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Hi {{first_name | Kent Business Community}}

Welcome to Monday’s edition of the Kent Business Newsletter.

Before we get into the business news, I just wanted to give my personal recommendation for Whisper Flow. Speech-to-text tools have been around for years, but in my experience they’ve never quite got it right. Whisper Flow really has! Yes, they’re sponsoring this week’s newsletter (If you missed it, their ad is at the top of this email), but I’ve genuinely been using it for several weeks, and honestly it’s blown me away with how good it is. I can’t see myself going back to typing any time soon! And by the way, I’m just using the free version! Give it a go. You’ll be pleased you did.

Now, back to the local business news…

Today we cover - ITV News editor Paul Brand is set to host the 2026 Kent Press and Broadcast Awards, as entries open for journalists and broadcasters across the county. We also look at why early advisory intervention can give businesses more control and better outcomes when facing financial pressure, and how acting sooner can protect value before crisis hits.

In the care sector, Autumna and Dunham Care are introducing real time quality scoring at Herne Bay Manor, offering families a clearer and more current view of standards inside later life care homes. Meanwhile, Energy Solutions has secured a Top 10 place in the Elite Business 100 for 2026, recognised for its engineering-led approach to battery and hybrid power systems in a volatile energy market.

We also report on Hayley Kingsnorth’s appointment as honorary finance director at the Kent County Agricultural Society, bringing fresh financial oversight ahead of this year’s Kent County Show.

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ITV News editor Paul Brand will host the 2026 Kent Press and Broadcast Awards. Brand is known for major investigations, including the Partygate video and early reporting on untested hospital discharges into care homes during the pandemic. The awards, run by Tunbridge Wells agency Maxim, open for entries from April 2025 to April 2026. Anyone working in Kent media can enter for free. Maxim says the quality of entries stays high each year and expects strong interest again.

Finalists will be invited to the ceremony at the Spitfire Ground on 3 July 2026. A panel of national and local journalists will judge the categories, which range from investigation to broadcast presenting and sports reporting. Sponsors help keep the scheme free to enter.

➡️ We reveal what to expect from the busiest awards season yet.

Many businesses run into formal restructuring not because they lack solutions, but because they ask for help too late. By the time pressure turns into crisis, cash is tight, creditors are anxious, and leaders are drained. Options shrink fast. Early advisory support keeps that from happening. It gives you space to stabilise cash flow, improve visibility and make decisions before urgency takes over. It also brings an outside view at a moment when emotion can cloud judgement.

With time on your side, you can review funding, reshape operations, or plan a controlled sale from a position of stability rather than distress. You stay in control, protect value and keep stakeholders engaged. The difference often comes down to timing.

➡️ See how early advice changes the decisions you can make.

Autumna has partnered with Dunham Care to bring real time quality scoring into the heart of later life care. Herne Bay Manor in Kent is the first Dunham Care home to adopt OpenScore, Autumna’s digital rating system that combines more than 60 live data points into a simple score out of 10. It draws on reviews, regulatory updates, hygiene reports and daily indicators, giving families a clearer picture of what life inside a home looks like today rather than at a past inspection.

Dunham Care says the move supports honest accountability and gives families more confidence when choosing care. Autumna sees it as a step toward better, clearer information across the sector. The partnership signals a shift in how providers show quality and how families judge it.

➡️ Want to see how real time scoring could change the way you compare care homes?

Energy Solutions has secured a Top 10 place in the Elite Business 100 for 2026, recognising three decades of work designing and supplying integrated power systems in a shifting energy market. The company builds hybrid and battery systems that help you cut cost, emissions and generator use while improving resilience. Its EasyGrid platform supports construction and infrastructure sites that face high fuel use, while SmartSwitch DC4 and ISOBoost provide digital load management and stable shore power in tough conditions.

Founder Paul Holland says energy volatility now hits margins and performance, and the company’s mission is to give you clearer control over capacity and cost. Consistent growth has come from steady engineering focus, trained teams and UK based support.

➡️ See what pushed Energy Solutions into the Top 10 and why its approach matters in a tightening energy market.

Azets partner Hayley Kingsnorth has taken on the voluntary role of honorary finance director at the Kent County Agricultural Society. Based in Ashford and specialising in rural and agricultural businesses, she brings more than two decades of experience advising owner managed firms. Her appointment follows the death of Hugh Summerfield, who served in the role for eight years and was widely respected across the sector.

Hayley says she wants to protect KCAS’s financial strength and support its long term charity goals, which include education, research and promoting farming across Kent. KCAS leaders say her background with family owned rural businesses makes her a strong fit for a role that guides income from events such as the Kent County Show. With the show returning in July, her decisions will shape how the organisation supports the county’s farming community.

➡️ What will her approach mean for KCAS as it plans its biggest event of the year?

{{first_name | Kent Business Community}}, before you go…

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