GATEWAY is one of those buzz words that means something and nothing. We have Thames Gateway, Gateway to Europe and, more recently, Enterprise Gateway.

Kent has quite a few gateways, not least the latest Enterprise Gateway Folkestone. It follows a similar Gateway in Medway. There are rural Gateways too.

Hub is another buzz word, as in Canterbury Enterprise Hub, East Malling Enterprise Hub, Sittingbourne Enterprise Hub.

When Allan Willett, now Lord Lieutenant of Kent, was chairman of the South East England Development Agency, he pioneered hubs as a good way of helping small businesses grow by giving them access to expert help and encouraging clusters of like-minded enterprises.

Both new Enterprise Gateways specialise in creative industries. These are growing fast, with the likes of art, graphic design, website design, media, public relations, IT all part of a steady shift from manufacturing to knowledge-based enterprise.

If you have a talent or a good idea that might make a business, you go along to one of these gateways and, with the right help, you could be on your way.

Setting up a business of your own is an attractive option as careers for life become rarer, and for those who want to take more control of their working lives.

Small businesses that grow are the biggest job creators in the country. But a recent survey has found that the spirit of enterprise among students in the South East is lower than any other part of England and Wales.

A new concept of specialist sector hubs over wider areas has emerged, such as the recent Food Hub created from a partnership of several institutions in and beyond Kent, including East Malling Research.

SEEDA claims that hubs have helped scores of enterprises that in turn have created hundreds of jobs. Some of the data is more hope than reality.

Some claim that instinctive entrepreneurs do not need help. Like Richard Branson, they just go out and do it. It is true that Kent has yet to produce as many entrepreneurial winners as it would like.

But we can also be sure that without hubs and gateways, the county’s chances of producing winners would be lessened. They have yet to fully prove themselves but a lot of self-employed people are grateful that they exist.

In time, that should be good news for the Kent economy as it faces up to growing competition from talented people in China and India.