East Malling has been home to a world-class centre for excellence for applied research and innovation in commercial horticulture for over 100 years. The site has produced some of the finest and most important research on perennial crops, particularly in the areas of fruit plant culture, agronomy, fruit breeding and the biology and control of pests and diseases, resulting in East Malling’s world-wide reputation. 

Having acquired the East Malling Research Station in 2016, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) established NIAB EMR as a wholly owned subsidiary of NIAB. In recent years, considerable investment in the site has led to the development of a new GreenTech Hub for Advanced Horticulture – comprising a new state-of-the-art research facility, including 2000m2 of specialist greenhouses, 14 modern polytunnels, growth room and cold rooms, along with a Wine Innovation Centre and vineyards. These facilities build upon the existing facilities which include a Water Efficient Technologies (WET) Centre and Rhizolab. 

Opened in April 2022, the Amelia Scott is a £32.3m integrated service facility housing a range of arts, heritage, culture and well-being services. Situated in the former museum, library and adult education buildings, the complex accommodates both The Amelia services and Kent Adult Education services, providing a unique and innovative experience for visitors. 

Visitors to The Amelia are able to explore exciting temporary exhibitions, discover the fascinating history of Royal Tunbridge Wells and the wider borough, access library and education services and feed their creativity with hands-on arts and heritage experiences. The centre is also home to a local café, visitor courtyard, archive, dedicated children’s area, an events space and workshop space for creative professionals.

This massive community-focused redevelopment has been funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, The Garfield Weston Foundation and South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) as well as Kent County Council and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.

Established by sisters Cathy Emmins and Sandie Johnston, LIME TREE WORK SHOP is a new co-working facility in Sevenoaks, Kent.

The space offers a secure, convenient and accessible design-led space from which to work, without the frustrations and distractions of working from home or from a coffee shop. There are flexible packages to suit each individual’s requirements and there are associated benefits alongside this, including superfast WiFi, discounted meeting room hire, complimentary tea and coffee and a calendar of networking events to build local connections.

Having both grown up in the Sevenoaks district, Cathy and Sandie were familiar with the area and recognised the opportunity it presented to set up a business. Cathy explains why they chose Sevenoaks and what they think it has to offer: “We felt like there was a gap in the market here as people’s working patterns have changed so much recently, so there is a strong demand for working flexibly. It’s also got great links to London so if people have to travel up for a meeting then it’s very easy to hop on a train and do that.

“There’s also amazing access to open spaces with Knole Park on our doorstep and a great selection of shops, restaurants and cafes, all of which our members are using on a regular basis which is brilliant to see as one of the key things we wanted to do was help support the local high street by driving additional footfall into the town. Sevenoaks is able to support the work-life balance as our members are able to get their life admin done on their lunch breaks or go for a run, which really makes a difference.

Sevenoaks based Rotosound has been making waves in the music industry for more than 60 years.

The business was started in Bexley in 1958 by James How, an engineer by trade who combined his love of music, acoustics and design expertise to create his own bespoke machine to produce strings, and the company was born. This innovation and quality led to The Beatles, Rolling Stones and London Symphony Orchestra being amongst the firm’s first clients.

James enjoyed visiting Sevenoaks at weekends and was keen to move his family and the business to the town. He found a suitable building and moved to unit 3b by Sevenoaks railway station, where the company remains today, under the guidance of his son, Jason How. 

“We still manufacture a lot of stuff by hand. When I say that, I mean, it’s a lot of manual work goes into making the strings to keep the quality consistent. We have about 40 people working here. A lot of our staff are trained up for many years, and are local, so a lot of them walk to work or are from just outside Sevenoaks – places like Tonbridge and the surrounding villages. Sevenoaks train station is important for some people getting to work – our sales and marketing guy comes from Peckham on the train. It is important not to be stuck in the middle of nowhere so we are firmly stuck here.Sevenoaks is a great place to live and a nice place to be taking people out socialising. We get artists here sometimes – Steve Harris from Iron Maiden came here and Bruce Foxton from The Jam.”

UK infrastructure engineering firm FM Conway has expanded nationally from its Sevenoaks home since its establishment in 1961. With over 1500 staff across 21 locations, the firm has relocated its headquarters back to the town. Part of the reason for this decision related to the strong links that FMC has built with local businesses and communities – working with 29 local suppliers and hiring 47 people from the area since the move in 2016. 

Maria Pratt, Customer Experience Director, explains why being based in Sevenoaks works for the business: “Sevenoaks has been home for the Conway family and many other colleagues within the business for many years, so it was the natural choice when the opportunity arose to relocate our headquarters. Equally, we’ve also found that the links into London are brilliant, whether that’s staff or clients travelling in by train. We’ve found that Sevenoaks is a really central hub for pretty much all our requirements, which is great.”

Sharon Field, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, adds: “The transport links really are second to none in Sevenoaks, but you’re still in Kent rather than a London borough. We’re also a member of the Sevenoaks Chamber of Commerce, which has got all the small local businesses and a few large organisations such as ours on the board. It really does give you an opportunity as a business to share some of our innovations and to encourage some of the smaller businesses to do the same.”

Founded in by Sybil Harriman in 1952, Tunbridge Wells based Childrensalon has become the largest multi-brand distributor of boutique children’s clothing in the world, employing over 600 staff and selling to customers in over 170 countries internationally. 

As a family-run organisation, Childrensalon has been able to continue to generate its own investment and grow exponentially in West Kent since its focused pivoted to export opportunities in 1999. This growth has been built on the skills, connections and culture that have come from the local area and its ideal location close to London, Gatwick and the channel ports. 

With access to leading brands such as Burberry, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Mini Rodini, Kenzo and Stella McCartney, Childrensalon has been able to develop an e-commerce operation built around customer personalisation and localisation to a wide variety of global markets. This innovative approach allows users to navigate, browse, and shop in the language they are most comfortable with, with regular customers enjoying a bespoke Childrensalon Privé experience – with personal shopping and an aftercare experience. 

To further enable growth, the company has expanded its Tunbridge Wells headquarters, facilities and logistics, and opened an automated warehouse in 2019. This means the business can easily turn over 3000 orders a day, which go up to 4000 orders a day in key trading times.