Is a ‘Greater Brighton’ better for your business?

 

You might have heard of the term, but do you know what it means geographically? And is it good news for your company or not?

 

 

 

A few tentative hands went up when I asked this of the 100-strong audience at the latest Construction Voice debate, held at the Sussex County Cricket Ground.

 

And yet, as Nick Hibberd, one of the panel speakers made clear, Greater Brighton already exists.  “When you look at how our city works on a day to day basis – how people travel to work, to learn each day, how the housing market operates – all the things that show how we run our economy, they all reflect a region beyond the city’s boundaries.”

 

The regular ebb and flow of human bodies prove this.  

 

Enter the Greater Brighton Economic Board, which brings together political and business leaders from the wider region. 

 

 

It’s been going for 18 months, and in funding terms alone, Nick feels it’s a success: “It depends slightly on how you count it, but it’s secured about £100 million worth of fund-ing over the last 18 months for various projects.  They include: unlocking key growth sites; significant projects with businesses and universities, including the development of new innovation and research centres; and funding for business support programmes, to help businesses to grow.  The collaboration across Brighton means the sum of the parts 

is greater than the whole.”

 

Andrew Swayne, Senior Manager at Ricardo, Chair of Adur and Worthing Business Partnership and a member of the Greater Brighton Economic Board, was also on the panel.  He explained how this united voice has helped to leverage national and/or European funding for a number of crucial schemes – including raising the tidal walls along the River Adur from the A27 towards the sea. “Without the flood defence money, you don’t get investor confidence and that area is a future employment site.”

 

 

 

Of course, when you bring together a group of towns – each with its own history and identity – there’s always a fear that Big Brother Brighton might take over.   As Head of Regeneration and Investment at Lewes District Council, Max Woodford is acutely aware of this.   He was the third panel speaker and he made it clear that the Lewes district, which includes Newhaven, does not feel like that: 

 

“We recognise that Brighton has a strong brand.  Yes, Lewes has a strong brand, but Brighton is much stronger on a global scale.  So it’s really a case of riding on that and working with partners to maximise the economic benefits for the area. 

 

“What we think we bring to this, is the space to grow and space to balance the economy.  Brighton and Hove’s economy is overheating a bit – with a lack of office space and a lack of growth sites. We have a lot of those already, particularly in Newhaven, where we have an Enterprise Zone application in.’   

 

 

The mention of ‘space’ or lack of it, prompted a number of observations, including one from Ed Allison-Wright of Haydon Consulting – one of the event partners.  (The others – Graves Jenkins and Robinson Low Francis, work closely with the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce team , to organise regular Construction Voice events across the year.)  

 

 

As Ed Allison-Wright pointed out, Brighton’s growth is affecting neighbouring districts – and views inevitably differ as to how to solve the long-term housing problem. Take the Mayfield Market Town proposal, where 10,000 houses might be built on an area of land between Sayers Common and Henfield. A development like this would help to ease Brighton’s growing pains, but many people in the Mid Sussex district (and beyond) broadly reject the Mayfield idea. To what extent does the presence of the new Greater Brighton Economic Board help to solve issues like this? Particularly when their members have such different perspectives?

 

 

Another audience question homed in on transport and the nitty gritty of what Greater Brighton means when you’re (attempting to) travel across it.  

 

Dr Samer Bagaeen leads Brighton University’s Planning School.  “Ever heard of SUMP?” he asked. No hands were raised this time, tentative or otherwise. 

 

 

 

Ed Westlake, Development Manager at Bouygues Development , the evening’s sponsor, summed up the positive mood: 

 

“We’re a big company that operates all over the UK, so for us, Greater Brighton is a real opportunity.  To date our focus has been on Brighton and Hove but we are keen to build relationships into the surrounding areas, across the Southern Coast.”

 

 

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