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Photo by Alex Leith<br />
MY LEWES: CHLOE EDWARDS, SEVEN SISTERS' SPICES<br />
Are you local? I’m London born and bred. My<br />
partner Charlie and I are life-long renters and<br />
our rent in Hackney increased from £60 a week<br />
in 1996 to £1,600 a month in 2010; we were<br />
priced out and were delighted to find <strong>Lewes</strong> as an<br />
affordable alternative.<br />
So, quite a difference… At first we lived in<br />
Paddock Road, and it was a revelation. The kids<br />
were just five and seven, but we could let them<br />
roam, as long as they kept to the Paddock. I had<br />
time to myself!<br />
Did you change jobs? I used to work in deaf<br />
adult language support, and at first I commuted.<br />
Then my daughter Agi fell ill – she’s fine now – so<br />
I had to find something local to do. I taught myself<br />
to cook with spices, and set up Seven Sisters’<br />
Spices, partially so I could feed the family healthy<br />
food. I was turned down by both markets, so I<br />
decided to peddle my wares from a Silver Cross<br />
pram, on a Friday. Now I also do workshops, and<br />
have developed a product range that I sell on the<br />
internet. And in <strong>March</strong> 2017 I was given the green<br />
light for a stall at the Farmers’ Market.<br />
Is <strong>Lewes</strong> a good place to run an independent<br />
business? According to government statistics,<br />
<strong>Lewes</strong> District has the second most microbusinesses<br />
per capita in the country. So there’s a<br />
culture of supporting local business here: perhaps<br />
because we all support each other!<br />
And in that spirit you set up <strong>Lewes</strong> Women<br />
in Business… I’d met a number of women in<br />
the town doing their own thing, but they didn’t<br />
necessarily know one another, and I realised they<br />
really should. With the great support of colleagues<br />
– particularly Marisa Guthrie and Sophie Isachsen<br />
– we’ve now become a 70-plus-member, not-forprofit<br />
CIC. It’s about networking, but also about<br />
learning new skills from other members: from<br />
SEO, to making a business plan, to voice therapy,<br />
to Alexandra Technique.<br />
What’s your favourite pub/restaurant? The<br />
Swan, I’m so glad they’re doing so well there.<br />
Mine’s a glass of dry white wine! We don’t often<br />
eat out, but on special occasions, the food at the<br />
Limetree Kitchen is excellent.<br />
Where do you shop for food? Pestle and<br />
Mortar are great for spices and other Asian food;<br />
the boys selling veg in Cliffe are great value; I<br />
alternate between May’s and Peter Richards for<br />
meat. Bickerstaffs in the Riverside have a wide<br />
range of fish.<br />
What do you do for exercise? We walk the<br />
dog in the wetlands behind the Stanley Turner.<br />
Working on the allotment in Hope in the Valley is<br />
a good work-out. And I do Zumba on a Monday at<br />
the All Saints. What a way to start the week, and<br />
what a laugh we have, bumping around: it really<br />
lifts the soul!<br />
Where would you live if not in <strong>Lewes</strong>? On a<br />
homestead on a Greek island, with livestock and<br />
land to grow vegetables. Interview by Alex Leith<br />
sevensistersspices.com / leweswomeninbusiness.co.uk<br />
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