08/10/2026
We’re still on a high a week on from the Uckfield Business Awards 2026 🎉
What a fantastic night – and a huge congratulations to Plane Characters Productions Limited, winners of the Small Business of the Year award.
As sponsors of this category once again, we had the difficult job of choosing a winner from some fantastic entries.
But the story behind Plane Characters Productions really stood out to us.
The business was created by Rob, a pilot, and Mike, who has a marketing background, bringing together their skills to create stories for children inspired by flying and exploring the world.
✈️ They’ve self-published books featuring their pilot characters.
🌍 Their stories take children on adventures around the globe, introducing them to famous landmarks and different places.
📚 They’ve donated 4,500 books to schools, helping encourage reading while introducing children to geography and the wider world.
🎬 They’ve also developed their stories into animated films, with global distribution, and created five new Junior Jet characters who have their own adventures in an electric aircraft.
For us, it was the combination of storytelling, education, innovation and giving something back that made this business stand out.
It’s a brilliant example of a small business taking a creative idea and developing it into something with a much wider reach.
Congratulations once again to Plane Characters Productions – thoroughly deserved 👏
And a big thank you to Uckfield Chamber of Commerce and everyone involved in organising such a fabulous event.
📸 Photo credit: Michelle Wallis Candid Photography