This week, I received a notification that two of our newer Facebook groups had celebrated their first anniversary.
My first thought was, where has that year gone?
Like so many local business owners, I started those groups with plenty of ideas about what I wanted to achieve. We've made progress, but there's still so much more I'd love to do.
And that's the reality of running a business. We all have ambitions, plans and long wish lists. But time, energy and resources don't always stretch as far as we'd like.
It got me thinking about the bigger picture.
Why did I start thebestof Eastbourne? What have we been trying to achieve? And, perhaps most importantly, what could we build together if more local people and businesses became involved?
Because although I've been running thebestof Eastbourne since 2011, the vision behind it is still very much a work in progress.
When I started, I wanted to create somewhere local people could turn when they needed information, services or businesses they could trust.
Over the years, I've had countless conversations with people who wished there was one place they could find what they were looking for locally.
A reliable tradesperson. A health and beauty service. A professional adviser. Somewhere to discover what's happening nearby.
Rather than searching endlessly, wouldn't it be useful to have a local resource that brought these things together?
That's what I wanted thebestof Eastbourne to become.
thebestof Everything Local wasn't just a tagline. It was the ambition.
But I also knew that simply listing businesses wasn't enough.
Anyone can tell you a business exists. What's far more useful is knowing what it does, what its customers think and whether it might be right for you.
That's why reviews, recommendations and reputation have always been central to our approach.
We look to work with businesses that care about their customers, take pride in their work and actively build their reputations.
Our aim isn't to make your decisions for you. It's to give you more information to help you choose.
You can explore our Eastbourne Business Guide or browse businesses from A to Z.
In the early days, my focus was primarily on helping local businesses.
But charities and community organisations regularly approached me asking whether I could help promote their activities.
Many had very little money available for marketing.
For the first year, I often had to say no.
I was running a commercial business and needed to generate enough income to keep it going.
But eventually, I realised I was asking myself the wrong question.
I stopped asking why I couldn't help and started asking, "What could I do?"
That change in thinking helped shape thebestof Eastbourne into something much broader.
Rather than treating business promotion and community support as separate activities, I began looking at how one could help make the other possible.
And over the years, with the support of our business members and community partners, we've developed resources that benefit far more people than those who pay to be part of thebestof.
Today, our website brings together local businesses, events, community information and opportunities to get involved.
Our Eastbourne Events page helps people discover what's happening, from community activities and entertainment to charity fundraisers.
Our Local Guide brings together useful information about organisations, services and resources that people might otherwise struggle to find.
And our Business Guide helps people discover local suppliers and learn more about them before deciding who to contact.
We've also expanded the local information available for neighbouring communities, including Polegate, Pevensey, Seaford and Hailsham.
Alongside these, we're developing stronger connections with communities across Hampden Park, Old Town, Sovereign Harbour and Willingdon.
The aim is to help people find businesses, events and information relevant to where they live, while also benefiting from everything available across the wider area.
We're continually looking at what people need, which services they're searching for and how we can make these resources more useful.
And there's something important about how all of this works.
thebestof Eastbourne is a self-funded commercial business.
We don't rely on government grants or public fundraising to maintain our website and community resources.
Instead, the work is funded by local businesses that choose to become paying members.
Their investment helps us maintain and develop resources that residents and community organisations can use without paying a subscription.
That means you can discover local events, browse community information and find businesses without encountering a paywall.
Our members are investing in their own businesses, of course. They want to be discovered by people who need their services, and they deserve to see value from that investment.
But their support also helps make something wider possible.
The more useful thebestof becomes to local people, the more valuable it can become to the businesses supporting it. And the stronger that relationship becomes, the more we're able to do for our community.
It's a relationship we want to keep building.
One of the most valuable ways local people can contribute is by sharing their experiences.
When you find a business that does a particularly good job, telling other people about it can help them make a more informed choice.
And it helps us discover businesses that might deserve a place in our Business Guide.
Across the wider thebestof network, more than 190,000 customer reviews have been collected for businesses involved over the years.
Those reviews represent people sharing their experiences and helping others decide where to spend their money.
If there's a local business you think deserves recognition, we'd love to hear about it.
Recommend a great local business
Looking back, I'm proud of what we've achieved together since 2011.
Over the years, my own work has received hundreds of reviews, and I've been fortunate enough to receive two community awards recognising our community-focused activities.
But there's always more to learn and improve.
The way people find information has changed dramatically.
We've seen major developments in websites, search engines, social media and, more recently, artificial intelligence.
We continue adopting useful new technologies because we want thebestof Eastbourne to remain relevant to the people and businesses who use it.
For our members, that means helping them understand opportunities in plain English and supporting their longer-term ambitions.
We're not simply interested in selling another isolated piece of advertising.
We want to work with businesses that are proud of their reputations, value their customers and want to build something lasting.
And for local residents, the ambition is still what it was when I started.
To make finding useful local information and reputable businesses easier.
There's still so much we'd love to achieve.
More useful local information. More community organisations we can help. More events we can bring to people's attention. And more reputable businesses we'd love to introduce to the people who need them.
But we can't do it alone.
Our business members make the work financially possible. Community organisations contribute valuable information and opportunities. And local residents help by using the website, sharing recommendations and supporting businesses they trust.
There are three simple ways you can get involved.
Keep up with what's happening locally
If you live locally, I'd love you to make thebestof part of how you discover events, community information and businesses when you need them.
You can also register for free to keep in touch with local news, events and information.
Register with thebestof for free
Recommend a local business you trust
If a business has impressed you, let us know. Your recommendation could help other people discover it and help us identify businesses worth introducing to our community.
Recommend a great local business
Join us as a local business owner
If you're a business owner who values your reputation, takes pride in your work and would like to be part of what we're building, I'd welcome a conversation.
Discover how we can help market your business
When I took over thebestof Eastbourne in 2011, I had a vision for something that could become genuinely useful to local people and businesses.
That ambition is still very much alive.
And with the continued support of our local business community, I'm looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together.
David Ruddle
thebestof Eastbourne
