Tag Archives: Brentwood Connected

S4Ep31 Move To Brentwood!

Clearly, those of us who live in Brentwood know what a great place it is – The Brentwood Buzz was created to reflect some of the great places and people we have here.

But for those wanting to move here, finding a property in the right price range and in the right place can be tricky. That’s where estate agents come into their own, and one of the newest faces in town is personal estate agent Josh Vaux-Blake from The Agency UK.

Josh was one of the sponsors of Brentwood Pride and we met up with him there for a chat about buying in Brentwood.

https://theagencyuk.com/our-agents/joshua-vaux-blake

2026 S4Ep30 Brentwood Pride Drag and Glitter

Brentwood’s first Pride celebration this last weekend was full of sunshine, rainbows, glitter, music and art, from Brentwood Theatre to the High Street and Crown Street.

The Brentwood Buzz previewed the day’s events on Sunday (see S4Ep29) but stayed around for the rest of the day to meet some of those taking part, including drag performers Sirena Hart and Aria Close.

https://www.instagram.com/sirena.hart_x/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/ariacloseviolin

https://brentwood-theatre.co.uk

Photo Credits: The Brentwood Buzz and Philippa Barr

2026 S4Ep28 Brentwood Pride Day

It’s Brentwood Pride Day today (6th September) and the High Street from Brentwood Theatre to Crown Street is full of actors, musicians, face painters, artists and rainbows¬

The Brentwood Buzz will bring you chats with some of those who’ve been taking part in the next week, but for today here’s a little taste of what is going on.

Brentwood Business Awards 2026

The Brentwood Buzz was fortunate enough to be a finalist in the 2025 Brentwood Business Awards, and a fabulous night was had amidst the glitz and glamour of an awards evening.

The 2026 finalists have now been announced, and The Brentwood Buzz is very happy to see some previous podcast guests featuring in the awards line up.

Andy Dennis from Meridian Kung Fu is up for the Sole Trader and Community Engagement Awards, while Preen Chakadona from Black and Being Essex is a fellow Community Engagement Award finalist.

The pink cafe, Chantilly, on Crown Street is in the running for the Hospitality Award, while McDonalds and The Lounge, Ingatestone are up for the High Street Impact Award.

If some of these names are familiar to you, or you’ve never heard of them and want to find out more, The Brentwood Buzz has grouped their podcast episodes together so you can have a listen!

Independents Day – Listen to some of Brentwood’s Independent Traders

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.

S4Ep24 From Pilgrims Hatch to Panto – Sophisticated Entertainment Founder, Sophia-Maria Hornsey

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.

http://www.sophisticatedentertainment.com/

https://brentwood-theatre.co.uk

S4Ep23 In The Cigar Lounge at Shenfield Wine Company with Nish Patel

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://shenfieldwine.co.uk/

https://www.brentwoodconnected.co.uk

S4Ep18 The Bear in The Room with Artist Jill Busby

Graphic designer and Brentwood mum, Jill Busby, of Hive Art Studios is bringing her artistic skills to the King George’s Playing Fields Pavilion on 14th May with a “Sip and Paint” evening.

Wineglasses are some of the smaller items Jill paints, as The Brentwood Buzz discovered when visiting Jill’s studio.

http://www.hiveartstudio.co.uk

S4Ep17 Alastair Clark – On The Record at Hey Joe Music

Brentwood’s independent record shop, Hey Joe Music, hosted the Essex leg of comedian Alastair Clark’s national tour in which he brings comedy to record shops.

Alastair worked in a record shop for ten years before giving up the glitz, glamour and admin duties of trading vinyl for the glitz, glamour and admin duties of life as a stand-up comedian.

The Brentwood Buzz caught up with him at the end of his gig in Hey Joe’s to talk about the tour, his forthcoming Edinburgh show, and collecting comedy records.

https://www.instagram.com/alastairclarkcomedy/

8th May – Rough Trade, Nottingham, 13th May – The Record Cafe, Bradford, 16th May – Vinyl Tap, Huddersfield, 22nd May – Rough Trade, Bristol, 30th May – The Vinyl Whistle, Leeds, 31st July – DayGlo Studios, St Leonards, 8-30th August – Slow Progress Record and Coffee, Edinburgh, 26th Sept – Rough Trade, Liverpool

S4Ep15 Record Store Day at Hey Joe Music

It was an early start at Hey Joe Music off Crown Street in Brentwood this morning with record collectors gathering from just before midnight onwards for Record Store Day, and the chance to buy exclusive pressings of some of the world’s finest pop musicians.

The Brentwood Buzz joined Marc Sardinha of Hey Joe Music for the early shift and to meet some of the people who are willing to give up a night’s sleep to get the records they want.

https://heyjoemusic.co.uk/

https://www.recordstoreday.co.uk/