East Kent Colleges Group: Innovation Kitchen

This is a real game-changer for our region. Until now, I’ve had to travel in and out of London to access anything like this. The Innovation Kitchen has equipment big enough to halve my batch times – saving me hours and making production far more cost-effective. For a small business, time is money. Being able to produce at scale locally is a huge win – and not having to invest in all the kit myself is even better.

Having expert advice on hand to support with scaling up recipes, labelling and nutrition is invaluable – especially when you're juggling everything alone. Being a solo entrepreneur can be isolating, so it’s brilliant to have a space where you can bounce ideas off someone who knows their stuff. This isn’t just a kitchen – it’s a support hub for food businesses. I can see it becoming a key part of my growth journey.