Luke's first six months at Brighton Chamber

Hi Luke! Can you tell us a bit about who you are and what you do at Brighton Chamber?

Hi! So I’m Luke, and I’ve lived in Brighton for the past couple of years now after moving from my home in Devon. I graduated from Swansea University in 2021 with a History degree, not entirely sure what my next steps were. After deciding on Brighton for my next chapter, I moved here and worked at Octopus Energy for about 18 months. I then stumbled across this role at just the right time as I was looking for a change. I remember reading the person spec on the job description and thinking, ‘that’s me!’.

I love everything about Brighton – the people, the surrounding countryside, having the sea on my doorstep – and it feels great to be working for the Chamber, which plays such an integral part in the local community.

I joined the team here at the Chamber in November under the newly created role of Member Engagement Executive. My role is to get to know our members, help build our business community and to make sure members are using their membership in the best way possible. It’s the perfect role for me; I love meeting new people, hearing their stories and developing relationships.

What are some of the things you’ve enjoyed working on over the past six months?

The thing I’ve enjoyed most about this job is all the people I’ve met, and all the stories I’ve heard – building relationships with our members and making impactful connections. Helping the team curate our events programme has been something I’ve enjoyed too. My role in that is being the first point of contact with members we can run events with, going to see venues and then taking that to the events team. It’s been rewarding to see events come from relationships I have built with members. I have also enjoyed working on the projects we run, like Net Zero Champions and School projects.

Have there been any events highlights?

Its hard to choose as I’ve been to so many amazing events since joining! One that did stand out for me was a Circular Economy panel event we held at Plus X. It was just so inspiring to see the amazing work people are doing within their businesses to try and create a more sustainable future. Our Big Debate on AI was also a highlight for me. It’s a topic I didn’t know much about, and hearing so many different perspectives and viewpoints was a great way to learn about the point we’re at with it – I also felt lucky being able to hear from experts in the field.

More recently as well, I really enjoyed our Pop-up Breakfast at the Speigeltent; it really did feel like the first day of summer and there was a real buzz in the air. I also thoroughly enjoyed the wine tasting and food at Fourth and Church (for obvious reasons), as well as the amazing food we had at Permit Room!

So what’s in store for the next six months?

Much of the same, but more! I want to continue to get to know our members really well, building on existing relationships and creating new ones, so I can help the right people connect. Hosting more events is also something that I’m getting more into, and something that pushes me outside my comfort zone which I think is always good. I’ll be running my first Netwalking in July which I’m excited for – come along if you want to network and find out more about the amazing countryside we have here.

Helping to develop our Net Zero Champions group is something I’m keen on as well. I’m excited to see where we can take this group and how we can progress it and add more diversity into the type of events we do.

I’m also wanting to learn more about and get more involved in writing copy, and the content side of things. Anything where I need to use my creative brain I’m always up for!

You know we love a networking question at the Chamber to get to know the people behind the business. So, If you could only have three apps on your phone, what would they be and why?

- Spotify, as life would be rather dull without having all the music ever at your fingertips

- Maps, because my sense of direction is just awful

- Strava, because I need something to keep me accountable for my running routine/stay in competition with myself, and to be honest I’d miss the dopamine rush of someone giving me kudos on an activity

Luke Hedley-Dent is Member Engagement Executive at Brighton Chamber. 

Find out more about joining here.

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