Wired Sussex is an independent nonprofit that supports over 1,200 digital, media and technology companies in Brighton. It helps these companies access talent, investment, workspace and clients. Wired Sussex runs the largest co-working space south of London with over 160 freelancers. It also operates an innovation space called The FuseBox. The organization recently launched the world's first cooperatively-owned digital exchange and runs an R&D program for the national digital economy. Brighton has over 1,500 digital startups growing at 14% annually and has the highest concentration of digital companies per capita in the UK. The value of Brighton's creative/digital sector grew from £713 million in 2011 to over £1 billion by 2015.

1. Welcome to the FuseBox!
Hello!

2. Phil Jones, MD Wired Sussex
@PhilJonesWired

3. The Spiel...
Wired Sussex is an
independent,
not-for-profit
support organisation for
digital, media and technology
businesses...
...we are based in
Brighton

4. We work with over 1,200 digital,
media and technology companies in
Brighton and another 600 in the
surrounding area
We help them access
talent, investment, workspace, clients and each other…

5. We support the largest co-
working space south of London
Home to over I60
freelancers

6. and run an innovation space, The FuseBox

7. We recently launched the world’s first
cooperatively-owned digital exchange

8. and we run a
collaborative R + D
programme for the
national digital
economy

9. Brighton’s Digital Cluster: some fact and figures

10. Brighton had the highest rate
of business start-ups pro rata
in UK outside London over
past 12 months. Also higher in
absolute numbers than
Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow
and Bristol. (ref: Centre for
Cities report)
• Between 2010 and 2013, Brighton saw a
91% growth in new digital companies
incorporated (ref: Tech Nation, Tech City
UK)
Start-ups

11. Over 1,500 companies, growing at an
average of 14% pa (Brighton Fuse)
Jobs growth in the Brighton CDIT (Creative,
Digital & IT) sector between 2010 – 13 was
38.1%, 4.7 times higher than Brighton all
sector average and 15.8 times higher than
UK average (ref BHCC Econ Dev)
•
Growth

12. In 2011, value of creative, digital, tech sector
to Brighton was £713m. (Brighton Fuse)
By 2015 further research (Brighton Fuse: two
years on) showed that this had increased to
over £1bnpa.
Value

13. • Brighton has highest concentration of digital &
tech companies per head in UK (ref: Tech
Nation, Tech City UK)
• Brighton is the most connected digital cluster
in UK with 84% feeling ‘part of a cluster’ (ref:
Tech Nation, Tech City UK)
Density

14. The Brighton Fuse research
looks at the scale of the
Creative & Digital sector in
Brighton and the impact and
interplay of talent,
businesses and cluster
The what, the
why and the how

15. www.brightonfuse.com
The full #BrightonFuse research
report, the executive summary
and our policy recommendations
are available to download on

16. Fusion – what it is and why it works

17. “It's in Apple's DNA that
technology alone is not enough —
it's technology married with
liberal arts, married with the
humanities, that yields us the
result that makes our heart sing”.
Steve Jobs

18. Unfused Only focus on either creative
content or technology
Fused Sometimes bring together creative
content and technology
Superfused
Creative content combined with
technology is the core of their value
proposition
3 categories of CDIT business

19. § Fully combine creative value and tech value
into their products and services
§ Integrate creative activity and tech dev into
their innovation processes and company
culture
§ Very often have founders / owners / senior
management with a background in arts,
humanities and design.
Superfused Businesses:

20. Growth rates by fusion
7.0%%
17.9%%
20.8%%
14.7%%
+1.2%%
3.8%%
8.8%%
3.8%%
+5%% 0%% 5%% 10%% 15%% 20%% 25%%
Unfused%
Fused%
Superfused%
Total%
Average%growth% Median%growth%
The Top 500 digital companies in Brighton (the
‘Superfused’ Businesses) are growing at 20% per annum
on average.

22. § Very fast growing
§ More likely to be innovating with products
and services, markets and methods
§ More likely to emphasise a company culture
designed to attract, nurture and grow its
talent
§ More likely to network
§ More likely to engage with universities
Superfused Businesses are:

23. Social connectivity

24. Taking the knowledge and opportunities from Brighton Fuse and the
resources and time provided by the EU-funded ReCreateproject to
build The FuseBox.
Brighton
Fuse
ReCreate
EU
The
FuseBox

26. How it was

27. Empty for 12 years

28. How it is:
supporting new business ideas

29. How it is:
a weekend hackathon

30. How it is:
3d printing

33. New
Ideas
Delivered
Differently
• Small, disruptive
start-ups and
companies need a
different kind of
business support
• Fusing art and
technology
successfully creates
value
Based on 2 connected insights:

34. The way we were: industrial thinking
Standard business support models based around a
set of assumptions:
• You need scale to have impact
• You are operating in largely stable markets
• Growth (and innovation) is linear
• Investment precedes business activity and it’s a
precondition of it
• You need to be located close to your raw
materials or supply chains

35. A Cluster demonstrates a new approach to
business, beyond industrial thinking
On the contrary, businesses we are working with are
• small and impactful
• required to be highly disruptive (including often of
themselves)
• had low barriers to market entry (and so could iterate
using customer feedback)
• Saw speed to market as important (and so valued
collaboration that supported that process)
• Had talent as their primary ‘raw material’ (and so had
to develop ways of attracting, valuing and retaining
that talent).

36. Technology moves beyond the screen and
the internet is embedded in the world around us

37. This requires new or adapted skill
sets

38. Why is this cluster here?
However, whilst the Fuse
research showed that these
businesses were very good at
creating value, they were less
effective at capturing value.

39. That is the challenge which we set up
the catapult programme to meet…

40. Why is this cluster here?
• Proximity to London market
• Transport Links
• 2x Universities
• Large talent base
• Native language speakers

41. Why is this cluster here?
Thank you for
listening
Any questions?