2016 Entrants

Big Jam Studios in Sittingbourne have spent the last five years bringing high-tech music and video production to Swale. Proving that you can be the master of several trades, Director Kevin Thorpe has steered the business into six different and equally exciting areas: Music Production, Music Video...

“Design Experienced” is the business slogan for CS One Design, and the business certainly lives up to that slogan. For over 25 years the company has been an active member of the Swale Business community, operating from their Studio at Historic Tonge Mill. Providing graphic and web...

There are few businesses in Swale that can boast the same impressive longevity of A2 Tyre Supplies, which has now entered its 41st year of trading. The company’s main business has always been basic vehicle maintenance, such as tyre and battery fitting; however the recent addition of their...

Bombus, last year’s winner of Small Business of the Year, have once again thrown their hat into the ring for the Swale Business Awards. A true local success story, Bombus was founded by Amelia Coward in 2002 from her kitchen table. The business, which sells personalised, hand-made gifts and...

Unipet International has been at the heart of the Swale business community since relocating to Sittingbourne in 1999. In that time, the business has grown from a single farm unit in Grovehurst to the eight-unit, two-and-a-half acre site that it is today. Located on the Trinity Trading Estate, the...

Gallery Direct has been at the heart of the Business Community for over forty years, and is a true Swale success story. Founded in 1973 as a small, family-run mirror and framing business, Gallery has gone on to become one of Britain’s leading designers, manufacturers and worldwide...

Over the last several years, in the time it has taken for other Bridal shops in the area to open their doors for the first time and go on to cease trading, Country Brides of Faversham has remained a constant in the marketplace. The popular retailer attracts customers from across the county due to...

Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. This quote has become the personal mantra of Amie Wallace, Owner of “The Salon”, specialists in hair, beauty and wellness based on Sheerness High Street. Amie applies this mantra to her business...

Established in 2011, Queenborough Harbour Trust provides offshore and quayside mooring for rental by both commercial and leisure mariners. The Sheppey company has a diverse customer base including leisure boaters, commercial fishermen and visitors from across the UK, throughout Europe and the rest...

With over 800 employees, COOK is a powerhouse in the Swale Business Community. Manufacturing and selling hand-prepared frozen food, COOK employs over 330 people in Sittingbourne alone. The business has a vast network of 87 shops nationwide and also sells it’s food online and through an...

Many businesses talk about “growth”, but for PlantWorks, growing is what the business does – both in terms of the performance of the business and in terms of the products that PlantWorks produces as a company. The Kent Science Park based business has grown dramatically since its...

For over 28 years the team at Chris Browne Builders Ltd have been carrying out building works including new build premises, extensions, refurbishments, repairs and maintenance to commercial premises including schools, nursing homes, warehouses and fitness centres. The business has grown steadily...

Farmwood Mechanical & Electrical Services are proof that the Swale Business Awards can be a force for good in the local business community. Last year’s runners up for Swale Business of the Year, the team was inspired to improve their business and drive it forward with the target of being...

With property in high demand across the South East, Firm Ground is a family-run property development business founded with the goal of helping reduce the housing shortages in the South East. A local business with a wide reach, the Swale-based company builds new homes in Swale itself, and across the...

It’s a known fact that all sports teams have a coach. Whether you’re a top-flight tennis star or a Premier League footballer, you will always have someone teaching you and helping you to develop. Antipodean Action is taking that mentality and applying it to businesses in Swale –...

Over the last three years, AngelsLocks have made a thriving business selling hair extension solutions and providing training courses. The Sheerness-based business offers hand-crafted, high-quality affordable hair extensions available in a range of four different application methods. Company...

Sometimes a business needs a bit of magic to be a success, and magic is what The Cleaning Fairy brings to the competitive world of Domestic, Commercial and Holiday Let cleaning. The Faversham-based business was founded in 2009 and has now grown to the point where it is employing 14 members of staff...

Anyone with a sweet tooth will be particularly interested in the latest business to enter the 2016 Swale Business Awards. The Sweet Hut, a sweet shop based on the Isle of Sheppey, serves tea, coffee and cakes; as well as a vast selection of sweet treats including candy, chocolates, locally produced...

The Swale Business Awards are not just about the huge companies based in the Borough; they are also about shining a light on thriving smaller businesses in the area. Julie Davies flower workshops is a great example of a smaller business that has made a name for itself by carving out a niche. A...

Nothing is more valuable to a parent than their child. This deep connection is unparalleled, and as such, few businesses undergo as much scrutiny as those that look after our children. Little Legs Nursery understands this, and is so confident in the service that they provide that they give parents...

Making people’s designs become reality is what Riggers Gallery do on a daily basis. The bespoke handmade freestanding furniture business makes everything from bookcases to kitchen islands. Appealing to customers looking for singular, “one-off” pieces of furniture, the...

“When you look fabulous, you feel fabulous” is the mantra of Radiance by Helena; a fledgling business in Sittingbourne that introduces its customers to a world of colour. Owned and managed by Helena Sait, Radiance by Helena helps its customers to look and feel fabulous with practical,...

Ollie Bongo’s Pet Essentials proves that the Swale Business Awards are for successful businesses, no matter what size they are. A thriving sole trader, operating since 2014, Ollie Bongo sells pet foods and accessories and offers nutritional advice for pet owners. Based in Faversham, the...

The Swale Business Awards are for businesses of all sizes, from huge companies to sole-traders. Our next business proves that you don’t need to have lots of employees to be a successful business – you just need to have a great business model. Faversham Designs provides low-cost online...

Customer satisfaction and retention is key in any successful business, something that Credit Limits International demonstrates more than most. Since the business was founded seven years ago, they have only ever lost one client – and then it was due to all infrastructure being consolidated in...

Based in Faversham, No Place Like Home delivers highly personalised, private companionship and care services for senior residents living in Swale, Canterbury and the surrounding rural areas. Established in 2013, the company has grown rapidly over the last three years and now employs 24 members of...

Based at Brogdale Farm, The Tiddly Pomme has championed local and artisan products, providing an outlet for Kent cidermakers, microbreweries, vineyards and liqueur makers. Not content with simply championing others, they produce their own artisan cider, Woolly Pig, which is made by hand using apples...

Anyone who has ever worked in a charitable organisation will know how important it is to ensure that you operate as smoothly as any business in the marketplace. This is abundantly clear when observing how Swale Community Centres, the latest entrants into the Swale Business Awards, operates. Under...

Growing is a word that describes both the business and the ambition of Grow at Brogdale. The Fruit Tree and Plant Centre provides plants and trees to a wide range of customers, including local businesses, councils, schools and community projects. Their primary product is heritage fruit trees, which...

Differentiation can be difficult to achieve in a crowded market place, and one of the areas where this is especially true is insurance. However The Insurance Manager Ltd are truly unique within the market – they are the only company in the whole of the United Kingdom that offer the specialist...

Last year’s Swale Business Awards winner for Customer Service and Commitment, William Whitmey Independent Funeral Directors are once again throwing their hat into the ring for the Swale Business Awards. The Sittingbourne-based business has been operating for over two years now and in that time...

Providing free NHS approved complementary therapy, The Harmony Therapy Trust have been helping those suffering from life-altering illness such as cancer, MS, MD, MND, COPD and Parkinson’s since the charity was founded in May 2010. Now in its seventh year of operation, The Harmony Therapy Trust...

If you want to make the most out of life without having to worry about your finances, then you are exactly the type of customer that Smythe & Walter Chartered Financial Planners has been looking after since they were established in 2010. Based at Brogdale Farm in Faversham, their team...

Operating in Faversham since 1992, Space Saver Storage is the UK’s largest independent storage centre. Offering both commercial and domestic storage solutions to customers throughout East Kent, Space Saver Storage boasts 1,200 individual storage units plus 20,000 sq ft of dedicated archive...

Operating in Sheerness since 2004, Ginger Hair Design provides a variety of hair and beauty treatments to the people of Swale. Salon Owner April Norton has developed her eight-person team so that they can offer everything including massages, waxing, cut and blow-drys, colouring, fake tans, eyelash...

Innovation might not be a word you automatically associate with taxi companies, but it is the word that best sums up the approach that Tony Stevens has taken to managing iCars Swale Ltd. He has been operating the business since January 2015 and in that time has delivered a plethora of innovation to...

Lots of design agencies say that they think outside the box, but Boom Solutions Ltd are an agency that puts this into practice. Since they began trading in February 2011, the 9-strong team has been providing innovative solutions to international companies (such as Jeep, Fiat & Chrysler), as well...

Operating in Queenborough since 2012, Rebecca’s Hair and Beauty differentiates itself from competitors by offering an empathetic and supportive environment, which incorporates luxurious, tranquil, private spa treatments alongside a vibrant and fashionable hair salon. All customers receive a...