Komedia reaches finals of Brighton & Hove Business Awards

Independent grassroots venue Komedia, Best Comedy Venue in the South & East (Chortle 2025), has reached the finals of the Brighton and Hove Business Awards in the Leisure & Tourism Excellence Award category - sponsored by Team East Sussex.

Other finalists include Brighton & Hove Museums, GLOBALLS, One Garden Brighton, The Grand Brighton, and Yellowave Beach Sports.

Established in 2004, the Brighton & Hove Business Awards (BAHBAs) have become the ultimate mark of business excellence in the city. These highly respected awards shine a spotlight on the innovation, impact, and resilience of the organisations that help make Brighton & Hove one of the UK’s most vibrant, creative, and dynamic business communities.

Each entry underwent a rigorous judging process which included a detailed scoring system, interviews, and a final judges' meeting to determine the most outstanding finalists. Judge David Sheppard, Co-Founder/Director at D-RisQ Ltd & Chair of Team East Sussex, visited Komedia to chat with staff about the type of experience Komedia offers audiences, customer feedback, the 31-year history of the venue and plans for the future.  

Komedia’s nomination focuses on the its rich history as a pioneering live entertainment venue founded in 1994, its survival through challenges such as a loss of arts funding in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic and how the determination of the hard-working and passionate team behind the venue led to the rebuilding of one of the UK’s largest and most diverse arts programme. There was also a focus on the accessibility of the venue, having worked with external experts such as Attitude is Everything and Brighton-based Joyfully Different, as well as the venue’s actions to become a more environmentally sustainable business, with initiatives including the installation of solar panels, recycling through Recorra, eliminating single-use cups, banking with Triodos, and sourcing food & drinks from local businesses where possible

The judging panel was made up of representatives from this year’s sponsors including Churchill Square, DMH Stallard, Elekta, Servo Private Wealth, Sussex Innovation, Tottington Manor Hotel, City Girl Network, Shackleton, Help to Grow University of Brighton, Omny HR, Love Local Jobs, Hyve Managed Hosting, Team East Sussex, i360, Brewin Dolphin, Bailey & French, and Kreston Reeves.  

Fiona Graves, Events Director of Platinum Media Group and organiser of the event, commented: “We were genuinely blown away by the quality, creativity and ambition shown in this year’s entries. Selecting the finalists was incredibly tough for the judges-every entry had something to be proud of. Being shortlisted is a huge achievement and we can’t wait to celebrate these outstanding contributions to our city's vibrant economy.”  

The 2025 awards include 17 categories covering areas such as customer service, community, innovation, sustainability, tourism and professional services. The evening’s top honour, Company of the Year, will be awarded to one exceptional business selected from among the category finalists.

Winners will be unveiled at an awards ceremony on Weds 17 Sept at the iconic St Peter’s Church in Brighton.

Find out what’s coming up at Komedia here.

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