Whether Brighton needs a Business District or not has been on my mind since I attended the Brighton Business District debate at City College, organised by the Chamber of Commerce, two weeks ago. Before the debate started we were asked to vote with our feet, and sit on either the right side of the room if you were against the idea, or the left side if for it.
I sat on the left supporting the idea of having a business district because I thought that there might be benefits for the local economy such as encouraging local start-ups, and relocation of small and medium size businesses to the city. These would provide jobs and taxes locally, and mean fewer needing to commute to work in London. Enhancing our reputation as a business-oriented city seems a great idea.
I was impressed by the first speaker Oliver Asha, head of the Commercial Property Department at city law firm Acumen Business Law, who spoke in favour of the idea, pointing out the rundown state of the London Rd area, and suggesting this as a suitable site for a business district.
The second speaker, Pete Jenkins who runs the hosted software specialist e-Advantage Solutions and is Chamber vice-president, asked where the proposed business district would be go: if in the city centre, it might harm Brighton’s vibe/atmosphere; out of the centre it might not be very popular with business people. Pete suggested that Brighton perhaps doesn’t need a dedicated business district, as Brightonians have their own way of doing business, and mentioned co-working setups which provide business people and others with shared facilities, offering economy, as well as opportunity for mutual help and other support.
Having heard the two speakers we were asked if we’d changed our mind, and would like to move to the other side of the room. So, did I move or did I stay? Yes, I moved. And I estimated that maybe a third of on my side moved over but almost no one on the right moved. At the end of the evening, two thirds ended up voting against the idea of a designated business district.
Since the debate I have been thinking over the reason for my change of mind. Having been in Brighton for eleven years and met lots of Brightonians, I’m sure most of us live in Brighton because we love the place. And we love it because it has a wonderful vibe that’s awfully hard to find elsewhere. I’ve only been doing my job as a freelancer for a few months, but the help I’ve had in getting started has been a godsend. The co-working mutual support groups in particular I’ve found just so valuable. So, from my perspective I don’t see the need for a business district in this city, we’re already getting it together in our own way; let’s keep it that way.
Some co-working groups are the BrightonFarm, theSkiff, theWerks and BuildBrighton. I hope to write something more on these groups soon. I would be grateful if you could post your opinion about the debate. Are you against or for?
Great post!
ReplyDeleteAs you know I went to the event, I also make use of the coworking spaces which Brighton provides. With the masses of redundancies from pubic services and more people starting their own businesses I think it's about time that the councils worked towards providing coworking facilities as if they were any other public service - not everyone can be expected to learn everything about how to survive on your own, and spaces like theskiff and thewerks provide this kind of environment, but they can only offer so much as private services.
Personally I think there is far greater demand for local coworking spaces than councils etc realise, and i look forward to the day when they finally realise and take note.
A network of highly connected flexible workspaces is the way forward - at the moment i have no idea who is in theskiff or thewerks, what they do, what they're working on, etc - a network could provide this information.
Brighton is a great city to work and live in, but IMHO if we are to be a model of the city of the future, then we have to think further than just creating a business district, we need a game-changer. At the moment there are lots of little groups of people with similar interests in Brighton, we need some way of those connecting so that we can have more cross-pollination of ideas, and providing a network of known, safe spaces is the way forward in my mind ;)
Nilden, great post!
ReplyDeleteI didn't attend the event but have spoken to lots of people who did. Many started out with the view point that the City needed a Business District, having heard the relevant debate points and using their feet shuffled across to the majority against.
There are over 20,000 self employeds and small businesses across our City, [let's not include the large corporates private and public], that's a huge and fantastic number who are doing it for themselves. In addition to coworking space, business owners need to be able to tap into relevant and important information in order to survive and thrive. There's a lot of info out there and a lot of different places to access it. Information accessed by a graphic designer can be different to how information can be accessed by an accountant, and differs greatly for the many skilled trades people in our City.
Chambers of Commerce, Business Associations and the plethora of networking and support groups are vital to ensure information is pumped out there, plus of course, as you so rightly put, we are already getting it together in our own way - virtually and face to face. That's the beauty of business in Brighton.
I totally agree with Steve's comments, the council should wake up and smell the coffee! There is so much more that they could and should be doing to support businesses from every industry sector to survive and thrive. Whatever happened to Buy Local, Keep it Local??
Other councils up and down the country work cohesively with Chambers of Commerce and other business associations. To support the great number of those running their own business the council could be key in providing/supporting a central hub/resource/facility, factor in Steve's comments about cross pollination of ideas, link the different groups and support available, co-working spaces that exist in City and make available information that is vital and relevant for all industry sectors.
In my humble opinion, we do not need a dedicated business district, just a dedicated council who is seen to be more supportive of the thousands who are only too pleased to take their destiny into their own hands.
Come on Brighton and Hove City Council, show the business community you care!
A very interesting post, Nilden, and interesting comments from Steve and Micala. As you know, I was at the event and had had the opportunity to think about the issue of a dedicated business district for some time beforehand: in that light, what fascinated me most was the idea that Brighton & Hove doesn't need one dedicated business district per se but, in its own very Brightonian way, has a number of business districts and hubs, and needs a great deal more, spread around the city. As well as the coworking space we also have hubs such as New England House, which (unlike any version of The Skiff can do) provides space for manual and light industrial work, from baking to dressmaking and dog bowl production!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea that coworking space should be a council provision but it needs to accommodate light industrial as well as screen-based work, particularly as (I think) there's a more marked shortage of the former, and it's not something people can do from home.
But there is also the need for medium-to-large company space to accommodate large businesses who are attracted to the city by the sea. The likes of Disney coming here can greatly boost the city economy (and jobs prospects) as well as enhancing our feel-good factor and attracting in other such companies ... but - as was said at the debate - they need accommodation near the centre (e.g. NOT the old Legal & General building in Hove): near the bits that make the city what it is. And they won't sit around waiting for something to be built from scratch. That, to me, is a good reason for redeveloping the London Road and North Steine areas: not to create a business district as such but to rejuvenate the retail, add more AFFORDABLE light industrial space and provide some landmark office accommodation that would attract modern, go-ahead sexy businesses.
Such a scheme can also include the flexible, mutally-beneficial accommodation that suits micro businesses and which would be bound to grow up as a satellite community around some large trendy businesses.
But there is one other aspect which was really inspired, for me, by Nilden's post: that if we think of Brighton's business community, much of it nowadays is as virtual as it is real. The mentioned coworking spaces are real but they also have a large cloud around them of virtual connections: people who rarely if ever visit those premises but nevertheless interface with their tenants and each other. Because so many of Brighton's businesses are very well connected online, we already HAVE a major city business district ... but it's virtual .And it works.
Excellent comments!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly agree, Brighton would not be the same if we'd a Business District in the middle of town as it'd oust all the non-business people, e.g. shoppers and tourists. Hmmm, come to think of it, maybe that'd be nice for a while though? To actually have a lunch hour in town without gaining bruises from having to barge through the crowds of people who occupy the areas surrounding Churchill Square Shopping Centre. Only kidding! Shoppers and Tourists make a grand contribution to our Small Businesses and our local economy, we need them.
To have a Business District outside of town wouldn't make much sense either, as Small Businesses have little resources and time to travel from one end of the city to the other, we thrive on being able to pop down the local for a weekly networking session.
We even partake in sharing our spare office desks with like-minded business acquaintances, not only does the slight increase of people in the office add to the atmosphere in a positive way, it also provides us with the opportunity to bounce off ideas and share knowledge on all sorts of things, from the simple but crucial decision of where to get discounts at lunchtime to the more beneficial matter of referrals.
Having worked in London, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Lewes and Miami, I can honesly say that you won't find another city as fruitful in its varieties of businesses and people.
I support Buy Local, Keep it Local!