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Welcome to the Monday edition of the Kent Business Newsletter.

This week’s Kent Business Newsletter focuses on skills, opportunity and the local organisations helping shape Kent’s future.

We start at Priestfield Stadium, where Kent’s first Apprenticeship Awards celebrated the apprentices, mentors and employers building the county’s next generation of talent. With 125 nominations across sectors including construction, healthcare, digital and horticulture, the event showed why apprenticeships are becoming increasingly important to Kent’s workforce.

We also look at the new Kent Skills Hub near Maidstone, giving young people, veterans, ex-offenders and career changers hands-on construction training in a live quarry environment, at a time when the industry urgently needs more skilled workers.

Plus, we feature SureCare East Surrey & Sevenoaks, a family-run care provider helping people stay independent, confident and supported at home.

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Kent’s first Apprenticeship Awards brought more than 200 guests to Priestfield Stadium in Gillingham, with colleges, employers and training providers gathering to honour the people building the county’s future workforce. Created by East Kent Colleges Group, MidKent College and North Kent College, and delivered by Pillory Barn, the event drew 125 nominations across engineering, construction, healthcare, horticulture, education, digital industries and business services. Judges said the standard was exceptionally high, underlining the strength of talent coming through local apprenticeship routes and the growing role these programmes play in career development, recruitment and long-term skills planning across Kent.

KKB Group took one of the evening’s biggest honours, winning Champion of the Year for putting apprenticeships at the centre of its workforce development and progression plans. Organisers used the event to celebrate individual success, but also to push a wider message: too many young people still struggle to find an employer willing to take them on. That tension gave the night extra weight. Backers including Kimberly-Clark said apprenticeships help businesses build the skilled teams they need, while college leaders pointed to the clear ambition already visible across Kent and Medway. Organisers now want the awards to become a major annual fixture, keeping pressure on employers to invest in talent.

➡️ The celebrations were strong, but the skills gap remains.

A new construction training centre has opened at Hermitage Quarry near Maidstone, creating a direct route into jobs for young people, veterans, ex-offenders and others trying to enter the industry. The Kent Skills Hub is a partnership between CITB, Gallagher Group and Flannery Plant, combining classroom learning with hands-on training using modern plant and machinery. Based inside the South East’s largest operating hard rock quarry, the hub gives trainees daily exposure to live quarry operations and a 200-strong workforce, helping turn training into real workplace experience. It builds on the earlier pilot linked to the Lower Thames Crossing and arrives as concern grows over the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training.

The launch also lands as construction faces a serious labour gap, with CITB estimating another 240,000 workers will be needed by 2029. Gallagher Group says the hub is designed to widen access and show the scale of careers available across construction, groundworks and civil engineering. The site also includes major EV charging facilities for HGVs and plant, powered by renewable energy from the quarry, giving trainees experience of newer low-emission equipment as the sector moves towards Net Zero. With a mobile training unit able to travel to other locations, the project gives Kent a practical base for workforce development at a time when demand, skills shortages and industry change are all gathering pace.

➡️ Read the full story before the skills gap widens further.

SureCare East Surrey & Sevenoaks is building its home care service around a simple idea: support should help people stay independent, not become more reliant. Founded by Managing Director Gaj Muraliidaran, the family-run business serves older adults and vulnerable people across Sevenoaks, Edenbridge, Westerham and nearby areas, offering companionship, personal care, medication support, dementia care, respite, hospital discharge help, domestic assistance and live-in care. Gaj’s earlier work with people facing homelessness, mental health problems, violence and exploitation shaped the values behind the company, with dignity, compassion and human connection placed at the centre of every visit and every care plan.

That approach gives the business a clear point of difference in a sector where long-term support can often be the norm. SureCare says success is measured by helping clients rebuild confidence after illness, regain daily living skills, become more active in their communities and, where possible, reduce the level of care they need over time. Care packages are tailored and reviewed as needs change, while the team also backs local events and groups that tackle loneliness and isolation. As demand grows across Kent’s ageing communities, the company wants to expand without losing the trust, respect and family values that define its work at home.

➡️ Discover the thinking shaping one family-run care provider’s growth.

Dev Biswal, owner-chef of The Cook’s Tale in Canterbury and The Cook’s Adventures tour company, has won the Regional Indian Cuisine Championship accolade at the inaugural Indian Restaurant Awards in London. The award gives a Kent hospitality business national profile for championing regional Indian cuisine and culinary tourism. Read more.

Folkestone Distillery has won gold for its Coastal Aromatic Gin and bronze medals for its Coastal Dry Gin and Christmas Gin at this year’s Gin Guide Awards. The result gives the independent Kent distiller national recognition for the second year running and strengthens its position in the county’s food and drink economy. Read more.

Kent Manufacturing Forum brought together more than 20 manufacturers to examine the practical and cultural challenges of selling a business. The session, run with Barclays and Whitehead Monckton, stressed that owners need years rather than months to prepare records, governance, management teams and deal readiness. Read more.

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