Marketing agency boss Amy McManus made a lot of noise after she found out she had made it into the Top 30 Under 30 list of Kent’s brightest young entrepreneurs.

“I’m not ashamed to say that I rang round my entire family and squealed a little... okay, a lot,” she said after a gathering at the Business Terrace in Maidstone to celebrate the index, published by Kent Business.

“I’ve already seen the positive influence it has had on the business,” she added, with her agency AM Marketing in Canterbury among more than a dozen firms represented at the networking event on Tuesday, March 22.

“The evening was great fun and was an amazing opportunity to network with Kent’s top young entrepreneurial talent,” said Ben Towers, the 17-year-old boss of Towers Design, who was given the No.1 spot on the list judged by an independent panel of Kent’s business community.

“It is an honour to have been named at the top of the Top 30 Under 30 list. Every single person on it is trend-setting in Kent.”

The Top 30 Under 30 list, which can be viewed here, included entrants after weighing up their achievements to date, perceived influence and their potential to change the course of commerce in the future, both nationally and in Kent.

Matt Parkinson, chief executive of data centre business VooServers, based in Maidstone, said: “It was a great honour to be named on the list.

"It provided recognition of the hard work that has gone in over the past 11 years not only by myself but my employees too, who have been instrumental to our on-going success and growth.

“The evening put on by Kent Business and the Business Terrace was a great success, with many new networking opportunities, some of which I intend to make further contact with to work together.

“Meeting other young like-minded entrepreneurs to share business experiences and advice left me with a great deal of inspiration and motivation.

“Kent is a county which offers a lot of support to young business owners and it really shows on an evening like this.”

Click here to see the list of Kent's Top 30 Under 30.