A podcast celebrating all that's good about Brentwood, Essex
The weekend of 4th July 2026 is Independence Day for the USA, but here in Brentwood it’s Independents’ Day, when our local independent shops and businesses encourage us to find them and use them!
The Brentwood Buzz has featured many of these independent businesses on the podcast in the last four years – have a listen to some of them by clicking on the Spotify links below.
The latest guest on Brentwood’s celebratory podcast, The Brentwood Buzz, is Andy Thorn. Currently the General Secretary of the Essex Police Federation, Andy has worked for Essex Police and the Met Police, he’s managed the Savoy Theatre in Monmouth, training for the ministry and offered pastoral care to the National Citizen Service when it was running in Suffolk.
We managed to pin him down to ask how many careers one man needs, and how his current work makes sure the police officers who keep us safe in Essex are protected and supported when the demands of 21st century policing hit home.
Brentwood born and bred founder of Sophisticated Entertainment, Sophia-Marie Hornsey is this week’s guest on The Brentwood Buzz, Brentwood’s celebratory podcast.
Sophia-Marie appeared on the podcast last Christmas when she brought a panto version of Beauty and The Beast to The Brentwood Centre. Now she’s back having a chat about how she moved from Pilgrims Hatch Primary School to performing in the West End and on cruise ships to bringing panto to Brentwood.
The latest The Brentwood Buzz is another in our series of podcasts celebrating businesses which are part of Brentwood Connected, the innovative three-High-Street Business Improvement District for Brentwood, Shenfield and Ingatestone.
Nish Patel owns the Shenfield Wine Company, which is the go-to place in Shenfield to pick up a decent bottle of wine, a good whisky and a fine cigar.
The Brentwood Buzz joined him in his Cigar Lounge to talk screw tops, business and Cuban cigars.
https://www.brentwoodconnected.co.uk
The dictionary definition of an Essex Girl has been, for some time, a young woman from Essex who is unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic.
Despite a campaign in recent years to remove this definition, it still sticks, even though you only have to listen to the women who’ve appeared on The Brentwood Buzz in the last three years to find a bunch of intelligent, feisty women who have no qualms about saying what they want, and getting work done.
Now Blatella Films is producing a documentary – Witchcraft & Stilettos: Redefining The Essex Girl Narrative – for upcoming film festivals, and has been in Brentwood for interviews with some of those Essex Girls and women. The Brentwood Buzz was there to speak to director Natalie Scarsbrook.
Thanks to Natalie Scarsbrook at Blatella Films (https://blatella.co.uk/) for the interview and Dr Natasha Radford at the Chicken and Frog Bookshop in Brentwood for the use of the shop for recording.
Having spoken last week on The Brentwood Buzz to the Parade Commander, Sarb Singh, of the Brentwood Remembrance Parade, today The Buzz has been to Brentwood School to join its Remembrance Day service, and speak to some of the staff, cadets and pupils as they remembered the fallen in a Drumhead Service in the School Chapel.
Brentwood School – https://www.brentwoodschool.co.uk/
If ever confirmation were needed that Brentwood is the place to do business, the annual Brentwood Business Awards organised by Brentwood Chamber of Commerce is the place to go.
More than two hundred Brentwood business people, local dignitaries, friends and family gathered this week for a glittering awards ceremony at which awards were given for high Street Impact, Community Engagement, Customer Service and Brentwood Business of the Year.
The Brentwood Buzz was there to chat to as many of these fabulous people as possible.
Photos by David Hale
Brentwood is fortunate to have a unending succession of keen amateur and professional singers, dancers, actors and musicians who perform regularly in musicals, plays and concerts in venues throughout the town.
This month Brentwood Musical Theatre Society – formerly Brentwood Operatic Society – is staging Rock of Ages at the Brentwood Theatre from 21st-25th October, bringing a hit of the 1980s to all those who love a ra-ra skirt and mobile phones the size of bricks.
The Brentwood Buzz joined the team for a rehearsal and to find out what makes the BMTS members give up their time and skills to put on a show.
http://www.brentwoodoperaticsociety.co.uk
http://www.brentwood-theatre.co.uk
Brentwood has its own Climate Action Group which is a growing collection of people wanting to talk about what needs to be done to tackle climate change.
But it’s not all climate. Great effort is being made to bring together a community of like-minded people to talk, debate, have picnics on Shenfield Common and, every so often, enjoy and evening of poetry and music.
Hey Joe Music, just off Crown Street, was the venue for the latest evening of words and music, and The Brentwood Buzz was there to meet Brentwood Climate Action chair, Kat Anderson, and singer/songwriter, Lucy Blu.
https://www.lucybluofficial.com/
There was a time, in the dim and distant past, when Brentwood had two McDonald’s restaurants – one on the High Street, and a drive-thru on the Mountnessing roundabout. Then they both closed and those with a taste for McNuggets or a Happy Meal had to travel to Chelmsford or even Romford for a full fat fix.
But this year, McDonald’s reopened on Brentwood High Street under the watchful eye of former McDonald’s Customer Care Assistant turned current franchisee, Joey Antwi-Kusi. The Brentwood Buzz has been to meet Joey, and to go behind the scenes in the shiny new Brentwood Maccy-D’s.
The Brentwood Buzz