Supporting Digital Growth, Pier to Peer

Silicon Brighton has a mission: to drive digital growth in the Greater Brighton region.

Propelled by a shared belief that we can achieve more collectively than on our own, co-founders Steve Rackley, Phil Lewis and Matthew Quinn set up the knowledge sharing and networking platform in 2019.

While Brighton has a thriving digital tech sector – worth over £1bn per annum to the local economy – with its collaborative, entrepreneurial and socially-responsible spirit, great support systems, transport links and top universities, and impressive track record of digital business successes, they saw incredible potential for further growth.

In addition, after seeing scale-up after scale-up leave the city due to lack of investment (often following the money to London), they wanted to draw attention back to Brighton as a place to absolutely invest in.

Since its inception Silicon Brighton has been doing this by providing individuals with free opportunities for networking, training, up-skilling and development; helping people take their careers and businesses forward without having to sacrifice their location.

Working hand-in-hand with the region’s tech community, their events and meetups covering a broad spectrum of specialist areas help freelancers, full-timers and fans of all things digital to gain essential knowledge, skills and connections.

Some of their most notable meetups include:

• Marketing Talk – a community for marketers honing their craft, exploring topics every marketer needs in their toolkit.

• Brighton Gophers – workshops, talks and discussions for those interested in the Go programming language.

• South Coast Sellers Club – for salespeople, business owners and those looking to break into the world of selling, or just to understand more about it.

• Product Unleashed – which sets out to answer the big questions in product while bringing fresh perspectives from industry leaders.

Silicon Brighton has also made a point to identify gaps in the meetup space and address it by forming new groups, assist existing meetup groups in growing their audience and moving online, and open up more opportunity for the tech sector to support non-tech businesses, such as their full-day event last year which raised over £2000 for the NHS to aid those on the front line.

Their most recent initiative, Our Brighton, matches local independent businesses impacted by the pandemic with tech advisors who can offer free and impartial guidance on how to utilise technology and adapt to a now-predominately digital world.

Recognising that the city’s culture and economy is in jeopardy if its indie shops and businesses are lost, Silicon Brighton Co-Founder Steve Rackley said about the campaign: “Independents help celebrate our individuality and are a vital part of Brighton’s makeup. They give a sense of liberalism – a place where anyone and everyone can feel welcome and belong – removing the bland high street chains so common in other cities. Many stores have been handed down through generations, supported their families, and are some of the most affected by lockdown. After we’ve survived this pandemic, we want the region to thrive, which means working together now to protect our independent businesses.”

So far volunteers include web developers, video producers, financial consultants, animators and marketing specialists, offering a range of support from moving products and services online, increasing digital marketing presence, pivoting processes for remote working, improving existing websites, content creation, and more.

On joining the campaign as a volunteer, Co-Creator of inclusion consultancy Watch This Sp_ce, Mo Kanjilal said: “We are delighted to be involved in this brilliant initiative. So many businesses need help to develop digital services. This type of community action is what Brighton is all about.”

Alex Preece, COO & Co-founder of global SaaS platform Tillo, added:

“It’s great to see initiatives like this happening locally to help our city’s independent shops adapt to – and grow – in a virtual world. We’re thrilled to be supporting such a project.”

More information about Our Brighton and how to get involved, either as a volunteer or business in need of assistance, can be found at www.ourbrighton.com

For those working or interested in Brighton’s tech sector, you can join Silicon Brighton’s community for free and sign up to their monthly newsletter for digital industry news, advice and events at www.siliconbrighton.com