Connection, inspiration and fun - Human: Brighton Summit 2023

Each year, Brighton Summit has a central theme to explore as we bring together businesses for a day away from the office to hear from inspiring keynotes, take part in energising workshops, find different ways to connect and much more in-between. This year’s Summit theme was Human.

Setting the tone for the day was this year’s MC, Daisy Cresswell. Daisy set up her social enterprise Make (Good) Trouble CIC after delivering a keynote at 2017’s ‘Embracing the unknown’ Summit. So, we were in good hands as Daisy expertly guided us throughout the day.  

The gut feeling of business

Human: Brighton Summit’s opening keynote knows something about perfecting your craft.

Jens Knoop from Knoops Chocolate has spent over 10,000 hours perfecting his chocolate drinks. But he says that this is just part of chocolate’s 5,000 year history and journey, eventually ending up with him, on the UK’s high street. For Jens, his business journey has of course involved plenty of chocolate – but he says it’s also been based on following his gut feeling when it came to the business.

Knoops has grown enormously since Jens opened the doors of his first Knoops store in Rye in 2013. Coupled with trusting his gut, their success is in giving people a small, affordable luxury, plus real customer service (well that, and their perfectly crafted chocolate drinks…) 

What’s the human heart of your business?  

The beauty of Brighton Summit is you can make the day entirely your own, and each year it’s fun to hear what each person makes of their day. Keynote sessions bring everyone together – that, and plentiful breaks filled with snacks and drinks from local suppliers. Plenty of breaks means we all share some of the same Summit experiences, and exchange notes on what we’ve done with our day. 

But between those shared experiences, there’s choices to be made to build your own Summit story. We had workshops to learn new skills from passionate experts; The Being HOUR – a chance to do something different and fun; and speaker sessions to get a bit more up close and personal with people doing brilliant things in Brighton and beyond.

Whether that’s exploring the future of AI, or doing something entirely analogue like creating a collage as you chat to someone new – there was wine and cheese tasting, (competitive!) seated sports, or opportunities to learn what scientists at the University of Sussex are doing to rewild parts of the campus.  

We heard speaker sessions from an ex-Greenpeace Director, people working to support LGBTQI+ refugees and the business of wild swimming.

There’s so much to do and choose from at Brighton Summit, and it all contributes to that brilliant buzz for those times when we come together over an energising cuppa, or to hear a keynote share their own human experience.  

Staying human in the face of inhuman scenes  

Britain’s leading forensic scientist, Professor Angela Gallop CBE, joined us after lunch as keynote number two. In this deeply human chat with Sam Knowles from Insight Agents, Angela spoke about the challenges she faced setting up a business in her back garden, which she eventually scaled up into a multi-million-pound business.

Angela also talked about some of the infamous and interesting cases she’s worked on throughout her career, including cracking open the forensic evidence in the Stephen Lawrence cold case.  

How can I make a difference?  

For our closing keynote speaker Lord Simon Woolley, his early years were about belonging – he told us his story of growing up as a young Black man on a Leicester council estate, raised by a white family. He talked about his influences of Black activists, preachers and politicians, and eventually his work setting up Operation Black Vote in 1996.

Fast forward to 2021 and Lord Simon is the first Black Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge. For Lord Simon, he wanted to show his colleagues and his students the importance of bringing together the next generation of Black excellence. He recently brought 250 students at his college to meet Black actors, politicians and public figures (including, yes, Naomi Cambell) for Black History Month.

And his departing message that resonated with everyone the audience: What is more human than to love? Lord Simon Woolley closed this year’s Brighton Summit to a standing ovation, and not a dry eye in the house.

A big thank you to all the humans that joined us on Friday 20 October. See you next year!

Photography by Ashley Photography.

Brighton Summit is run by Brighton Chamber, a dynamic and welcoming membership organisation for businesses of all sizes.

With thanks to our sponsors: Galloways Accounting, Osprey, University of Sussex, EMW LLP, EQ Investors, Plus X Innovation and Reed.

With special thanks to some of the humans helping behind the scenes at Brighton Summit. Brilliant branding by Sandra Staufer and Visual Function, with captivating copy by Sherlock Studio and The Sentence Works.

Media partner, Platinum Business Magazine | Print partner, Lollipop | Web partner, Madison Solutions

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