"I am honoured to have been shortlisted - the last 20 months have been a whirlwind and I am beyond blessed for how it's all panned out. I have not only built a profitable business, but a community."
Lucy Arnold
Finalists in the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ category of Pitman Training’s SuperAchievers awards have been announced, after hundreds of nominations from across the globe were submitted to the business superbrand.
Lucy Arnold from Sheffield - who runs her successful active wear company ‘Lucy Locket Loves’ on Sharrow Lane - has been named a finalist in the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ category. This award is for entrepreneurs dedicated to building a legacy - business owners who demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit and dedicate their professional life to leading by example.
The UK’s leading independent training provider, Pitman Training launched the SuperAchievers Awards to show anything is possible and to help reward people committed to driving their careers forward in a bid to inspire more of the British workforce to strive for more.
Lucy was delighted to find out that she is one of the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists, after an injury in 2017 left her unable to return to work as a personal trainer.
From an early age Lucy had an entrepreneurial streak. At 14, she used to make earrings, selling them to her friends. At 17, she would trawl through charity shops and eBay for gems. Since then, she has had three successful businesses which have led her to where she is today.
One of the businesses she operated was a paint your own pottery shop. At this time, she had dreams of becoming a personal trainer so in 2016, she sold that business and set out to pursue her career in fitness. Through hard work and dedication, she became a fully qualified personal trainer and opened her own training studio. However, in 2017, Lucy suffered a back injury which meant she was unable to work full-time training her clients. Whilst off work injured, Lucy formulated the idea of designing and selling her own gym clothes from her bed and in 2017, Lucy co-founded her current business, ‘Lucy Locket Loves’ - a fitness clothing brand that is fun, stylish and eye-catching, whilst also being comfortable, affordable and accessible. Lucy’s active-wear range comes in sizes 6-22 and was created to suit all body types and sizes.
Now, 20 months down the line, Lucy Locket Loves is expected to turn over £1.5m in 2019 and the young business woman now employs 6 members of staff and has a loyal and growing customer base.
The transformation has been swift, and Lucy is rightly proud of her accomplishments, recalling a standout moment of emotion and pride of seeing someone out on a run and wearing a pair of her leggings. She has amassed a large, loyal social media following, where she shares her personal and business journey. These platforms are something she says keeps her motivated and helps her through the good and bad days. She engages personally with her followers about the business and documents her journey through anxiety and stress, along with her experiences of being the owner of a rapidly expanding business. In turn, her online community share how much her openness helps them, and that transparency has built a genuine connection with her customers.
When asked why she would like to win this SuperAchievers award, Lucy said; "I am honoured to have been shortlisted - the last 20 months have been a whirlwind and I am beyond blessed for how it's all panned out. I really struggle to recognise my own achievements and I think winning something like this might help build my business confidence and remind me that I have built something great. I have not only built a profitable business, but a community where women feel safe and included and that's better than the pay cheque."
Claire Lister, Managing Director at Pitman Training Group, said: “We are honoured to be able to highlight such incredible stories, across a really varied set of professions and showcase those who are striving to achieve. Each year, I look at the entries submitted, and it inspires me to see what people are achieving through hard work and ambition.”
Voting online via Pitman’s website is now open for all finalists. Public vote closes on Friday 22nd March and the winners will then be announced on Friday 29th March.
Winners of the SuperAchievers Awards will not only gain international recognition of being a SuperAchievers Award Winner, they will also receive an engraved award and a cheque for £500 and a voucher for a distance learning course of their choice.
