A charity that helps disabled people into work notched up a double triumph in the Kent Business Awards on Thursday last night.

Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI), based in Aylesford, won both the Social Care Award and the Judges Award for Excellence at a glittering gala dinner at the Kent Showground.

RBLI, founded in 1925, is widely admired for its work and recently won a Government Pathways to Work contract to get 11,000 people in Kent and Medway off incapacity benefit and into a job. It also runs manufacturing workshops that employ dozens of disabled people.

John Quin, chief executive, paid tribute to his team. "We have a commitment to excellence," he told a black tie audience of around 500.

"We will continue to try to raise the bar."

Speaking after receiving two handsome trophies crafted by Deal silversmith Paul Harrison, Mr Quin added: "We try to treat all the people we work with as individuals and give them tailored services."

Dick Pascoe, who represented the Excellence award sponsor Kent County Council, said he was looking for an organisation with "the spark, the warm glow, the Yes! and the wow moment."

"Almost all the companies we visited ticked one or more of our boxes but only one ticked all the boxes and that was RBLI."

Hadlow College, the transformed land-based college, was named Large Company of the Year, while Robert O’Connor, chief executive of Howletts and Port Lympne wild animal parks,won the Kent Business Person of the Year accolade.

Other awards went to Faversham-based brewer and pub operator Shepherd Neame (Corporate and Social Responsibilty), Regent Development, Dartford (Small and Medium Sized Company), Bussroot, Paddock Wood (Creative Industries), PageSuite, Aldington (Innovation in Business), ComputerTel, Gravesend (Customer Service)), SWEEEP, Sittingbourne, (Best New Business) and Sota Solutions, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne (Technology).

Charlie Artingstoll, a 15-year old pupil at Simon Langton Grammar School, Canterbury, won a special award for entrepreneurial merit. His Timbertags business supplies wooden tags for weddings and gardens and is set for a £10,000 turnover next year.

Graham Webb, chairman of judges, told all the finalists: "You are making a real difference to your businesses and our wonderful county."

The awards were sponsored by KCC, Deloitte, Royal Bank of Scotland, Brachers, Invicta FM, Kent Film Office, the Institute of Directors, Southeastern, Business Link, Land Securities and Kent Business, the Kent Messenger Group monthly.

ITV Meridian staged the presentation, which was hosted by its news reader Sangeeta Bhabra, and the awards were run by Priory PR and Events, Brighton.