MAKE IT MAIDSTONE MAKE IT PROSPEROUS
Everything you need to get your business off the ground
Our Economic Development Unit has launched a new Start-Up programme, backed by new online resources and more on-site advisors at its Business Terrace in the town centre. If you’re looking to set up a new business, or are just getting started, visit
www.businessinmaidstone.co.uk/starting for all the advice you need.
Nearly 50 new businesses have already received advice in the Business Terrace since it opened in September last year. Our onsite advisors also have direct links to the Government's Start Up Loans and other finance. No appointment is needed to talk to any of our advisors - just drop in for a chat between 9am and 4.30pm. We can also arrange appointments outside of those times if that suits you better. Call us on 01622 239300 or email
info@businessinmaidstone.co.uk
The Business Terrace on King Street has been so successful that four more offices have been opened, taking the total number to ten. These are all available on flexible, ‘easy-in,
Business Advisors
Let’s Do Business Group Business advice, training and access to finance to help businesses start-up and grow - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
Gullands Solicitors and
RIFT Accounting Legal and Accounting clinics - Thursday afternoons
The Kent Foundation Specialising in helping people aged up to 30 years old - Friday
easy-out’ terms with no long-term contracts. Desks are available by the hour to help home-based businesses spend some time networking and chatting with like-minded people, or if you just need a quiet space to work, while meeting rooms can be booked for a professional space to meet clients. A meeting room for up to four people costs £6 per hour, while a room for up to eight is £15 per hour. Visit
www.businessinmaidstone.co.uk to find out more or to book.
Enterprise Zone
The prospect of 9,900 new jobs in Kent and Medway is now much closer after the North Kent Innovation Zone (NKIZ) was granted Enterprise Zone status by the Government. This means that any business that locates within the Zone by 31 March 2022 will receive business rates discounts for five years, helping to attract inward investment and create new jobs for residents.
The NKIZ includes the Kent Medical Campus at Junction 7 of the M20.
Once complete, the campus will create more than 2,000 new jobs and provide 98,000m2
of flexible
accommodation for medical and life science companies, specialist residential and rehabilitation care, as well as higher education training facilities for the medical and healthcare professions. The campus has already attracted interest from biotech and medtech start-up businesses, as well as major healthcare investors.
Maidstone Bridges Gyratory Scheme
Site clearance work for the Maidstone Bridges Gyratory Scheme will take place during the
February half-term (13-21 February), when there is a 20% reduction in traffic volume. We’re sorry for any delays caused by this work, but engineers will be working hard to keep these to a minimum.
We’re working in partnership with Kent County Council on the scheme, which will see the construction of two additional northbound lanes (from Tovil in the direction of Junction 6 of the M20) on the eastern (High Street) side of the River Medway, with new junctions controlled by traffic signals. This means that northbound traffic on the A229 will avoid the gyratory system, and no longer have to cross the river twice to reach their destination. The scheme will be funded by the South East Local Growth Fund, with a £1.14 million contribution from Maidstone Borough Council. Most of the
work on the scheme will take place in the summer holidays when there is less traffic, and more daylight hours in which to complete the work. Businesses and residents in the town centre will be consulted ahead of the works to minimise disruption.
The scheme is expected to deliver a reduction in peak journey times of around 25% by increasing overall junction capacity by 15%. There will also be improvements to pedestrian areas in the Lower High Street, redesigning of surface level crossings and landscaping in the area, including tree planting. The flood gate to the Medway Street subway will be fixed, and the drainage of the Fairmeadow subway will be improved. Two subways at the bottom of the Lower High Street (near Seekers and Drakes pub) will be blocked up, and capacity at the surface level crossings will be improved. This is to help protect businesses in the Lower High Street from flooding like that seen in 2013.
If you have any questions about the scheme, please email
Maidstone.gyratory@
kent.gov.uk or call 03000 414141.
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