A business hub with its own podcast and YouTube studio hopes to give small businesses and entrepreneurs a prime space to grow.

Managing director Suzanna Samsonova said she wanted Platform 26 on Railway Street to become something to benefit the whole community of Chatham, and not just another block of flats.

With the backing of investors, the owner worked for four years to refit the building into a co-working space, meeting rooms and office space.

Platform 26 officially opened its doors on Friday (October 18).

If offers communal and private working spaces, as well as meeting and seminar rooms and a podcast and YouTube studio.

Ms Samsonova said the inspiration behind the project came from her own experience as a business owner and single mother, adding she needed a space to work outside of the house but none were easily available.

She also said she didn’t want the building and car park behind it to become flats because it would overcrowd the area, and her vision would do more to regenerate Chatham as a place for businesses to grow.

Ms Samsonova added: “It's a place to work, a place to learn, have events. There's no limit what you can do.

“It’s in a prime location, we’re on the entryway into Chatham, we’ve got a central car park for members, and with the train station nearby it’s easy to come to and from London.

“It's a space for everybody, not just offices - that's my goal. We have weekly yoga classes now and it’s my goal to have loads of different events here.

“We also have Christmas wreath making workshop in November, a workshop - there's no limit to what the space can be used for.”

Platform 26 also has a space for conferences and presentations, two meeting rooms complete with smart TVs, and a cafe and kitchen for members’ use.

Ms Samsonova says it’s a place for networking, as the communal co-working space can be used for casual meetings between small business owners, as well as offering more permanent office space, as well as the chance for businesses to expand.

She continued: “We have everything a small business could need for almost anything, conducting interviews, doing workshops, training sessions, meetings, anything.

“We want to say ‘You don’t need to go to London, where you’ll pay ten times the price, we have everything you need here’ and I think slowly we can regenerate the area.

“The podcast studio was something we couldn’t find anywhere nearby and so we knew - particularly considering so many people are starting podcasts - this was something we could offer.

“I just think there was nothing like this around and we had the chance to create something positive.

“This building has been here for 100 years, it would be a shame if it just became flats when it could be so much more.”

Fellow business owners, supporters, and members of the council attended the official opening and said it would help to regenerate Chatham and give entrepreneurs a leg up.

Chatham and Aylesford MP Tristan Osborne (Lab) said: “This is a really important business hub, situated right in the town centre, which we're looking to regenerate over the next five years. So this is critical.

“Lots of small businesses are setting up here and this office has a digital capability, so it encourages people to innovate and I think it will encourage lots of young people to come and work here and share ideas and collaborate.”

Rates for hourly, weekly and monthly rental of spaces in Platform 26, as well as more information about events and memberships, are available on its website.

Medway Council’s portfolio holder for economic and social regeneration and inward investment Cllr Harinder Mahil (Lab) said, with rising costs associated with setting up office spaces, businesses were looking for spaces like Platform 26.

He said: “It's vitally important that spaces like this are opening up.

“It's incredibly difficult to open up businesses, so when we've got someone who could actually drive enterprise into a town centre, then it's like gold dust.”