The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 17:

The Case For Bold, Female-led Climate Entrepreneurship In Sussex

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Maddy Cooper – Founder of Flourish

This episode is brought to you in partnership with:

Plus Accounting – The leading B Corp certified firm of Chartered Accountants dedicated to Brighton & Hove. Serving growth sectors from video game studios and creative industries to healthcare, property, life sciences and cutting-edge tech, their team support start-ups, scale-ups and long-established enterprises with tailored tax planning, R&D claims, audits and advisory. 👉 plusaccounting.co.uk

🔍 Episode summary

Richard speaks with Maddy Cooper, founder of Flourish – a Brighton-based agency pioneering the intersection of sustainability and artificial intelligence.

After two decades running big-brand campaigns, Maddy walked away to build something new: a platform that helps businesses turn genuine sustainability investments into legally compliant, motivating marketing. In this conversation, she shares candid reflections on the barriers facing ambitious founders in Sussex, the risks of “greenhushing,” and why the region must decide whether it wants to stay small and safe – or back the kind of scale-ups that could put it on the global map.

This is a bold take on female-led innovation, AI, climate responsibility and what devolution could mean for businesses that want to do good and grow fast.

This is a good companion piece to episode 15, and the conversation with Simon Chuter.

 

🎯 Why this matters

"Businesses in Brighton and Sussex have an opportunity to thrive if they really embrace sustainability. But too often I see small-scale thinking. Big, bold, ambitious thinking requires bravery — without it, we’ll be blocked in our growth."

 

🧠 Topics covered include:

• Why sustainable marketing is a growth driver, not a “nice-to-have”
• The legal and reputational risks of greenwashing
• Sussex’s habit of celebrating smallness vs the need for scale
• What Cambridge and Singapore get right about growth and innovation
• Why Sussex risks being left behind without deliberate support for scale-ups
• Female-led entrepreneurship and the leadership gap
• What a Sussex mayor could do: showcase scale-ups, convene academia and business, and fuel ambition with funding
• Sustainability as competitive differentiation for Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers

"A business like Flourish can be – and will be – the next Brandwatch or bigger. But no one here is helping me do that. At the intersection of sustainability and AI we can transform industries, careers and communities. What’s missing is the support, the money, and the ambition."

📚 Further reading and references

• Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership – courses and research on sustainable business
• UK Competition & Markets Authority: Green Claims Code – guidance on avoiding greenwashing
• Innovate UK – national innovation funding and support programmes
• Brandwatch – Brighton-born global social intelligence and analytics scale-up

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Maddy Cooper Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want better public communication in Sussex? Want to help shape devolution in a way people understand?👉 sussexandthecity.info – for more episodes, resources and events.

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 16:

Why I Want To Be Mayor (Parts Two & Three)

Host: Richard Freeman Guests: Tim Loughton – former MP for East Worthing & Shoreham Paul Marshall – Leader of West Sussex County Council

This episode is brought to you in partnership with:

Different Hats – founded by Sam Thomas in 2024, Different Hats brings together 20 years of helping Sussex businesses tell stories that convert. From producing over 100 podcast episodes to hosting live events and building a powerful network of regional leaders, they’re shaping authentic storytelling that sparks change. 👉 different-hats.co.uk

🔍 Episode summary

Richard sits down with two heavyweight West Sussex Conservative figures — Tim Loughton and Cllr Paul Marshall — who until August were both contenders for the party’s Sussex mayoral nomination. Though neither are in the race now as Katy Bourne secures the nomination, their perspectives reveal much about what’s at stake as Sussex prepares for devolution.

Tim draws on 27 years in Parliament to argue that a Sussex mayor could finally secure the infrastructure and investment the county he feels it has long been denied. Paul, meanwhile, reflects on his time as leader of West Sussex County Council, emphasising productivity, connectivity and collaboration as the pillars of a future Sussex economy.

Between Westminster experience and local government pragmatism, both men paint different but overlapping pictures of what Sussex needs from its first mayor - and the risks if we don’t get it right.

🎯 Why this matters

"We’re the seventh largest economy in England, but we’ve seen so much money drain to the Treasury without enough coming back. Sussex needs far greater control over how we invest in our own infrastructure. That’s why I became a convert to devolution — because other metro mayors are getting things done that I could never achieve as an MP." – Tim Loughton

"Connectivity leads to opportunity. Poor connectivity leads to poor outcomes. If you can’t move easily across Sussex — east to west, north to south — you can’t unlock productivity or create the standard of living people deserve. A mayor’s role is to convene, to align ambitions, and to deliver on that long-term." – Cllr Paul Marshall

🧠 Topics covered include:

• Why Sussex should see itself as one county, not fragments

• Lessons from Manchester, Liverpool and other devolved regions

• The A27, housing pressures, and the talent drain

• Why productivity in Sussex lags behind the South East

• The balance between economic growth and inclusion

• How devolution could fix fragmented decision-making

• The mayor as convener: collaboration not command

• Risks of over-politicisation and the need for public trust

 

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guests: Tim Loughton & Cllr Paul Marshall Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want better public communication in Sussex? Want to help shape devolution in a way people understand? 👉 sussexandthecity.info – for more episodes, resources and events.

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 15:

Small Is Beautiful - But Sussex Needs Scale

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Simon Chuter - business growth strategist, founder of Scale Up Sussex, former Head of Centres & Investment Services at Sussex Innovation

This episode is brought to you in partnership with: Kreston Reeves – one of the UK’s leading accountancy and advisory firms and one of the first to achieve B Corp status. With offices in Brighton, Chichester and beyond, they help Sussex businesses grow with clarity, confidence and purpose – from tax strategy and audit to ESG reporting and succession planning. 👉 krestonreeves.com

🔍 Episode summary

In this candid conversation, Richard sits down with Sussex-born-and-bred enterprise champion Simon Chuter to explore how devolution could shape a more joined-up, ambitious business landscape – and why the mayoralty’s first job should be to fund what works.

Simon draws on over a decade supporting founders, scale-ups and investors across the county – from student entrepreneurs at the University of Sussex to experienced business leaders seeking growth capital. He makes the case that Sussex has all the ingredients for a thriving scale-up culture, but too often fails to connect its pockets of excellence into a coherent regional story.

This episode digs into what scaling really means, why it matters for job diversity, and how barriers like talent, finance, leadership, markets and infrastructure could be tackled with smart, evidence-based investment.

 

🎯 Why this matters

"I'd like to think that it's possible to create a grand narrative, to create a grand community across the region, across the county of Sussex - it’s certainly possible, but there are huge pockets of inequality, not just in the county, but in the city that we're sat in now. Telling a cohesive story that brings people together when you've got different politics across the region, different ideas, different values, different sets of beliefs, is… messy. That’s what I’m getting my head around now - slowly but surely."

 

🧠 Topics covered include:

• What makes Sussex unique – and why cohesion is hard but possible
• Why scaling isn’t about “corporate behemoths” but about good jobs for good people
• The five big barriers holding back business growth
• How to build a county-wide mentoring culture that works across sectors
• Why the mayor should scale-up the scale-up programmes
• Lessons from investment networks and university-linked entrepreneurship
• Avoiding guff: making collaboration real, not performative

"It's about creating good jobs. That’s fundamentally what it's about for me: good jobs for good people in good places. How do we create an economy whereby people can do really great work, in a way that has significant impact? The way we do that is by growing businesses who can employ at that scale. Small is beautiful, yes — but there’s an opportunity to do something else as well. It’s additive rather than a takeaway."

📚 Further reading and references

ScaleUp Institute – What is a scale-up?

OECD definition of scale-ups

Logical Progression – A scale-up research report for the Brighton and Sussex economic area

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Simon Chuter Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want better public communication in Sussex? Want to help shape devolution in a way people understand?👉 sussexandthecity.info – for more episodes, resources and events.

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 14:

We Can Be Better At Communicating Complexity

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Natalie Orringe - Founder, Strategy + Impact

This episode is brought to you in partnership with: Be Well. Live Well. – A data-led workplace wellbeing model helping Sussex employers boost performance and productivity by putting health at the heart of their culture. 👉 bewelllivewell.co.uk

🔍 Episode summary

Richard speaks with Natalie Orringe, one of the UK's most thoughtful voices on public engagement, communications and strategic leadership.

A former agency director turned local government insider, Natalie shares what she learned as the first-ever Chief Marketing Officer in a London borough – and why local government communications roles like that matter more than ever in a climate of public cynicism, fractured trust, and rapid political change.

Now based in Brighton, she works across public and private sectors helping leaders make their strategy meaningful, human and heard.

This is a good companion piece to episode 12, and our chat with Flo Powell.

 

🎯 Why this matters

Now Sussex is getting an elected mayor and a new tier of governance, it also needs a total reboot in how it talks to people.

Natalie argues that clarity, storytelling, and genuine dialogue must sit at the heart of the process 

• Communications isn't an add-on – it's how trust is built

• Good consultation starts early and is relentlessly honest

• Regional identity is up for grabs – so let’s define it, together

• Consultation literacy must be nurtured, not assumed

💬 “People aren’t stupid – but they’re sick of being spoken down to.”

 

🧠 Topics covered include:

• Why communications is the scaffolding of public trust

• How councils can stop performative consultation and start meaningful engagement

• What went wrong with devolution comms – and how to fix it

• Why marketing skills are central to public sector success

• The dangers of inconsistency, opacity and missed feedback loops

• What Sussex can learn from Essex, Southend, and solar farms

• Why we must stop fearing complexity – and start telling better stories

“Employers say they want talent. But they need to take responsibility for building it – not just hoping someone else will.”

📚 Further reading and references

• Strategy + Impact – Natalie’s consultancy

• Together Co – Brighton-based loneliness charity chaired by Natalie

• Good Business Pays – Campaign tackling slow payments to small businesses

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Natalie Orringe Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want better public communication in Sussex? Want to help shape devolution in a way people understand?👉 sussexandthecity.info – for more episodes, resources and events.

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 13:

Sussex Is Full Of Talent. But Employers Aren't Finding It.

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Dan Wallman - Founder, TechNative Digital

This episode is brought to you in partnership with: Different Hats – Strategic storytelling, curated events and creative content from Sam Thomas and co, helping Sussex leaders spark real change across business and communities. 👉 different-hats.co.uk

🔍 Episode summary

Richard speaks with Dan Wallman - a long-time force in Sussex creative/digital learning and founder of Tech Native Digital - about why our tech skills system hasn't been working, and what it will take to build one that does.

From pioneering creative training at DV8 Sussex to helping shape the region’s Local Skills Improvement Plan, Dan has spent 20 years connecting talent with opportunity.

 

As a partner piece to episode 10, exploring the further education and policy approach to the labour market in Sussex, this episode gets under the skin of what local employers need. And how digital bootcamps, and a focus on junior career pathways, are some practical tools Sussex needs to help people thrive where they live.

With devolution and a regional mayor on the way, Dan argues that we need to go full throttle on a digital skills revolution.

🎯 Why this matters

A regional, employer-led approach to tech training that is inclusive and bold could:

• Close the gap between training and real-world jobs
• Align funding with current and future industry needs
• Boost participation in digital, creative and green tech sectors
• Enable long-term career pathways for underrepresented groups
• Support economic growth and social mobility

“Bootcamps alone won’t fix this. We need strategy, collaboration and systems that actually work for people.”

 

🧠 Topics covered include:

• Why bootcamps work – and where they don’t
• The rise of tech-led training models co-designed by employers
• Systemic barriers to meaningful employer engagement
• How AI, better knowledge of neurodiversity and new tools are reshaping access
• The problem with vanishing junior roles
• What devolution could unlock for tech, skills and inclusion
• The critical importance of scaling pilots that work

“Employers say they want talent. But they need to take responsibility for building it – not just hoping someone else will.”

📚 Further reading and references

Tech Native Digital – Dan’s digital skills bootcamp and consultancy

Sussex Chamber – LSIP Hub – Local Skills Improvement Plan

Dabbble – Work experience innovation platform by Jim Byford

DV8 Sussex – Dan’s former creative college supporting thousands of learners in Brighton and Bexhill

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Dan Wallman Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want better public communication in Sussex? Want to help shape devolution in a way people understand?👉 sussexandthecity.info – for more episodes, resources and events.

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 12:

If No One Understands Devolution, What’s The Point?

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Flo Powell – Co-Managing Director, Midnight Communications

This episode is brought to you in partnership with: Plus Accounting – Brighton & Hove’s B Corp chartered accountants, supporting Sussex’s growth sectors with tailored business advice, tax planning, R&D claims and more. 👉 plusaccounting.co.uk

🔍 Episode summary

Richard speaks with Flo Powell, PR strategist and co-owner of Brighton-based agency Midnight Communications, about trust, language, and the colossal communications challenge facing Sussex’s devolution journey.

With 30 years of regional insight, Flo doesn’t pull punches. She shares sharp reflections on how local authorities handle public engagement, why badly written surveys aren’t just annoying – they’re dangerous – and what might happen if a mayor is introduced before people understand what one even is.

This episode unpacks why messaging matters now more than ever – and what it will take for Sussex to speak with a unified, human voice.

🎯 Why this matters

If you want 1.7 million people to back structural change, they need to know what it means for their lives, homes and businesses. Flo argues that the devolution process risks failure if leaders don’t:

• Resist hiding behind jargon and PDF consultations

• Acknowledge the crisis of trust in local institutions

• Start talking like people, not like technocratic systems

• Invest in clarity, transparency and real engagement

• Recognise that good comms is infrastructure

“People won’t engage if they don’t know what they’re being asked. This is a once-in-a-generation moment – and the messaging is miles off.”

🧠 Topics covered include:

• Why its easy for local government to get communication wrong

• The ‘survey trap’ and how to actually ask useful questions

• Building credibility in a climate of political mistrust

• The challenge of explaining an elected mayor role clearly

• What makes Sussex unique – and what should be protected

• Lessons from brand storytelling, crisis comms and tourism strategy

“Trust is rock bottom. So you’ve got to lead with humanity – not bureaucracy.”

📚 Further reading and references

• Midnight Communications – Flo’s award-winning PR and content agency

• Experience Sussex – Visitor economy brand referenced in the episode

• Brighton Chamber – Construction Voice – Event series cited in discussion

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Flo Powell Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want better public communication in Sussex? Want to help shape devolution in a way people understand?👉 sussexandthecity.info – for more episodes, resources and events.

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 11: Why I Want To Be Mayor (Part One)

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Sally-Ann Hart – former MP for Hastings & Rye

This episode is brought to you in partnership with: Digital Islands – Delivering fully funded business support to small firms across Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight since 2017. 👉 digitalislands.co.uk

🔍 Episode summary

This week, Richard meets someone who actively wants to lead devolution in Sussex and Brighton. Sally-Ann Hart, the former Conservative party MP for Hastings & Rye, is seeking her party's nomination to become the first directly elected mayor for the region.

They discuss why she wants the job, what she learned representing one of the UK’s most deprived constituencies, and her priorities for a region grappling with inequality, infrastructure gaps, and identity.

Sally-Ann reflects on her time in Parliament during the COVID-19 pandemic, her passion for early intervention, and how she thinks coastal towns like Hastings have been misunderstood and overlooked for too long.

🎯 Why this matters for devolution

This is the first time on the podcast we’ve heard directly from someone who wants the mayoralty – and the power that comes with it. Sally-Ann outlines how she’d approach leadership of a 1.7 million–strong region, and makes the case that:

• The mayor must unite coastal, urban, and rural communities

• Economic growth and job creation must be priority one

• Existing skills strategies can be scaled, not reinvented

• Private investment and local pride are key tools for regeneration

• Data and accountability must be baked into the new system

 

🧠 Topics include:

• What a regional mayor could do that councils can’t

• Lessons from Hastings and the challenge of changing culture

• Coastal regeneration, the blue economy, and green jobs

• The need for tailored plans, not blanket policies

• Dealing with political division and bringing partners together

• Building trust, dashboards, and visibility for the mayor’s office

 

📚 Further reading and references:

• Sally-Ann Hart (Wikipedia)
• Sally-Ann Hart (They Work For You profile)
• All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coastal Communities (APPG)
• Levelling Up the South East – APPG Inquiry Report

 

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Sally-Ann Hart Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want to help reimagine democracy, identity and regional change in Sussex? Join the conversation and find resources at sussexandthecity.info

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 10: Investment In Sussex Skills Needs More Than Duct Tape And Goodwill

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Dan Shelley – Chair, Sussex Local Skills Improvement Plan Board

This episode is brought to you in partnership with: Let’s Do Business Finance – A British Business Bank-accredited lender, providing tailored funding and expert advice to new and growing ventures across Sussex since 2004. 👉 letsdobusinessfinance.co.uk

🔍 Episode summary

In this deep-dive episode, Richard speaks with Dan Shelley, one of the South East's leading thinkers on skills and regional development, about the real infrastructure behind economic inclusion: adult education, technical training, and making the skills system actually work for Sussex.

Dan unpacks the role of the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) – a pan-Sussex strategy he helped shape – and why aligning education and economic strategy is vital.

From digital bootcamps to hospitality apprenticeships, he highlights the collaborative groundwork already underway – and sets out what’s needed next, especially if Sussex is to make the most of devolved powers.

🎯 Why this matters for devolution

With a mayoral combined authority likely on the horizon, the episode explores how a reformed skills agenda could:

• Unlock economic mobility for adults across Sussex

• Link funding to real-world job opportunities in growth sectors

• Join up fragmented provision under a clear regional framework

• Build anchor partnerships between FE, HE and employers

• Empower a more inclusive and dynamic workforce

“The skills system is a big, beautiful mess – but Sussex is ready to tidy it up.”

 

Topics include:

• • What the LSIP actually is – and why it’s already working

  • Sussex’s seven priority sectors – and the real skills gaps they face

  • How devolution could shift adult education budgets and accountability

  • Lessons from Liverpool and the Netherlands on region-led innovation

  • Why FE is both vital and undervalued – and what needs to change

  • Microbusinesses, public value, and the myth of trickle-down skills

 

📚 Further reading and links

• • Sussex Chamber of Commerce – LSIP Information Hub

  • Department for Education – Local Skills Improvement Plans

  • Institute for Government – How the mayor of Liverpool City Region is addressing local skills shortages

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Dan Shelley Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want to help reimagine democracy, identity and regional change in Sussex? Join the conversation and find resources at sussexandthecity.info

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 9: “If You Want To Talk About Devolution, Turn Up At The Food Bank”

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Kaia Allen-Bevan – Activist, speaker, founder of Youth The Gap, poet and education reformer

This episode is brought to you in partnership with: Projects – A B Corp-certified workspace provider in the heart of Brighton’s Lanes. Projects is building a better local economy by supporting freelancers, founders, and changemakers with flexible, welcoming workspaces, events, and community. 👉 projectsclub.co.uk

🔍 Episode summary

What does grassroots activism have to do with devolution? In this powerful episode, Richard sits down with Kaia Allen-Bevan, a leading voice in education reform and racial justice, to explore what it really means to build a future where every community is heard.

Founder of the award-winning social enterprise Youth The Gap, Kaia speaks from lived experience – growing up in Whitehawk, leading Brighton’s Black Lives Matter protests at just 17, and now shaping national conversations on allyship, inclusion and structural change.

This conversation unpacks how young people are engaging with power (or not), why policy language creates distance, and what politicians need to do differently if they truly want to build trust in Sussex’s most marginalised communities.

Topics include:

• How protest can be a start – not an end – for democratic engagement

• Why Sussex has an activist backbone – and why that should be embraced, not feared

• The difference between being visible and being listened to

• How local government structures and growth agendas can alienate the very people they aim to help

• Why devolution needs to mean decentralisation of trust and language, not just of Whitehall power

• Kaia’s experience of breaking the odds – and why she’s working to make sure others don’t have to

• The danger of tokenism, and what real inclusion and co-creation look like in practice

• The vital role of community spaces, culture and grassroots organisations in holding democratic space

• What intergenerational collaboration needs to look like – and why it starts with calling people in, not out

If you care about representation, accountability, or just understanding what the next generation of leaders really expect from the system – this episode might be unmissable.

👉 Explore Kaia’s work and related resources:

• Youth The Gap – A social impact consultancy creating long-term systemic change in education

• Watch This Sp_ce – Diversity and inclusion consultancy focusing on allyship and anti-racism

• TEDx Talk – Does Revolution Need Decolonising?

• Kaia Allen-Bevan on LinkedIn

📚 Further reading and links

• Class Divide Report – Whitehawk (BBC) – The area Kaia references and its connection to social mobility

• Runnymede Trust – The State of Anti-Racism in England

• Brighton & Hove City Council – School Admissions Consultation – Referenced for accessibility critique

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation – Trust and Anti-Poverty Strategies – The link between community voice and effective policy

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Kaia Allen-Bevan Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Want to help reimagine democracy, identity and regional change in Sussex? Join the conversation and find resources at sussexandthecity.info

The Sussex And The City Podcast – Episode 8:

Why Sussex Culture Punches Above Its Weight

 

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Stuart Drew – CEO and Director, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea

This episode is brought to you in partnership with: Creative Crawley – Reimagining Crawley’s identity through world-class public performance, co-created art, and cultural infrastructure. From artist residencies to their million-pound Creative Playground programme, they're growing a new creative economy in the heart of West Sussex. 👉 creativecrawley.com

🔍 Episode summary

In this bold and wide-ranging episode, Richard Freeman is joined by cultural powerhouse Stuart Drew, long-serving Director of the iconic De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill.

They unpack the serious role of culture in economic growth, skills, tourism – and why Sussex’s creative institutions are already delivering public value by stealth.

As regional devolution looms, Stuart argues it’s time for leaders to stop treating the arts as an optional extra. From pioneering skills pathways and radical programming to building a pan-Sussex cultural brand, this conversation explores the real potential of culture to lead, not follow, the next phase of regional transformation.

Topics include:

• The architectural brilliance and civic mission of the De La Warr Pavilion

• Why Sussex is more than the sum of its parts – and how Coastal Cultural Trail became a model for partnership

• The birth of Sussex Modern, and what it reveals about fragmented narratives and missed opportunities

• Making the case for culture in tourism, inward investment and regeneration

• Why the cultural sector is already delivering on skills and economic participation

• A candid take on the risks of asset transfer, unstable funding, and weak advocacy

• What the incoming mayor must understand about microbusinesses and cultural infrastructure

• How art can be a safety net where youth clubs and children’s services have vanished

• Why joined-up mobility (including trains!) might be a powerful cultural enabler

This is a rallying cry for policymakers, funders and mayors: invest in what’s already working, and stop asking culture to prove itself again and again.

👉 Explore Sussex’s creative sector and the De La Warr Pavilion:

• dlwp.com
• sussexmodern.org.uk
• experiencesussex.com
• Culture East Sussex
• Creative County West Sussex
• Brighton & Hove Culture Alliance

👉 Stay up to date with the wider project at sussexandthecity.info

📚 Further reading and links

• 📚 Further reading and links

  • Creative Crawley: Building creative leadership and cultural infrastructure in Crawley

  • Culture In Our City: Created to support cultural and creative workers in Brighton & Hove with opportunities for professional development and skills support. 

  • Coastal Cultural Trail: A low-budget marketing experiment that became a model

  • Sussex Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP): Pan-regional tourism strategy with a cultural core

  • Local Skills Improvement Plans – Sussex: How creative skills fit into wider workforce planning

  • Talent Accelerator and Coastal Catalyst: A pathway programme creating jobs, apprenticeships and visibility for creative careers

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Stewart Drew Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Production management: Letitia McConalogue Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Devolution isn’t just a government thing. It’s a people thing. 👉 Share your ideas, explore resources and shape what’s next at sussexandthecity.info