Best Growing Business

Sponsored and judged by The West Kent Partnership (visit website)

The Category

Is your company achieving rapid growth in turnover, exceeding business targets, or increasing the range of products or services offered. Or perhaps your company is growing in people terms or through new strategic alliances with partners?

If so YOU could be the winner of the Best Growing Business in West Kent award To enter please complete the Entry Form with your current number of employees, including contract staff. The judges will place your company in the small/medium or large division of the category as appropriate.

To be eligible your company must have been trading for a minimum of two years at October 2008.

What the judges are looking for

Companies who have demonstrated profitable high growth over the past twelve months which met or exceeded their original business plans.

Businesses should be able to demonstrate that, through grasping and responding to opportunities as they became available, they have increased their business performance by expanding their sales, entering new markets, introducing innovative products or services, or by working with strategic partners.

Please describe your business in not more than 500 words (fewer are perfectly acceptable) and then separately answer the questions below. Please attach supporting materials such as business plans, marketing materials, testimonials. Etc to back up your entry.

Specific questions to answer

1. What level of growth has been achieved versus business objectives and how has it been measured?
2. What have you done to achieve this growth?
3. What measures are in place to sustain/improve growth?
4. How have you used and developed your own management and staff skills and expertise to contribute to this growth?
5. What processes are in place to meet your responsibilities as an employer?

About the judges

The West Kent Partnership is a public/private/third sector alliance addressing strategic issues that impact on quality of life and economic success in West Kent. With a strategic objective to sustain and strengthen the local economy, the partnership recognises the essential contribution from growing West Kent businesses.

Tony Bartlett works for Business Link and is chair of the West Kent Partnership Economy and Enterprise sub-group. Qualified as a scientist, he was a senior manager or Chief Executive in a number of multi-national companies before starting and running his own group of technology based businesses in Kent and the South East.

Wendy Wood co-ordinates the work of the partnership and has experience as a small business owner as well as a prior career in sales and marketing management in the private sector.