Simon Barker, left, has returned to his roots after becoming general manager of the Thistle Brands Hatch hotel.

For Simon, who lives in Kent with his wife and two children, it was an opportunity to return home and take the hotel into pole position.

"I have always loved the area," he said, "and being given the chance to settle into a new role with Thistle Hotels is extremely exciting."

He has previously run two other hotels in Kent and vowed to make the Thistle Brands Hatch one of the region's leading business hubs.

The hotel boasts a racing bar dedicated to Formula One legends and nine private rooms on the second floor where businesses can hold meetings, interviews or corporate workshops.

"It is ideal for one company to use the nine meeting rooms for their own individual purposes," said Mr Barker. "It can literally be transformed and branded into a company's own meeting rooms."

KENT is an ideal destination for conferences with a wide range of attractive venues.

The Kent Conference Bureau promotes the county as a first-class location for conferences, incentives and events. A team of experienced staff provide a variety of free services and support to assure organisers of a successful event.

So far in 2012, it has handled inquiries worth £115,000 more than the same period a year ago.

Bureau manager Dawn Bowen said: "Whilst we are seeing slightly less residential enquiries for Kent than past years, inquiry numbers are still up and the value is still increasing year on year."

The 2012-13 Conference Venues Directory list 70 venues.

n Copies from www.kentconferencebureau.co.uk or by calling 01622 602485