From 22 years in the Royal Navy to an award-winning online entrepreneur - meet the star guest of the Gosport Business Awards
Founder of The British Craft House urges businesses to send in their entries - with deadline extended to Wednesday September 30
After spending 22 years with the Royal Navy, Susan Bonnar decided it was time to forge a new career path for herself.
A passion for crafting turned into a new business which then transformed into founding The British Craft House - an award-winning online marketplace for independent UK makers which has generated more than £1.5m in sales for small creative businesses across the UK.
Her incredible journey, started from her home in Lee-on-the-Solent in 2019, will be shared when Susan joins as our special guest at the Gosport Business Awards 2026.
Now in their third year, the awards are once more being run by The News in association with headline sponsors StandardAero UK and partners St Vincent Sixth Form College, Gosport Borough Council and the Powder Monkey Group.
The winners of 10 categories - including one overall champion - will be unveiled at a celebration evening at the college's Jervis Gallery on Thursday, November 26.
Having helped hundreds of makers sell their work online and grow their businesses Susan will be the perfect guest. And she has urged businesses to get their entries in - with the deadline extended until next Wednesday, September 30.
Susan said: ‘Small businesses are such an important part of our communities and I think sometimes we forget just how much they give back. When the school needs a raffle prize, the football team needs sponsorship or a community group is fundraising, it's often independent businesses that are asked to help, and so many of them do, time and time again.
‘But that relationship has to work both ways if we want them to survive and remain on the High Street. If we want thriving independent shops and businesses in our towns, we need to choose to use them. It doesn't mean that every penny we spend has to stay within our community, but imagine the difference if we all made a conscious decision to spend a little more of it there.
‘The money we spend with small independent businesses helps pay wages, supports other businesses and keeps more money circulating within the local economy. Every time we choose an independent, we're helping to make our own town a better place to live, work and do business.
‘I've experienced the difference that this kind of support can make in my own business journey, and I think that's why I feel so strongly about it.’
Susan, who recently completed a Master's in Digital Marketing with Distinction at the University of Portsmouth and is currently writing her first business book for Bloomsbury Business, said it was important for businesses to enter the awards.
‘Small business owners aren't always very good at stopping to recognise what they've achieved. We're usually too busy thinking about what needs doing next!’ she said.
‘Entering the Gosport Business Awards is a chance to stop for a moment and take stock. Putting an entry together makes you look back at what you've achieved, the challenges you've overcome and the difference your business makes. I think there's real value in that, whether you ultimately win an award or not.
‘It's also a great opportunity to raise the profile of your business and to become part of a celebration of the brilliant businesses we have here in the borough So don't rule yourself out because you think you're too small, too new, or that somebody else is doing it better. That's the judges' decision, not yours. Enter!
The awards are free to enter for businesses across the borough and the categories are:
- Independent Small Business of the Year for (three categories): Retail, hospitality and consumer-facing; mPersonal care, lifestyle and community; Creative, technical and professional
- Commitment to Supporting Talent in Business
- Start-up Business of the Year
- Independent Retail Business of the Year
- Community Contribution Award
- Independent Cultural and Creativity Business of the Year
- Independent Tourism/Hospitality Business of the Year
- Overall Business Award (selected from winners of the above)
For more details and to enter go to https://www.gosport.gov.uk/GosportBusinessAwards
Go to The British Craft House for more information on Susan’s business.
If you are interested in supporting the continued success of the awards as a sponsor you can learn more about opportunities by emailing [email protected]