The missing middle: what Sussex entrepreneurs say devolution must deliver

The shape of Sussex’s future economy might not be defined in the future by how many businesses start, but how many scale – and whether political leaders understand the barriers in their way.

In two recent episodes of the Sussex And The City podcast, innovation advisor Simon Chuter and sustainable marketing entrepreneur Maddy Cooper explore what it really means to build high-growth businesses in the region – and what role a mayor could play in accelerating or inhibiting that growth.

Both offer a grounded but critical view of the conditions on the ground in Sussex. And both suggest that without targeted intervention, the gap between ambition and action will only widen.

Scaling is hard – and largely unsupported

Simon Chuter has spent the past decade working with growth-stage businesses through Sussex Innovation, university partnerships, and Scale Up Sussex.

His argument is that the region has plenty of early-stage activity – but far fewer businesses that make the leap to 20+ employees or sustainable revenue growth.

He identifies five common barriers: access to talent, finance, markets, leadership capacity and infrastructure – most of which are system issues that can’t be solved by founders alone.

“We’re talking about smart, driven people with viable products who hit invisible ceilings,” he says. “The support they need is patchy, underfunded, or not coordinated.”

Sussex doesn’t lack innovation — it lacks joined-up ambition

Maddy Cooper left a successful career in global marketing to launch Flourish, a platform helping businesses navigate the complex rules around sustainability comms.

But even with a strong model and national relevance, her business – like many others – has struggled to access meaningful regional support.

She compares Brighton unfavourably to Cambridge, where “support for high-growth businesses feels strategic, fast, and focused.” In Sussex, she says, “There’s no clear hub, no visible plan, and no one to turn to.”

Her conclusion is that there’s a ceiling on ambition, and it’s cultural as much as structural.

What does this mean for devolution?

Both guests support the idea of a Sussex mayor in theory.

But they are wary of another layer of structure without substance.

Chuter calls for “a growth symposium with teeth” – a convening of successful entrepreneurs, funders, educators and public bodies to identify what’s already working and scale it up. Cooper is more direct: “Find the dozen businesses with the biggest potential and back them.”

Both are cautious about top-down initiatives and one-size-fits-all strategies. But both agree that without investment in scale-up conditions – especially mentoring, skills pipelines and access to risk capital – the mayoral authority will struggle to deliver on jobs or innovation.

The wider question

Sussex has a high number of small businesses, and many will thrive by staying small.

But with far fewer medium-sized employers, there are far fewer good jobs and opportunities for people to cut their teeth in business. In areas like Hastings, there are no companies employing over 200 people.

If the new regional leadership wants to change this, it will need to get serious about the middle of the economy – and recognise that while small is beautiful, it can’t be the whole Sussex story.

Everything you need to know about devolution in Sussex and Brighton can be found at sussexandthecity.info

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