Part of a series of posts on why Brighton is a great place to live, work and be.

Brighton is exciting. It is creative. It is constantly evolving.

Best of all there is a fantastic tech scene, promoted and promulgated by Wired Sussex, and a wealth of new companies looking for copywriters, SEO experts and digital marketing gurus.

It’s my kind of city.

Recent figures have revealed that Brighton punches well above its weight in terms of the number of start-ups that it supports. In fact in 2014 there were more start-ups launched in Brighton than anywhere else in the UK except for London, Manchester and Birmingham.

There were 8,344 new companies started in Brighton last year.

A mere pinch you may say when compared to London’s 184,671, Birmingham’s 18,337 and Manchester’s 13,054. So I urge you to consult a map and check out the relative sizes of these cities. Whilst you are doing so check out their relative populations too:

London: 10 million

Manchester: 2.5 million

Birmingham: 2.5 million

Brighton: 0.4 million

The fact is that in terms of new businesses so-called laid-back Brighton leaves other cities looking like they are treading water. In terms of start-ups per capita the invigorating sea air is certainly working its magic.

This makes it a great place to be a freelancer.

But it also makes it a great place to be employed full-stop.

Commenting on Brighton’s appetite for getting stuck in Laurence McCahill, one of the founders of Happy Startup School, commented that it is not just the quantity of companies but also their ethos that sets Brighton’s business culture apart.

“Brighton businesses are leading the way in better, more-human practices that focus on people before profit – several companies have made the Worldblu list of the world’s most democratic companies.”

In addition Ron Crank, the chief executive of Coast to Capital LEP, noted that the figures confirmed that those who live here already knew:

“This fantastic news reflects Brighton and Hove’s vibrant economy and its progressive nature as a city. It is an excellent place to start a business.”

And an excellent place to be.

(All quotes taken from The Argus).