Brighton Chamber

In case you missed it, or want to catch up on our latest Big Debate - Kerry Watkins, Founder of Social for Good was on hand to write up some of the key takeaways and themes 🌟 Our panel, chaired by Robin Banerjee from University of Sussex, included Marie Tulley-Rose from Brighton & Hove City Council; Angus Light from Locate Productions; Mylinh Nguyen from University of Brighton; and Lucy Day from Phoenix Art Space. This Big Debate posed the question of whether Brighton's creative sector was an undervalued powerhouse. As Kerry says in her blog, the message was clear: Brighton's creative sector is vibrant but vulnerable, and action is needed to ensure it continues to thrive. Read the full writeup, including insights from our panel, and what the businesses, artists, creatives and charities in the room had to say 👉 https://lnkd.in/eCsX92XU

What's the funniest thing that can happen when you're live on the radio?   We sat down with Mark Walker, Founder of Southdown Radio to chat about the advantages of a "hyper local radio service" and what it can bring to a community and its businesses. Have a read of our new blog to learn about Mark's interesting journey into this exciting role.   Check out the blog here 👉https://shorturl.at/qydb5

What does the new Economic Strategy mean for businesses in our city? Last month, Brighton & Hove City Council officially launched its new Economic Strategy for the city. Our CEO, Sarah Springford, took part in some of the consultation meetings that helped to develop the strategy with local businesses. The strategy's overarching aim is to create a more prosperous city and a better Brighton & Hove for all - including the twin goals of supporting businesses to grow while also helping those in poverty to upskill and find good jobs and place to live. Sarah has shared the eight leading areas of focus for the strategy, and what this means for businesses in our city as we move into 2025. We're planning a City Event early next year, to dig deeper into some of the fascinating data, stats and ways for businesses to contribute or benefit. In the meantime, you can read Sarah's blog about the Economic Strategy and what it means here 👉 https://lnkd.in/g7pSz4BN

Is Brighton’s creative sector an undervalued powerhouse? We explored the questions shaping Brighton’s creative future at last night’s Big Debate, with a brilliant panel bringing perspectives from across our city’s creative landscape 💡 Talking about the challenges of making (and losing) the spaces for creatives in Brighton & Hove; how to make the sector more visible; why creatives are inherent to our city’s unique identity; the challenges of AI; and how we ensure our greatest talents stay here. With so many sub-threads that could have kept us talking all night, it was great to hear from the creative businesses in the room too, as we took time to talk through some of the bigger questions in breakout groups. In case you missed it, Kerry Watkins from Social for Good is writing up all the key points from the discussion for us, so keep an eye out for a blog coming soon 👀 With special thanks to our chair, Robin Banerjee, and to our panel: Angus Light from Locate Productions, Mylinh Nguyen from University of Brighton, Lucy Day from Phoenix Art Space, and Marie Tulley-Rose from Brighton & Hove City Council. With thanks also to our sponsor, Plus Accounting, Chartered Accountants, to BHASVIC (Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College) for hosting us, and to all the ambassadors and facilitators that gave us a hand! 

There are all sorts of awareness days that work to spotlight different causes, campaigns and issues - designed to celebrate, or campaign for change. But it can be difficult to know what awareness days your business should support, and how to do it in a meaningful way. It's a question Mo Kanjilal from Watch This Sp_ce gets asked a lot. So, she's written a blog for us with advice on what to consider - from why your business is supporting the awareness day, to how you're supporting it, and ways your business can make an impact. Read the full blog here 👉 https://lnkd.in/euDeCYJf

It's said that everyone has a book in them - but few ever manage to sit down and write it, and even fewer actually hit the big time. Today's Chamber Breakfast speaker falls happily into the latter category. Catherine Gray is a Sunday Times best selling author, who's sold half a million books and had them translated into 10 languages. And in conversation with Flo Powell from Midnight Communications, she talked us through her journey to sobriety and writing her first non-fiction book, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober. Catherine talked us through everything that followed, from the surge in our culture of sober curiosity, her tips for budding authors, and thoughts on how we can create more inclusive environments for employees who are sober or sober curious. A special thanks to Catherine for joining us today, with thanks also to Flo Powell for excellent hosting, and to our sponsor Help to Grow: Management Course ✨ Next month we're back at Bill's a bit earlier in the month, on 13 December for our last Chamber Breakfast of the year. We'll be hearing from artist Kerry Lemon to round off a year of brilliant Breakfast speakers 👉 https://lnkd.in/gxEDNj2a

Last week, over 1,000 students came to Brighton Centre for Hello Future 2024 – a day designed to help inspire young people decide on their career, find out what skills they need, and what jobs are out there.   Joined by more than 40 businesses from across our city, we had a brilliant day facilitating conversations about careers between businesses and students, helping them connect and inspire at this key time in their lives 🌟   As well as talking about career pathways on stands, Kaia Allen-Bevan 🧡 from Watch This Sp_ce, Alice Reeves from Joyfully Different, and Howie Cobby from Howie’s Coffee also joined us for a series of talks, to share some insights and expertise from their own careers so far.   A big thank you to everyone who came along and helped us create an engaging day for more than 1,000 local students!   Hello Future was delivered by West Sussex, Brighton & Hove Careers Hub and Brighton Chamber, sponsored by American Express and Rampion Offshore Wind, with support from Shoreham Port.

What does the latest budget announcement mean for the creative sector? Ahead of our Big Debate exploring if Brighton's creative sector is an undervalued powerhouse, our event sponsor Plus Accounting, Chartered Accountants have taken a dive into what the budget means for creative businesses. From tax reliefs to capital gains tax, maintaining innovation and navigating inflation, find the full run down on the Chamber blog 👉 https://lnkd.in/gCeJdigs

Jobs, events and new people to meet 🌟 We've been out and about around the city this week, and it's been great seeing members at our Brighton & Hove Living Wage Campaign event at Nostos Hove, and Hello Future 2024. We also have some news for you to catch up on from Arke, Hearth Sustainability and Prolific 10 - plus some from the Chamber too, we're hiring! Catch up below 👇

Are you a mid-level marketer grappling with tight budgets and social media goals? In the world of social, it often seems like those with the biggest budgets win the game. But here's the secret: with the right strategies, even limited resources can drive significant engagement and growth. At our next Bite-sized Learning on 20 November, 💫 James Armstrong, Co-Director of Social Firefly I Social Media Agency will be diving into how to achieve impressive social media results on a shoestring budget. He'll cover cost effective content creation, how to leverage organic reach, and look at tools, resources, case studies and best practices to help maximise your social media efforts without breaking the bank. Find out more and grab your ticket 👉 https://lnkd.in/eXSNAeA8