An 80% rise in turnover in the last year helped a recruitment agency make history at the Kent Excellence in Business Awards.

Swanstaff Recruitment in Dartford picked up three prizes at the KEiBAs on Thursday night, becoming the first company to win a hat-trick of awards at the gala dinner.

The business, which employs 103 people at 17 sites across the South East, won Large Business of the Year and Employer of the Year at the seventh annual awards ceremony.

Scroll down for videos

The firm’s founder Stephen Rogers picked up the prize for Entrepreneur of the Year, after guiding his company to be ranked among the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2015 since its launch in 1997.

More than 630 people attended the biggest ever KEiBA final at the Kent Event Centre in Detling, after judges received a record number of entries.

Video: A night of achievement, high drama and thrills at the KEiBAs

Pat Gallagher, the construction mogul and founder of Maidstone-based Gallagher Group, was awarded this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Business in Kent.

The proud Irishman said he was “blown away” with the accolade, having built a business from a £2,200 digger some 40 years ago to a £75 million building, civil engineering, aggregates and property development business today.

He said: “Kent has been a land of opportunity. You make a friend in Kent and you make them for life.

“It’s been a great place to do business, and I’m very upbeat about the future.”

The ceremony, staged and produced by Kent County Council and the KM Group, was attended by 46 finalists across 15 categories.

A visit from David Cameron earlier this year proved train and flight video games developer Dovetail Games was on the right track. The Medway firm picked up Technology Business of the Year.

Top facilities and the acquisition of an architectural company helped Wire Belt Company in Sittingbourne pick up Manufacturing Business of the Year.

Mark Dance, cabinet member for economic development at Kent County Council, said: “As ever the standard of entries was extraordinary and selecting the 46 finalists was a very tough task – it just shows you the calibre of the businesses we have in Kent.

“I’d like to congratulate everyone who entered and those that won.

“It was great to meet everyone involved in businesses in Kent and recognising and promoting their successes and achievements in this way.”

"Selecting the 46 finalists was a very tough task – it just shows you the calibre of the businesses we have in Kent..." - Cllr Mark Dance, KCC

Geraldine Allinson, chairman of KM Group, said: “This was the seventh Kent Excellence in Business Awards and last night’s event raised the game, yet again.

“It truly has become Kent’s business night of the year. My congratulations go to the finalists and worthy winners for achieving so much in continuing tough economic times.

“All of the entrants this year were of a very high standard and Kent has once again shown that it really is the place to do business.”

The awards evening benefited two local charities: Porchlight, supporting those dealing with homelessness and poverty and Oasis, which provides temporary and safe refuge for families escaping domestic abuse.

For the first time the event was catered for by a number of students from many of Kent’s colleges, including waiting staff and apprentice chefs in the kitchen.

A student from Hadlow College created the flower arrangements for the event and another student from Canterbury College designed the cover for the KEiBA book handed out on the night.

For more information go to www.KEiBA.co.uk

The winners were:

Large Business of the Year

Swanstaff Recruitment Ltd, Dartford

Sponsored by Aon Risk Solutions

SME Business of the Year

Cyclepods Ltd, Westerham

Sponsored by RIFT Group

Start Up Business of the Year

Digital Contact, Dartford

Sponsored by Mid Kent College & DSH Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors

Manufacturing Business of the Year

Wire Belt Company Ltd, Sittingbourne

Sponsored by asb law LLP & University of Greenwich, BIG -Kent Network

Land Based Business of the Year

Thanet Earth, Birchington

Sponsored by Brachers LLP & Hadlow Group

Technology Business of the Year

Dovetail Games, Chatham

Sponsored by Cripps & University of Kent

Tourism & Hospitality Business of the Year

Howletts Wild Animal Park & Port Lympne Reserve, Lympne

Sponsored by Southeastern

Business Commitment to the Community

Kent Football Association, Ditton

Sponsored by Golding Homes

Business Commitment to the Environment

Winterdale Cheesemakers, Wrotham

Sponsored by UK Power Networks & KCC Low Carbon Kent

Employer of the Year

Swanstaff Recruitment Ltd, Dartford

Sponsored by Kent Reliance

Success in International Markets Award

Cammegh Ltd, Ashford

Sponsored by HSBC & Kent International Business

Entreprenuer of the Year

Stephen Rogers, Swanstaff Recruitment Ltd, Dartford

Sponsored by IoD & Creaseys

Customer Service and Commitment Award

RIFT Group, Ashford

Sponsored by Headley Brothers Ltd

Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Becky Campbell, Reflect Digital Ltd, Maidstone

Sponsored by Lloyds Bank & Canterbury College

Apprenticeship of the Year

Joe Kent, Absols Complete IT Solutions, Maidstone

Sponsored by KCC Skills & Employability

Outstanding Contribution to Business in Kent

Pat Gallagher

Sponsored by Kent County Council & KM Media Group

---

Stories you might have missed

Dead train hero had taken mum he rescued to GP

Coach firm faces 'no insurance' charges

'I don't know how we're going to carry on without James'

Prisons a 'penal powder keg' says MP

---