What is this about?
Brighton Fuse consists of four large scale and influential research projects that mapped, measured and analysed the dynamics of Brighton's creative industries and digital technology sector.
Referred to positively by government ministers and used to develop inward investments like the £170m City Deal and the Digital Catapult, this substantial and first-of-its-kind research provided detailed empirical evidence of the economic impact of arts and creative practices as drivers of innovation and growth in Brighton’s digital sector.
The findings identified a new type of business known as ‘superfused’; combining creative, digital and business skills to achieve growth figures almost three times as fast as other businesses and ten times that of the British economy overall.
On-going research included a study focusing on the importance of freelancers to the local digital community.
What has happened so far?
The reports provided a thorough understanding of our cluster, through which we (and others) were able to learn about its needs, discover common patterns for success within successful companies, understand the barriers to growth, and uncover and evidence the economic benefit which the creative and digital sector contributes to the local economy.
The reports are available to view and download here:
What is planned for the future?
Though this project has come to an end, the learnings from it have been and continue to be applied to a number of our programmes and initiatives, including our innovation hub The FuseBox, enabling us to deliver appropriate support to the cluster.
The success of the project encouraged other cities (including Bristol and Newcastle) to undertake their own versions of it, and Nesta are currently considering a national Fuse research project.
Get involved
The research is available online, but if you have any questions or would like to find out more about the Brighton Fuse reports, please get in touch.