HIPCAST Hastings Independent Press

Hello and thank you for listening to this latest episode of HIP Biz, the podcast where our roving business writer, Damien Pestell meets local business owners to find out how they find meaning in their work and what their journey has been to creating a business they love.

This week Damien met up with traditional signwriter and generally good bloke Charlie Nelson. Damien first met Charlie while he was up a ladder, since then he has learnt more about his life and been intrigued by the choices he has made.

Damien has a personal interest in Charlie’s line of work as both his dad and grandad were signwriters. For Damien stepping into his studio for the first time was like stepping back in time and he was looking forward to talking to him about the traditional craft which has seen a revival in recent years.

In this episode Damien finds out that Charlie has always been passionate about food and left university wanting to be a chef, inspired by the TV programme Masterchef. However, he quickly found he couldn’t cope with the unsociable hours and decided to head in a different direction.

Charlie talks about heading in the direction of design and landing a “great job” as a Graphic Designer for a food and drink magazine in London. How much he enjoyed it and why leaving to be a research analyst for more money was a mistake. But how it eventually turned out to be one of the most valuable lessons of his career.

Charlie tells Damien about the negative effects of working a job he didn’t enjoy and feeling an urgent need for change. Deciding to do something completely different and moving to live in Africa. Where he got a job at an eco lodge in Mozambique and how the experience gave him a completely different perspective on life. While there he experimented with wood-fired cooking which sparked a business idea.

He left Africa after a year and returned to the UK to start Fundi Pizza, a street food business with his brother in 2012. He describes how it was great fun and immediately successful. However as the business grew it became more complicated and less fun. He started to do some signwriting on the side.

Charlie tells Damien about the pandemic closing Fundi Pizza overnight and how they managed to sell the food business. Charlie then used furlough to establish himself as a signwriter, starting Fundi Signs.

Finally, Charlie talks about starting again and how it has meant learning again, something that he has missed as an adult. How he has always loved lettering and the enjoyment he gets from becoming more immersed in his craft.


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The latest episode of HIP Biz is now available, hosted by our roving Business Editor Damien Pestell. In this series we tell the story of the people behind our local businesses, finding out how and why they created their business.

This week Damien travels by bicycle (and up a very large hill) to meet the fabulous Brewing Brothers, Ned and Charlie Braxton at their sparkly new brewery up on the Ridge in Hastings.

They talk about their first job as publicans, managing their family owned pub in East Sussex and the fondness they have for those formative years, where they made many mistakes but had so much fun.

They discuss how those mistakes taught them invaluable lessons when it came to setting up their own business, and the West Coast road trip they embarked on in 2014 that inspired them, opening their eyes to the concept of micro-brewing, which celebrated the craft of beer making and the brewer.

They talk about how their friend Bill, an amateur brewer, joined the team right at the start and how they started brewing their own beer shortly afterwards, before opening the doors to their first pub, The Imperial on Queens road in 2016.

HIP finds out how the business was extremely well received in Hastings before Covid, and how they pivoted the business model overnight to a delivery service, quite literally getting on their bikes and personally meeting customers.

They discuss the fantastic bond they have developed with their customers and how a creative crowdfunding campaign enabled their latest move to the new brewery site and tap room.

By their own admission Ned and Charlie had no idea what they were doing when they first started their business and they’ve winged it on more than one occasion, but good fortune has followed them and they’ve had a fantastic time in the process.

A lot of fun was had recording this episode and catching up with one of the most fun businesses in Hastings, we hope that you enjoy the show which is now available on most platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.


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HIPcast#203 sounds great on headphones. Just saying.

Sarah Milne takes a deep dive into the recent Refugee Buddy Week - the politics of representation, of inviting in to our homes, of the art and philosophy and psychology of the refugee experience - speaking to Ayah Bourghli, from the Refugee Buddy Project talking about the All Refugees Welcome panel discussion and Anna Derevianko from Ukraine, talking about her experience escaping from Odessa to Hastings and her first week here.

Ben Bruges went online to look out for Community Ledge and found People of Hastings instead. Kathryn Sutter explains, and introduces Ben to Millie Rowland, CEO of Boathouse Arts and founder of ‘Millie’s Nightclub’ and Kate Rosie, owner of Teddy Tinker’s: an antique, collectables, vintage and fancy dress shop on London Road.

Following on from the feature in Issue 203 ’Saving Lives at Sea. Hastings Lifeboat Women.’ Sarah Milne reflects on her own roles at Hastings Lifeboat Station and shares some safety tips.

We daisy-chain feature our favourite song 'came to the city' from Tim Hoyte's new album Clouds are Full of Stories. Tim Hoyte  - Clouds are full of stories - (Bandcamp download).

He is hereby (ie when this is posted) daisy-challenged to make a bed, ident, audio clip, news clip, art piece, or whatever he chooses. Anything other than a full-blown song, or existing piece. That's what we mean by daisy-chain. Tim Hoyte is hereby challenged. And is welcome to drop a musician friend into the same body-trap. Daisy-chain time: time for the next flower!

The last podcast released was HIPcast#182. Bucking the 'pandemic project' trend, we made none. No excuses. It's just what happened. Or, rather, ... didn't.

Yes, HIPcast is back. But we need help. We need you to contribute your audio stories,  soundscapes, story-telling or performing. We're also looking to feature an original song from the Hastings scene in each podcast, to take part in the Daisy-Chain Challenge.

We also need you to share. If you like the sound of this ep or think the basic idea is sound, then support us by sharing it. Simples. Thank you.

HIP is out each fortnight in your local cafe or corner shop (list here) and can be downloaded or read online. Follow Hastings Independent Press on Facebook and Instagram.

You can support independent community journalism by becoming a Friend of HIP.

You can volunteer. We're all volunteers. We don't bite. Come to the next open meeting if you want to help sub-edit, write, photograph, distribute, shoot, record, fund-raise...

Next Open Meeting: 7:30 @ The Nest, 5 July

Find the section emails on page two.

HIPcast is podcast@hastingsindependentpress.co.uk

HIPbiz is business@hastingsindependentpress.co.uk

news@ info@ art@ community@ listings@

Thank you to Jamwala for the title music.

Sarah Milne is a writer, artist and psychologist here in Hastings.

Ben Bruges is Features and Social Media editor for Hastings Independent.


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In this episode of HIP Biz, I meet Jennifer McNeil and Hayley Roe, founders of the wonderful Plant the Seed, an exciting new vegan food business based in Hastings.

In this episode we talk about the rise of veganism and how to do it in a balanced way. How Jen became a vegetarian at 16 before going vegan in her twenties and how Hayley converted after they met.

I find out how Plant the Seed was born from a passion to make vegan food more healthy and accessible and how starting their business in lockdown meant that furlough from their old jobs gave them a free hit at an idea they’d had.

Jen and Hayley speak about starting the business in London initially as a vegan sandwich delivery concept, where they hand delivered the sandwiches and later how they developed the concept into toasties and brunch as well as the original sandwiches.

I get to try one of their sandwiches live on the podcast and we discuss their move from Walthamstow to Hastings and how they have integrated into their new life by the sea. Finally we talk about working with your partner and how they’ve invented the vegan fried egg!

It was great to meet Jen and Hayley and hear their story, how they have followed their passion to create a business they love and enjoy.


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In this episode of HIP Biz I meet local baking legend Michael Wootton, owner of Judges Bakery in Hastings old town to explore how he fell in love with bread and being custodian of one of the country's oldest working bakeries, which first started making loaves in 1826.

We talk about growing up in Hastings and the special community the old town has, how it feels like a village and his passion for his hometown. How Hastings` special culture has come to exist and why he thinks new people coming to the town is a good thing.

How he didnt know what to do with his life when he finished his A levels, but saw an apprenticeship as a baker and decided to do that until he found a proper job, he has been baking now for over 30 years.

How he fell in love with bread and the sadness that he felt when the baking industry went through its darkest times and how he decided to buy judges so that he could make the bread he loved.

How Judges is a business he is incredibly proud of baking over 30 different types of bread in the summer, making everything from scratch dn how the acid test of a bakery should be their sausage rolls. We talk about the team of 28 people he has employs and how he has instilled his values about bread in them, and how they are big family.

We talk about the building that Judges Bakery is in and how the bakery has always been there, that the house is 500 years old and how the timber has been carbon dated to 1000 years ol and believed to be the timber from the norman conquest of Enhgland when they left their boats on the beach.

We talk sourdough and the tradition of bread making, why it is healthier and tastes better than yeasted bread and how the word barmy came from bread making. He also tells me where I went wrong with my lockdown sourdough, tips on making your own sourdough starter at home and how time is the secret ingredient in his bread.

It was fantastic to meet Michael and hear his story about following his passion and creating a business which really is truly loved and an integral part of the community.


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In this week's episode of Be Your Business/HIP I meet Founder Corie and Distribution Manager Griffin from Hastings based male grooming company 1 Society. A business with a fun, unique style and an uplifting story to tell.

I speak to Corie about leaving home when he was 18 and going to live at the other end of the country, leaving everything he knew behind. Living for six years in a caravan in rural Sussex to be a farmer and his struggles with depression.

I talk to Griffen about emigrating to Hastings from Montreal, Canada via Europe with his free-spirited family and how a motorbike accident 3 years ago changed his life forever. How he has coped with life altering injuries and moved forward to create a life he enjoys, taking things one step at a time.

Corie introduces us to the 1 Society product range which were developed after seeing a gap in the male grooming market. How 50% of men worldwide have a beard, and the satisfaction he gets from making all the products himself and loving it when customers are happy.

We talk about creating a business which has helped to alleviate Corrie’s depression, a place filled with his mates which is fun, light hearted and doesn’t feel like work. How he keeps his feet on the ground and prioritises having fun with the business, so that it doesn’t become stressful.

It was great to meet the 1 Society team and hear their story, how Corie has created a business from his energy which suits him and other people connect with. It was incredible to meet these two young entrepreneurs who have created a life for themselves through a business they love.


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