Brighton woman wins entrepreneur of the year award

Lyndsey Clay, from Preston Park in Brighton, launched Connected Brighton in April 2021 to give people a way to meet each other while doing a range of activities.

Lyndsey was selected as one of three finalists out of 180 businesses across the country and won the award.

• READ MORE: 'There will always be challenges' - business born out of lockdown celebrates first birthday

She said: “I'm so proud to have won this award, it's really validating as it was independently judged outside of Brighton. This is a perfect end to what turned out to be a brilliant year.

“I've seen the benefit that Connected Brighton brings to people, and saw the need for connection increase, not decrease this year. People need people, and especially during the hard times.

“We've therefore been committed to bringing joy to our members with our events to balance out the doom and the gloom.

Lyndsey Clay's award from December (Image: Lyndsey Clay)

“We have put our pound into boutique and unique Brighton to support the small and local brands with our member offers to save on products and services across the city.

“We started the year talking about lockdowns and ended hosting over 100 events with over 1,000 people.”

The awards were hosted by Real World Consultancy at the beginning of December and judged on the night.

Lyndsey, left, with Laura Buckley for their new date night venture (Image: Lyndsey Clay)

Lyndsey said Connected Brighton’s latest ventures were a singles brand for date nights and confidence coaching, along with a monthly newsletter and business podcast focused on Brighton.

Some of its upcoming events include belly dancing and dinner, fun and games nights, walk and talk sessions along the seafront, Sunday roasts and wine tasting.

In the summer months, the business has hosted paddleboarding sessions and other outdoor activities.

For more information on Connected Brighton, visit its website connectedbrighton.com.