The traditional new year curtain-raiser for the county's business event calendar is less than a month away, with more than 300 expected to attend the Kent and Medway Business Summit.

Returning for a sixth year, the event takes place at the Sibson Building on the University of Kent's Canterbury campus on Friday, January 13 - and tickets are still available.

Keynote speeches are due from Cllr Roger Gough, leader of Kent County Council, and Richard Hicks, deputy chief executive of Medway Council.

In addition to Kitty Ussher, chief economist of the Institute of Directors and Adam Bryan, CEO of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP).

Key panel sessions will include: Placemaking - can 'Brand Kent' draw and retain investment, businesses, jobs and talented people? Sustainability - Funding your green future - how sustainability can improve your business' bottom line; Skills - how can building loyalty and diversity in the workforce impact of skills, training, retention and recruitment and; Productivity - how can digital tools boost profits and drive measurable efficiency improvements.

The event, open to businesses, policymakers and academics, will be hosted by Deborah Turner, national policy lead for women in business at the Federation of Small Businesses.

Tickets for the event, which runs from 9am to 2.30pm, cost £40 and can be booked by clicking here.