Jobs site boss is Kentís top entrepreneur

The man behind Kentís largest and fastest-growing internet jobs site has been named Entrepreneur of the Year by Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce.

Paul Andrews, Managing Director of Maidstone-based JIK Software Ltd., the company behind www.jobsinkent.com, was presented with the award at a glittering ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge on Wednesday (25 March).

Just two days later the company, which also operates www.jobsinessex.com, launched a third portal to serve businesses and jobseekers in Surrey.

The Kent site was established in 1999 and now receives around 15 million hits a month from 280,000 unique visitors, facts which helped persuade the judges to make Paul the winner of the prestige award, sponsored by Canterbury Enterprise Hub.

The judging panel was made up of Carole Barron of the University of Kent, Nick Rowell of The Portable Business School, David Butler, Canterbury Enterprise Hub, Graham Jordan, HSBC, Henry Nydam from Brachers Law and Morag Welham from the Kent Messenger Group.

The awards were introduced by the chamber in 2006 to celebrate business excellence in the Kent Invicta Chamber area of Ashford, Canterbury, Maidstone, Tonbridge & Malling, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge Wells. They have now become established as amongst the most prestigious business awards in the county.

www.jobsinkent.com now advertises more than 3,000 jobs a week, offering employers the opportunity to post their jobs in front of a relevant local audience and then have applicantsí CVs emailed to them.

Companies and organisations including British Gas, Burger King, Kent County Council, Ford, Volkswagen, the National Grid, Alfred McAlpine, Hoverspeed, British Energy and Shepherd Neame have used www.jobsinkent.com to advertise their vacancies, and thousands of people have found jobs through the online operation.

The company has invested heavily in promoting the site so that employers can be confident that candidates are aware of it. The company also maintains that it can cut the recruitment costs associated with traditional media advertising.

ìI am delighted to have been named as Kent Invicta Chamberís Entrepreneur of the Year,î said a delighted Paul Andrews. ìWe have worked hard to establish www.jobsinkent.com as the place where job seekers and job advertisers can come together and we believe we have an excellent and cost-effective service. Itís very rewarding to know that the judges agreed.î

Other awards made on the night were Most Promising New Business, sponsored by HSBC, Business of the Year, sponsored by the University of Kent and Excellence in Customer Service, sponsored by Brachers Law.

The winner of each category was presented with an engraved glass award and a cash prize, plus free membership of the chamber for 12 months.