value almost double in the last two and a half years.

Mr Williams added: "The Research Centre is a property investment and given the buoyant state of the property market the current owners thought it was a good time to sell."

The 116-acre site houses around 60 companies, 900 people and 550,000 square feet of office space.