News Fatal crash
A DRIVER who died at the wheel of his burning van following an hor- rific crash on the M20 has still to be formally identified. The man was trapped in his Fiat Ducato following the accident on the London-bound carriageway near Larkfield, which closed the motorway in both directions. Police say the man was of Eastern European descent, which had re- quired officers to work with foreign authorities to find his identity. The man was thought to be in his 50s. The white DAF truck involved in the accident was on the hard shoul- der to carry out roadworks. Anyone who saw the accident or
the vehicles prior to the accident at 10.03pm on Thursday, January 28 should call the witness appeal line on 01622 798538.
Join our club
SNODLAND Women’s Club is about to celebrate its first successful year and would like to welcome more members. Part of the National Association of Women’s Clubs, it meets at Snod- land Community Centre, Pad- dlesworth Road, from 7.30-9.30pm on Tuesdays. Members enjoy taking part in new skills and crafts, nights out and meeting new friends. Call Sally on 07824 553305 or go along on a Tuesday evening.
downsmail.co.uk
Teenager Ben leading way for young talent
BRITAIN’S next Richard Branson is busy building up his empire from an office at Maidstone’s Busi- ness Terrace. The Virgin mogul has described
BenTowers as “one of the UK’s most exciting young entrepreneurs”. Ben, who is still only 17, set up his
first business at the age of 11, de- signingwebsites from home. He is now an award-winning en- trepreneur, with three companies and a six-figure turnover. As most of Ben’s early work was carried out online, nobody had any idea of his age and he was offered his first public speaking engagement – at ExCel in front of 3,000 people – aged only 15. Today, he is an ambassador for
Young Start-UpTalent (YST)awards and for the National Entrepreneur- ship Challenge, a scheme set up to teach and inspire enterprise in young people in schools. He also works alongside the Fed- eration of Small Businesses to inspire young people. Ben’s digital media and web de-
zine’s Superteen Power List. He has also shot up the Richtopia
British Entrepreneurs Top 100, to be placed at number 34, along with ty- coons Richard Branson and Lord Alan Sugar. Hehas more than 63,000 followers
on Twitter and regularly appears on television. Ben still lives athomewith his par-
Entrepreneur Ben Towers
sign agency, Towers Design, em- ploys 15 people and has more than 700 customers. He is also behind the social media management company Social Mar- ley and is working on a third com- pany, NGBT, a social media management platform. He was tempted to the county
town by the attractive office rents available at the Business Terrace, which is in the Maidstone Gateway, King Street. In December, Ben was named number one on The Times Maga-
ents in Gillingham, but is hoping to buy a house in Maidstone. He is busy campaigning for busi-
ness bank accounts to bemadeavail- able for youngsters under the age of 18 and trying to influence the pay- ment gateways and merchant ac- counts, which also restrict the ability of U18s to be in business. He said: “I want to be sure that if
there are budding young entrepre- neurs out there that they aren’t held back by their age. “I hope I can provide valuable support, things which I wished I had known when Iwas starting out.” For more about Ben read our feaure in Mid Kent Living maga- zine at
www.downsmail.co.uk.
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