Business has a wider remit than jobs and wealth creation.

That's the belief of Chatham-born Jane Ollis, the new chief executive of Business Support Kent Community Interest Company (BSK-CIC) who took over from Bob Jones when he axed his own job in a cost-saving move.

Ollis, who worked for a utility company in Australia and has been a NASA intern, is evangelistic about the power of business to do good, contrary to much of the adverse publicity that often attaches to the private sector.

It's important to help create jobs and get companies paying corporation tax, but it goes beyond that.

"We are a community interest company with a bigger social goal and believe in the power of business to solve the big nutty problems facing us."

Ollis, one of a triumvirate of women running Rochester-based BSK with Erica Russell and Max Adam, cites an ageing population, climate change, resource scarcity and security issues that should concern business.

Ollis campaigns for Contemporary Business, a slogan that embraces social concerns allied to ambition. "How can Kent businesses play a part in generating new products and services that respond to the challenges of the future? How do we sell ambition, how do we help every Kent company get ambitious?"

BSK, which commissions the Kent 2020 Vision show and advises firms about innovation and growth, has had a tough year. Funding has been a challenge, prompting Jones's departure.

But she says things have improved. She wants to "sell" the Kent 2020 Vision concept to other counties and use BSK expertise to put funding bids together for others.