

HSBC UK Launches £200M SME Fund To Support Businesses In Kent
HSBC UK has today launched a £200 million fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kent, part of a broader £15 billion lending fund to support SMEs across the UK, as part of its commitment to help British businesses…

Free Brexit Advice For Kent Businesses
Kent County Council’s Trading Standards Officers are offering free specialist advice to local firms needing help to do business with the EU. The move to provide no-cost regulatory guidance to businesses via a dedicated advice line on 03333 602300 has…

Maidstone Business Working With Women To Promote Digital Skills
A Maidstone business at the forefront of promoting female empowerment and success is asking women to share their digital skills this Women’s History Month. Community and members club, Digital Women, wants ladies of all abilities from beginner to expert to…

Business Innovation Is Helping Shape Kent & East Sussex’s Post-COVID Future
Pioneering businesses in Kent and East Sussex are crucial to help the area and the whole country to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19, and government support is available to help them do it. This is the message from…

Plans Approved For Construction Of New 79-Home Rainham Development
A housebuilder has been given the green light to start work on a new development of 79 homes in Rainham. Medway Council unanimously approved the plans, submitted by Bellway Kent for the new homes off Lower Rainham Road, at a…

New Homes Development In Lenham Celebrates One Year Of Success
A housebuilder in Lenham is celebrating a successful year meeting the growing demand for new homes in the village. Westwood Park, which is set to see 70 new homes brought to Lenham by Jones Homes, has proven popular over the…

Maidstone Businessman Transforms From Solopreneur To Thriving Team Amidst Pandemic
A Maidstone businessman has defied the challenges of lockdown to go from solopreneur to moving into his first office and recruiting his fifth team member in just two months after taking an office on Maidstone Borough Council’s (MBC) Business Terrace.…

Rochester Apprentice Encourages Others To Pursue Their Career Through An Amazon Apprenticeship
An apprentice from Rochester is calling on local people and his fellow colleagues to pursue the career they have always wanted by applying now for one of over 1,000 new full-time Amazon apprenticeships available. Recruitment has started for 25 different…

Kent-Based Start-Up Reveals Brexit Woes
A UK-based online fashion business has had to invest an unexpected four-figure sum and limit itself to domestic trading so it can open its virtual doors for the first time, because of new trading arrangements within the Brexit Deal. SlowCo,…

FOUR KENT COMPANIES IN FINAL FOR NATIONAL BUSINESS AWARD
The Rural Business Awards, supported by Amazon, is the only UK-wide programme dedicated to showcasing the success of rural businesses. Kent’s businesses prepare for first ever virtual national final in first ever virtual event. Four Kent businesses are preparing to…

Top Ten Tips: Maintaining Company Culture In Remote Team
Back in the day when offices were a thing, ‘company culture’ and staff relationships were often built and solidified around communal breakfasts, Friday afternoon drinks or team days out. Whether events like these will return or are condemned to the…

New Business Network and Support Launched To Boost Green Economy
A new green business mapping and pilot support programme has been launched for the South East. The Clean Growth South East programme is led by Kent County Council, with funding secured from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Sector Support…

Businesses Need To Be Creative With Solutions To Protect Staff Mental Wellbeing
With businesses across the county adjusting to the realities of lockdown, an employment law specialist with Kent legal firm Furley Page has called on employers to focus on the mental wellbeing of their staff. In June 2020, the mental health charity, Mind, released figures showing that 60% of adults found that their mental health declined during the first national lockdown. With…

Lincad Manufactures Power System For Railway Information Desks
Lincad is pleased to announce that it has designed a mobile power system that will power interactive information desks, initially for use in train stations across the UK railway network. The Lincad team has worked with IDEAS, a British company…

Supreme Court Ruling Offers Lifeline For Thousands Of Kent Businesses
A landmark ruling by the Supreme Court was handed down which will present a lifeline to thousands of businesses affected by Covid-19 who will now be able to claim under their business interruption insurance policies for losses caused by the pandemic. Business interruption insurance covers policyholders for loss of income during periods when activity cannot be…

Kent-based John Otterson Named Chairman of Coolair Equipment Limited
JOHN Otterson has been named Chairman of one-stop air conditioning specialists Coolair Equipment Limited. John, who was formerly Managing Director of the firm, is based at Coolair’s Maidstone office. Midlands-based Neil Gibbard has been named Managing Director. Chairman John Otterson…

Evolve Estates Acquires Kent Convenience Retail Centre
Evolve Estates, the national commercial property investment company, has begun 2021 on a strong footing, acquiring Swanley Square retail centre in Sevenoaks, Kent. The company bought the 95,000 sq ft shopping parade from U+I on an off-market basis, for an…

New Northfleet Housing Development Gets The Green Light
Plans have been approved for the construction of 532 homes at a major new riverside development in Northfleet. The new collection of homes being built by Bellway Thames Gateway will be known as Harbour Village at Ebbsfleet Garden City and…

Kent Developer Forges Set The Scene For A Post-Covid Comeback
While most companies are looking back on 2020 and the devastating impacts that Covid-19 has had on business, Tonbridge-based housebuilder Fernham Homes is forging ahead with a refreshingly positive outlook for 2021. As the new year starts, the SME, which…

Furley Page Starts New Year With Raft Of Senior Promotions
Leading south east law firm Furley Page has announced the promotion of seven talented lawyers, building on the firm’s strong performance in 2020. Solicitors Rebecca Crane, Anna Joiner and Ross Rowland have been promoted from Associate to Senior Associate, while Rosie Eastwood, Sarah Woolnough, Jamie Bourne and Rupert Cox have all been made Associates. Rebecca…