City State Unveiled by City Businesses

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Wednesday June 23, Brighton - In a lively evening of presentations, questions and answers, Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce staged its third annual State of the City event in the Sallis Benney theatre last night. A panel made up of city leaders faced an audience representing more than 130 Brighton & Hove businesses, together with councillors, council officers and academics, for a Question Time style session; topics ranged from business, unemployment and housing to the likelihood of a monorail running through the city.

Following his skilled handling of the Chamber of Commerce election hustings in April, Anthony Zacharzewski of the Democratic Society returned to chair the event and to help the audience quiz a panel representing bodies as diverse as the City Council, the police, the NHS, the voluntary sector, the Economic Partnership and Business Link. Chamber President Julia Chanteray opened the evening and, before questions were put, Tony Mernagh, of Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership, gave an insightful presentation on the economic and social state of the city, with a barrage of facts and figures covering almost every aspect of city life over the last year and the opportunities and threats it faces in the near future. Audience members generally found the talk fascinating and several were heard to comment on the valuable insight it gave into how the city works.

This was followed by a shorter presentation from Rob Fraser, the council’s head of Planning Strategy, who attempted to explain the city’s core development strategy but had mixed success as the new Westminster government is rapidly changing many of the rules on which the strategy is based.

More than an hour was devoted to audience questions, none of which was shown to panellists in advance. A score of questions was put (not all panellists were as fond of their own voices as their political counterparts would be on TV’s Question Time) and not all of the questions, by any means, was on business topics. Laurence Taylor of Sussex Police was quizzed about its commitment to reducing carbon emissions (it is implementing a policy) and to supporting the 10:10 campaign (in which Brighton & Hove is a world leader), while Scott Marshall of the City Council was put on the spot about the apparent differences in public expenditure on the Brighton seafront and the Hove seafront (they are used differently and therefore attract different investment schemes, was the answer).

Employment issues arose several times, from several points of view, such as helping long term unemployed and (in a separate question) adults with mental disabilities into work, and from employers who felt the need for graduates to have more practical business skills in order to hit the ground running as employees. Along the way, there were honourable mentions for the Sussex Internship scheme (run by business trade body Wired Sussex)  and Business Lifebelt (designed by the City Council and delivered by Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce, helping small and medium businesses through the recession). Also praised was the commitment of American Express (a major employer) to the city in its current expansion plans on Edward Street, while panellist Tony Mernagh challenged the audience’s business leaders about doing more to help school leavers and graduates to be ready for work. An audience member was also vocal about the inability for very small businesses to take on employees with particular needs, such as those with mental disabilities, unless there was proper external support for the extra resources needed.

The question ‘How many more web designers, jewellery designers and graphic designers does Brighton need?’ raised a chuckle but the answer from the panel was serious: if they can keep on finding clients, said Julia Chanteray, bring them on. And as an extension to that, the so-called digital industry may be a relatively modest part of Brighton’s employment landscape, when compared to hospitality and the public sector, but it is thriving and growing, and in the games industry Brighton is one of the world’s top three locations and has the potential to take a sizeable slice of a £5bn+ global market.

Chamber President Julia Chanteray commented: “State of the City – run by Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce – hasn’t just become a fixed point on the city’s business calendar: it’s actually one of Brighton & Hove’s most interesting evenings. It’s where you learn why things are as they are and how the whole city ticks. And it’s the event where ordinary people can ask any question of those with the big budgets and get away with it. There’s no vetting or political manoeuvring and there’s a real potential to influence the city’s future direction. State of the City has become a great bonus to those living and doing business in Brighton and Hove.”

On the whole, questions might have been searching but they were benign, with few major points of controversy. The net effect appeared to be that Brighton & Hove’s business community is reasonably comfortable with the way the city and its major institutions are being run.

And is there to be a monorail? Councillor Brian Oxley said that plans are now actively being considered by the Council.

Please click here for more photographs of the event, courtesy ofLucky Dog Photography.

Please click here for Tony Mernagh's presentation on Challenges for the Local Economy.

Please click here for Rob Fraser's presentation on the Brighton & Hove City Council's Core Strategy

Please click here for the Chamber's video of State of the City

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk