East Sussex is one of the top places in the UK to run a successful business if you’re a mum, according to new results from the MumsClub Business Mum Awards and our very own Chelle McCann ranked 19 in the Mums Club Top 100 list of successful mumpreneurs.
People had little more than a week during Business Mum’s Week to vote for their favourite mum in business, so Chelle’s ranking is true validation of her services in Social Media. She runs Social Sparkle (with an excellent business partner - ahem, me) and was put forward by one of our lovely, and most obviously very satisfied clients. The accolade didn’t come as a surprise to me, as Chelle has focussed on giving quality, value for money social media support and solutions since she founded Social Media Mums and subsequently, Social Sparkle.
Amongst others shortlisted in Sussex are Antonia Chitty of ACEInspire, Bexhill, Natasha Tamlyn of Red Jelly, Brighton & Hove, Claire McGrandle of Tuppenny Tots, Bexhill, and Frankie Gray of Harmony at Home, Ardingly. The ladies all agree that having kids has help them unleash their creativity and develop their confidence as they have grown their businesses. Natasha says, “I worked for the BBC pre-Red Jelly and wanted a better work-life balance, more creative style of working and do what I always wanted to do but never dared pre-kids.”
The Sussex business mums are growing opportunities in the region too. Social Sparkle now gives work for four other mums, Red Jelly has a support tem of seven, and ACEInspire and Harmony at Home both have around 12 people working for them. Antonia says, “Running my own business has been a brilliant way to combine work and motherhood, and I’m passionate about making opportunities like this available to other mums.” Both businesses offer help and training to other mums too.
We spoke to Tash from Red Jelly, whose ‘messy art & making’ sessions we’ve attended several times Why does she think East Sussex has topped the UK table? “Sussex by its very inspirational nature attracts creative and entrepreneurial spirit and talent. I think if you want to live in a place like this, you are already seeking a better work/life balance. The five mums here who are listed in the Top 100 Business Mums are evidence of a business community who want to almost re-make the workplace - they are ambitious but they don’t want to be confined by large organisations when it comes to creativity and flexibility. And it’s not just women, lots of Red Jelly’s customers are guys who bring their kids along and are enjoying a flexible work pattern to do just that.”
The top locations for successful business mums across the UK are:
Warwickshire
Dorset
Cheshire West and Chester
Buckinghamshire
East Sussex
West Berkshire
Wiltshire
Northumberland
North Yorkshire
Bristol
Find out more about the top 100 Business Mums.
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