Dartford And Gravesham Business Awards
It's not
long now before Dartford and Gravesham's enterprising firms
are put under the spotlight as the search for north Kent's
best business draws to a close.
Companies throughout the region have
bid to become Dartford & Gravesham's leading business which
will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony in June.
It's been a tough year but our entrants have proved to be
tougher still by battling through the
economic downturn to prove the area is still very
much industrious and entrepreneurial.
The prestigious awards ceremony will acknowledge
the shortlisted entries deemed to display the necessary
know-how, knowledge and knack to warrant a place in the final - and
the tension will mount as we inch closer to naming Dartford &
Gravesham's Business of the Year.
The awards and ceremony are supported by Dartford and Gravesham
councils as well as leading local companies John Lewis Bluewater,
Thames Gateway (Kent) Chamber of Commerce, Lloyds TSB, Vizards
Wyeth, Barnes Roffe LLP, Adecco and the University of Kent.
A prize fund of £5,000 is on offer to
the best enterprises in one of Kent’s most dynamic regions.
The finalists will be recognised at a gala presentation dinner
being held in Acacia Hall, Dartford, in June.
Glendale Creative Solutions
The Courtyard,
Home Farm Business Centre,
Riverside,
Eynsford
DA4 0AE
Good foresight
is a great business quality and printer Steve Earl saw the
revolution the Apple Mac would make when he first set out in his
own enterprise in March 1989.
Now 20 years on, his client book at the Eynsford based Glendale
Creative Solutions, is full of blue chip companies and most of them
were attracted via word of mouth.
Buying that first Apple Mac with his wife was the best
investment Steve ever made and it wasn’t long before he needed to
employ some design geniuses who had the ability to revamp the
clients’ image. The company now offers creative design
incorporating corporate identity, brand development and literature,
in fact everything except litho printing which is outsourced.
Steve said:” I still keep my finger on the
print side and my background ensures we keep to deadline. Missing
that can be the downfall of a design business and it does
happen.”
Steve’s brother Mark has taken over the very
successful exhibition side where amazing designs are created for
boards and display panels.
The firm brought in high flyer Deborah Shell
from Barclays Bank plc who had been managing marketing for the
private and international banking sector. It is her job to up
Glendale’s own image.
Working from a converted cattle shed beside
the river watching a regular Kingfisher swoop up and down beats
working in London any day says Steve, although he did for many
years. Many of the client base come from the city and contain such
well known names as MTV, major banks, housing associations, medical
companies.
Steve predicted it would be a tough year for
his industry, but he is geared up for it and feels quality will
always win and after all he has the experience of having started in
tough times in the recession of 1989.
Dakar Cars Ltd,
Stanhill Farm,
Birchwood Road,
Dartford DA2 7HD.
Dartford-based Dakar Cars Ltd based has just
beaten 9000 UK companies to scoop the 2009 Garage of the Year title
in the Car and Accessory trailer magazine awards.
Based alongside Birchwood Park Golf Course,
has grown out of redundant farm buildings to become one of the
area’s top garages offering repair, servicing, MOTs and is a Land
Rover specialist.
The company was born to be famous when in 1991
it opened to build the Dakar 4x4 made famous by Anneka Rice in her
show, Challenge Anneka. The car is now a worldwide export in kit
form..
Dakar Cars Ltd with its 14 strong staff
achieved its Investors in People Award in 2004, offers staff
ongoing training and works with local schools and is hoping to be
involved with this year’s Trevithick Steam Show.
Based at Dartford and Bexley, operations
manager Chris Barnett says the company is looking to expand further
by opening another workshop.
He said: ”We have built the business on trying
to achieve either full or complete customer satisfaction which is
reflected by the fact that the majority of our customer base is
built on recommendations and word of mouth.”
Dimples Day Nursery,
Green Street,
Green Road
Darenth
DA2 7HT
Last year’s Business of the Year
winner
Pre-school French
lessons, growing and eating their own fruit and vegetables combined
with an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ report has put Darenth-based Dimples
Day Nursery and last year’s Dartford Business of the Year winner
amongst the best in the region and in the top two per cent in the
UK.
Run by Sandra Roles who built the school out
of redundant building nearly seven years ago, the nursery provides
childcare for children from three months to five years and holiday
care for five to 11 year olds looked after by 42 staff on a daily
basis and 24 additional during holiday times. The nursery is
accessed by a vast cross section of the community including
families where both parents work, single parent, low and higher
income families where only one parent works and childcare is used
solely for education purposes and not for necessity.
An industry with a high staff turnover,
Dimples Day Nursery has retained 74 per cent of its staff over two
years and 54 per cent over three. There is a high staff ratio
to children. Instead of the required one adult to eight children
for the over three’s, the nursery has one adult to six children
Initial concerns were expressed when the
recession first bit, but the nursery has found whilst some parents
have been made redundant, other have increased their hours and
flexible payment plans have been drawn up.
Involvement by parents is encouraged with an
annual BBQ and supporting local charities such as the Salvation
Army, Ellenor Foundation and Demelza House. For the past four years
staff who range from school leavers to grandparents have trained
for the Race for Life’.
Sprint Engineering & Lubricants
Ltd,
G3 West Mill,
Imperial Business Centre,
Gravesend
DA11 0DL
Staying
ahead of the field is helping partners Kevin Donovan and Gary Smith
beat the recession. The friends who set up Sprint Engineering &
Lubricants Ltd 20 years ago when they delivered their stock in an
estate car, have now carved a niche market in renewable energy by
helping assemble wind turbines. This is not only in this country
but the company exports wind turbine parts to most of Europe and
the US.
The Gravesham based firm is also a Shell
authorised lubricant distributor and stockist of SKF and FAG
bearings and has an impressive client base that includes Aylesford
Newsprint, Eurotunnel, Kent Messenger and GlaxoSmithKline
Director Kevin Donovan said:” Renewables have
grown 25 per cent year on year boosting our sales by as much as 30
per cent. There is no way the industry is going to fold.
“ We have also found people are repairing
rather than renewing their machinery so we are kept busy with
gearboxes and turbines needing serviced.. We have taken on
new managing director with 30 years trade experience and our
15-strong workforce is highly trained. Although we have a website
and newsletters, much of our business comes by word of mouth.”
Marks Demolition Contractors
Ltd,
Marks House,
Unit N,
Kent Kraft Industrial Estate,
Lower Road,
Northfleet
DA11 9SR
They excavate in
some unusual places, own all their own equipment and have been
around for 35 years and are here to stay. Marks Demolition
Contractors Ltd of Kent Kraft Industrial Estate, Northfleet is a
formidable competitor in an industry that fights for lucrative
contracts.
A family business to the present day employing
29 local people, the firm carries on the name with managing
director Dean Marks at the helm. It may seem the David in the
Goliath industry, but the company has picked up some very good
contracts which include chipping away at the royal residences where
they demolished the Queen’s galleries and kitchens.
A recent and technically challenging job was
the demolition of the Brighton Pullman sheds, a job which brought
out the enthusiasts begging for a souvenir brick. The firm couldn’t
access the sheds other than by rail, so they loaded their gear on
to a trailer and drove along the railway line. A train was then
hired to take all the debris away and up to Hither Green.
Now in state of the art new premises with
workshop and client yard, the firm, which has entered these awards
regularly and was highly commended in 2008, also took the bridges
down at Dartford Borough Council and Princes Road working as a sub
contractor.
Contracts manager Nick Sall said recycling is
at the top of the firm’s agenda.“ As much as 80 per cent of all our
waste is recycled and we can deal with Japanese Knotweed as well as
hazardous chemicals.
“We are also employing 100 per cent
Construction Skills Certificate Scheme workers. “
Blends for Friends Ltd
The Old
Granary,
Lower Austin Lodge Farm,
Upper Austin Lodge Road,
Eynsford
ALEX Probyn has an unusual and nose-sensitive job. He is a
master tea blender and creates wonderful mixtures with varieties of
tea leaves and herbs.
He would make up bespoke blends for gifts for his friends until the
demand through word of mouth became so great he decided to go into
the market commercially.
Blends for Friends is an Aladdin’s cave of tea blending delights
and in only 30 months since its launch, this unusual company based
in Eynsford has had sales rocketing.
Now with six staff, the company imports blends from over 30
countries and exports to 41.
Mr Probyn said: “Quite simply, we offer a service that no other
company in the world can match. There are plenty of tea
companies that provide customers with tea and herbal infusions and
there are even a few that offer own-label packaging on generic
blends, but we offer a bespoke service in every sense – after all,
why would a tea shop or similar business want to offer a generic
brand of tea that their competitors offer, when they can have their
own brand of tea which has been designed and created with their
exact requirements in mind?”
The company has now blended for Royalty, numerous celebrities and
many big brands and it is currently working on a launch in
Dubai.
Clark Marshall Associates,
CMA
House,
5 Summerhill Road,
Dartford
DA1 2LP
USING a private firm of mortgage and financial advisors can
often be the best bet in securing the most affordable and sensible
product such as a mortgage or insurance.
Clark Marshall Associates based at Summerhill Road, Dartford has
been advising people all over the South East for the past 13 years
and lately this has become challenging.
Director Ian Clark admits he had a gut feeling the markets were
going to take a crash and says that currently it’s still a very
volatile world where hopes can rise and be dashed between parts of
a day let along weeks.
Asked if the massive Government cash injections have been effective
he replied not as yet.
He feels the banks, despite the bail out, are not budging - being
highly selective often overlooking those with small deposits.
This big financial bang has pulled Clark Marshall Associates in
different directions - in ones where they are actually helping
people in difficult circumstances.
The affordable housing market is now the focus for those facing
repossession particularly those with disabilities resulting from
work or vehicle accidents and serious illness.
It’s cheaper to keep someone in a specially adapted home than have
it repossessed only to start redesigning another property.
The government has also brought in a Mortgage Rescue Scheme to
specifically help such people and although it’s early days, has
managed to keep families in their homes by letting a housing
association buy the home which is then rented back.
Neves Scott,
solicitors,
Trinity House,
82 High Street,
Dartford DA1 2AG
WHEN you’re struggling financially, vulnerable and possibly
homeless it can be difficult to know what rights you may have -
with many thinking they’ve very little at all.
Help is out there, through various charities and organisations such
as Shelter, but they can’t always deal with the nitty gritty legal
side of a situation.
Dartford based community legal firm Neves Scott, which has been in
business for four years, set itself out to help those who can’t
help themselves.
A big part of its client base is dealing with those in hostels -
living with the outcome of repossessions and eviction. They also
support victims of domestic violence - seeking injunctions against
a partner and making sure people are aware of the housing help they
may be entitled to.
The firm also has a good success rate with appeals
It operates legal aid and can also chase landlords who won’t make
property repairs for tenants.
Katies Ennis-Webb said: “We are unique. There are no other legal
aid solicitors in the borough dealing with the homeless. All our
staff work very hard to serve our community. We give our clients
their basic human rights and place our advisors where people come
into contact with legal problems.
“We do have other sides to the business though with probate,
employment and conveyancing and have been challenged opening a hew
branch.”
Paul Stapley Tyres Ltd,
6 Turnstone,
New Barn,
Longfield
DA3 7NR
CUSTOMER service has been at the top of tyre fitter Paul
Stapley’s agenda since the day he opened his company doors in July
2005.
Having worked in the industry for over 20 years, Paul felt
customers were spending too much time hanging around workshops to
get their tyres fitted and seemed to be treated with
indifference.
The service should suit the customer, not the fitting
company.
So Paul Stapley Tyres Ltd was set up to take the service to the
customer, not the other way round.
Good relationships were gradually built up with this unique mobile
tyre fitting service.
It meant customers could keep their businesses working without
wasting time away from base and Paul quickly got a good reputation
for offering sound, honest advice at a competitive price.
Buying a good tyre because it will serve you well is different from
one advertised on racing cars where the only difference is paying a
lot more for the glossy brand name.
Company Secretary Lisa Stapley said:” We started this business from
scratch in a very short space of time. Through hard work we have
watched the business grow quickly.
“Despite the fast growth we have maintained the quality of service
we wanted to offer from our first day of business.“
Broadditch Farm,
Manor Farm,
New Barn Road,
Southfleet,
Gravesend
THERE’S a green oasis of fresh produce right in the middle of
Southfleet where sixth generation family members John and Mark
Harris are managing their 500-acre Broadditch Farm.
Not only have the brothers been running a farm shop for the past 19
years, but educate youngsters who they see as tomorrow’s customers,
in the country ways.
Schools are encouraged to visit because John and Mark don’t want
children thinking that potatoes are grown in plastic bags in the
supermarket.
The youngsters are taken to the fields where they dirty their hands
digging their own potatoes, which are then taken back to
school...
The farm shop run by Mandy Pay stocks a large variety of home-grown
vegetables and because they’ve come straight from the field without
added water or irrigation, the flavour is second to none.
In 2001 the farm joined the countryside stewardship scheme which
encourages farmers to create and preserve natural habitats.
They have laid hedges, planted new ones and created 50 acres of
grass leys, numerous grass margins and beetle banks.
This year there is a national Open Farm Sunday on June 7 where
farms up and down the country will open their gates to show and
explain farming practices.
There will also be a vegetable tour and youngsters will be able to
pet the lambs, piglets, chickens and ferrets.
The farm also welcomes children’s parties with the possibility of
either a tractor trailer ride, or the Barrel Buggies thrown in -
depending on availability.
Austen Allen Recruitment Agency,
Crown House,
Home Gardens,
Dartford
THERE might be a
recession, but expansion is the key word for Dartford recruitment
specialist Austen Allen, a former finalist in these awards.
Since founding the company in March 2005, managing director Nina
Allen, an experienced high-street recruitment consultant, has gone
from strength to strength, even forming another company – Austen
Allen Healthcare, specialising in supporting care workers, support
and managerial staff.
Nina Allen is a role model for other women, who had the ambition
and was prepared to take the plunge to launch her business.
The company name comes from a mixture of family names, Austen
and Allen. She now has five staff working for her.
Very much a hands-on boss, she personally researched and
developed the new healthcare side of the business and proudly
states the firm is the only independent agency offering recruitment
services in that area and industrial, driving, commercial and
engineering sectors.
Demand for skilled labour is high, and clients come from all
over the south east.
Nina said: "We offer a high level of service and help applicants
with interview techniques by role play and telling them to get the
facts on potential employers using their company’s website."
Nina reckons as much as 30 per cent of Austen Allen’s business
is created through the internet.
Staff training is encouraged and the company has also achieved
Link Up and ISO 9001 status.
Amar Hall, Dartford
BEING prepared for every eventuality is good business
practice.
Running a function hall when a bridegroom failed to turn up to
his wedding at Amar Hall, East Hill, Dartford, there was only one
thing to do – get on with the party.
So the jilted bride in her wedding dress and her family danced
the evening away.
Amar Hall has been run by the Sandhu family since 2002, and they
believe it is the town’s largest hall venue. They specialise in
18th and 21st birthday parties and tailor according to the
customer’s budget.
Other events include an over-30’s disco, fitness classes, mother
and toddler group, martial arts, and you can even rent your own
mobile bar and casino – handy for home garden functions.
The family are also committed to the local community, are
Dartford Football Club sponsors and host charity events, raising
£1,050 for last year’s Children in Need.
Livis, Livis House, 50 Victoria Park,
Dartford
When a big client feels the
brunt of the recession and goes under, it often takes a lot of
other companies with it.
Not so for Dartford-based Livis, which is keeping positive and
its head well above water, and experiencing one of the busiest
periods in its 13-year history.
This means security for the 83 staff who work on a number of
construction and civil engineering projects in the south east,
including the London Underground.
Livis has an impressive client portfolio in addition to the
Underground, such as Transport for London, Qinetic, Balfour Beatty,
Costain, Metronet and Network Rail.
The company offers a wide range of services such as demolition,
enabling, civils, building works in connection with service
installation, diamond drilling, electrical installation, intrusive
surveys and structural testing.
As the on-site teams are often working in difficult and
dangerous environments, ongoing training of staff is vital.
There is a dedicated training co-ordinator ensuring all skills
and qualifications are kept up to date.
Operations manager Lynn Moore said: "We are ISO 9001 and aiming
for our ISO 14001 by the end of this year, which will give us a
‘green’ stamp on our working practices."
DPS Print, J14 Springhead Enterprise Park, Springhead
Road, Northfleet
ACHIEVING the right image through
graphics makes a statement about your company, and full colour and
offset printing specialists DPS Print, based in Springhead Road,
Northfleet, is well placed to advise you.
The three-partner business has been
running for 25 years and recently invested in new equipment which
helped it become environmentally print friendly.
It promotes the idea of customers
using vehicle graphics, saying it is a very cost effective way of
advertising, and that customer feedback indicates increased direct
sales have been obtained by putting adverts on vans.
The digital press can also handle
those handy business card and brochure short runs, as well as trade
show displays and posters.
DPS Print also exports to Ireland and
Spain and has some large clients, including local councils, a
Bluewater retailer and an NHS trust.
The partners are committed to using
eco-friendly printing products and techniques, and with that comes
the chance to educate customers, making them aware that they can
have the best possible job done while helping the planet.
C & H SERVICES, THE OLD
RECTORY, SPRINGHEAD ROAD, NORTHFLEET
NORTHFLEET-based C&H Services takes customer care to the
ultimate level and it is not surprising it has built up its
six-year-old business successfully by word of mouth.
Not just satisfied to have completed one particular customer's
domestic job two days early while the owner was away, the workmen
then painted the dining room and mowed the grass.
The firm is one of those useful multi-service companies covering
a wide range of work such as electrical testing and installation,
CCTV and access control, fire alarms and emergency lighting, and
kitchen and bathroom installation.
The management structure is experienced and all electricians are
have City & Guilds qualifications, working to British Standards
IEE regulations (BS7671).
All domestic work complies with Part P of the Building
Regulations and the company has full NIC EIC registration.
Recent wiring regulations have meant all staff have had to
undergo specialised training, and the company is able to provide a
full installation service for industrial premises, offering
heavy-duty, single- and three-phase wiring systems.
It can also design, supply and install mains distribution
equipment and associated circuitry, using all of the latest cable
management and containment systems.
Director Mark Harding said: "We have slowly built our business
up and have always maintained a high level of professionalism and
good working practices."
He added: "We are proud to have a strong list of satisfied
customers."
Thursday, April 30 2009