A LANDSCAPING company made the earth move at the 75th Kent County Show by winning the accolade of Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Living Landscapes, based in Folkestone and founded by Steve Thompson, won the title, sponsored by Kent Institute of Directors, despite competition from strong rivals in The Prince's Trust marquee.

Mr Thompson, who had earlier explained his business to the Duke of Kent, said he was delighted with the award and planned to celebrate with a few drinks with associate Wayne Freer-Ash.

Mr Thompson said: "The company is special because we offer a high standard of service and lots of enthusiasm and motivation. We are very hard-working, customers get an efficient and effective service and we're not pushy. We offer a good service at good prices."

He hopes to add teams to his business so that much of Kent and the South East will be covered within five years.

Alyson Howard, chairman of Kent IoD, commended all 21 entries, but had a special mention for Sarah Snow, whose new Margate-based business Custom Corsets is tapping into the latest fashion trend, Ben White, of Luxury Imports of Nicaraguan pottery, and James Arundell, a photographer from Higham.

Mrs Howard opened The Prince's Trust exhibition at a business breakfast attended by dozens of young and not-so-young business people from across the county.

The event, together with the Duke of Kent's visit, was recorded for a corporate video commissioned from Lavender Blue Media, based at Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne.

Medway-based David Neale, and producer/cameraman Chris Newberry, from Maidstone, interviewed a number of people for the video, which will go to schools and other organisations across the country to show the young entrepreneurial talent in the county.

Mrs Howard said: "We are trying to get young people to think that setting up in business is whatever they want it to be, it's not just going to university and becoming an accountant or a lawyer. Entrepreneurship ought to be on the curriculum alongside other main subjects."