Brighton company OG Kicks, set up by Ryan Jackson, aged 24, in 2017 has beaten off stiff competition to be crowned one of the South East’s best small businesses. It was named as the Southeast Expansion and Growth Award winner on 29 February 2024. The business has gone from strength to strength and is now a thriving ecommerce store which saw over 2 million visitors in 2023.
Other winners include fourth generation Grommets Ltd from Henfield, a British rubber moulding business that makes grommets and associated mouldings for a wide market including transport, engineering, medical, green industries, and military both in the UK and abroad.
Ex professional and international rugby player, Arun Watkins from Brockham Surrey, took the Young Entrepreneur Award for Eggchaser. Using his experience of playing in professional and international rugby from age 16, his one stop rugby shop supports the foundation and infrastructure of men’s and women’s elite squads, including hosting camps, skills clinics, an academy and rugby sevens tournaments.
Ian Ross, FSB Regional Chairman in the Southeast, said: “Congratulations to all this year’s Southeast FSB Celebrating Small Business Award winners. They truly reflect the vibrancy, innovation and tenacity that makes up our small business community. It’s been thrilling to see so many businesses in the Southeast enthusiastically take part in our awards and the sheer scale and diversity of those who entered is a testimony to the vitality of the small business community in the region. The best of luck to all our winners for the UK national award finals in May.”
The FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards celebrate the best small businesses from the length and breadth of the country, offering national recognition for those who have made the biggest impression over the last 12 months. Finalists across twelve areas now proceed to the national UK finals taking place at a VIP attended awards ceremony on 9 May in Blackpool.
The full list of the South East winners is here