Maidstone Utilities & Major Employers
Today Aylesford (on the north-west side of Maidstone) has the largest paper recycling factory in Europe, manufacturing newsprint for the newspaper industry.
Until 1998, the Sharps toffee factory (later part of Cadbury Trebor Basset), makers of liquorice allsorts, was located in the centre of Maidstone and was a considerable source of employment.
Loudspeaker manufacturer KEF was founded in 1961 in Maidstone on the premises of metal working operation Kent Engineering & Foundry. In the late 1990s KEF manufactured a loudspeaker called “the Maidstone”, and the company still occupies the same river bank site.
Southern Water and Mid Kent Water operate the Maidstone water system.
