The UK’s largest childcare management services provider has created 15 new jobs and is set to double its turnover to £6.4m within 18 months.

Parenta Training is on course to expand revenues of £3.2m after gaining a six-figure loan from the commercial banking arm of Lloyds Bank.

The company on Rocky Hill in Maidstone was launched in 2001 after business partners Allan Presland and Nick Williams spotted a gap in the market for childcare support services specifically aimed at private day nurseries and childminders.

The firm employs more than 100 people and took out the Lloyds loan to invest in software and IT, plus recruit 15 more staff.

As well as being the biggest management services and software provider to the childcase industry in the country, it is the second largest provider of childcare training and supplies products as far as the Middle-East, India and Egypt.

The loan has also allowed the firm to support its own charitable foundation, the Parenta Trust, which is set to open its first pre-school in Luwero, Uganda, next month.

Mr Presland said: “We are immensely proud of how far Parenta has come since launching and our rapid growth is a real testament to the hard work and dedication of our team.

“We’re firm believers that all children deserve access to the best possible childcare and this all starts with the training and resources made available to the carers.

“With that in mind, it is a core aim for us to continue growing the business as much as possible so we can keep supporting childcare providers both at home and overseas.”

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking relationship manager Neil Brooks-Johnson said: “The team at Parenta have worked incredibly hard to build the company from a start-up firm to a hugely successful, international organisation.

“The addition of 15 new jobs is fantastic news for the local area and the fact that the firm is set to double its turnover in the next 18 months is a really promising sign.

“There are lots of different ways through which a company can expand – be it enhancing their workforce, investing in new resources or branching out to new locations – and it is important that businesses remember that we are there to help them achieve their goals, whatever they may be.

“We have a wide ranges of services specifically designed to help the evolution of British SMEs, and we also take advantage of several government-backed initiatives like the Funding for Lending Scheme, under which we are provide all SME customers discounts of 1% for the life of the loans.”