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Developed as a linear science park, it's new enterprise schemes and research and development projects lie at the heart of Brighton & Hove's extraordinary success.

For the second time in two years Brighton & Hove has topped the Key British Enterprises Survey of top places to do business and has once again been named the most profitable place to do business with 85% of the major businesses in profit.

Brighton & Hove has over recent years grown to be a major centre for financial services, business services and creative industries, as well as maintaining its reputation for high class conference facilities, and as a tourist and leisure destination.

The council spends over £200 million each year on goods and services and the Procurement Team has been set up to help ensure that this money is spent effectively and efficiently on delivering high quality public services in the city.

WORKFORCE

- Brighton & Hove has an estimated 146,000 economically active residents, that is, people in work and those seeking employment. - Overall, an employer in Brighton & Hove can draw upon a labour pool of approximately 420,000 from within a 30 minute drive-time radius of the city. - Brighton & Hove attracts and retains a highly skilled, well-educated workforce. - Brighton & Hove's labour force is predominately well trained and well qualified, with two Universities and the College of Technology from which over 10,000 students graduate per year. - Brighton & Hove's 30,000 students contribute to the city's youthful dynamism and add to the innovative energy of the workforce. - 18% of the local workforce is educated to degree standard or above. - Over 4,000 people speak two or more languages at work.

Current categories in labour force: Full time 53.6% Part time 28.7% Self employed 17.7%

COMMUNICATIONS

Because of Brighton & Hove's location integrated transport links to mainland Europe and the Rest of World are continually improving to keep in step with an increasingly international company base and workforce.

To Europe and International destinations

London Gatwick international airport, voted Best UK Airport 2001 by the Travel Weeklys Globe Award, is 26 minutes by frequent train services and 35 minutes by road and from Brighton & Hove.

Gatwick is the sixth busiest international airport in the world and has over 1,100 scheduled international departures per week to 280 destinations worldwide. 124 airlines fly from the airport and the scheduled network now includes direct services to 20 US cities, more than any other airport in Europe. All European capitals and major business centres are also served by frequent services.

London Heathrow airport is 70 minutes by road, entirely on dual carriageway trunk roads and motorways. There is also the Jetlink direct service which operates every 30 minutes, seven days a week.

Brighton & Hove has its own airport at Shoreham for business aviation.

Seasonally there are up to three daily departures by fast ferry to France via Newhaven / Dieppe -the closest French channel port to Paris.

The Channel Tunnel Terminal is seventy-five minutes drive time from Brighton & Hove and carries freight and passengers providing a fast and regular service across Europe. Eurostar passenger train services to the centre of Lille, Paris and Brussels are accessible by train at either London Waterloo or Ashford International.

Brighton & Hove to London

Brighton & Hove is just over 50 miles south of central London on one of the country's most important economic axes. The M25 London Orbital motorway is within a 30 min. drive- time via the A23/M23, and the dual carriageway A27 gives good East-West access.

The city has excellent rail connections from all over the country. Connex have recently unveiled investment plans to increase capacity and achieve faster and more frequent services. The Brighton mainline will be upgraded with enhanced track and signaling and the removal of bottlenecks. There are currently 39 direct train services every weekday from Brighton station to London Victoria, of which 21 are express services with an average 50 minute journey time. There are a further 49 direct services every day from Brighton to the City (London Bridge, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and King's Cross) run by Thameslink. Thameslink also offers frequent direct services to Gatwick and Luton airports, plus Luton and Bedford.

There are also regular direct trains to Kensington Olympia, Watford Junction, Milton Keynes and Rugby. There are also direct Wales and West/South West Train services from Brighton to Reading, Portsmouth, Southampton, Salisbury, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea.

Frequent local train services offer direct links to Burgess Hill ,Haywards Heath, Three Bridges (Crawley) to the north; Shoreham, Worthing, Littlehampton and Chichester in the west - and Lewes, Eastbourne and Hastings in the east.

National Express operates an hourly coach service seven days a week to London Victoria coach station. Jetlink coach services also run frequently to Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted airports.

Around the city To get you into and around the city there is an award-winning network of frequent bus services. Taxis are also on hand 24 hours a day.