Editing Brighton (section)

===Commerce and industry===
[[File:Brighton Centre, Kings Road, Brighton (from SE) (April 2013).JPG|thumb|Events at the Brighton Centre are important to Brighton's economy.]]

Brighton's largest [[private sector]] employer is [[American Express]], whose European headquarters are at John Street.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/communitypages/central_brighton/news/9915514.American_Express_ready_to_move_into_new_office |work=The Argus |title=American Express ready to move into new office |date=6 September 2012 |access-date=27 December 2016 |archive-date=17 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117231854/http://www.theargus.co.uk/communitypages/central_brighton/news/9915514.American_Express_ready_to_move_into_new_office/ |url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2012, about 3,000 people work there.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/communitypages/central_brighton/news/9915514.American_Express_ready_to_move_into_new_office |work=The Argus |title=3,000 employees move to new Amex offices |date=6 September 2012 |access-date=27 December 2016 |archive-date=17 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117231854/http://www.theargus.co.uk/communitypages/central_brighton/news/9915514.American_Express_ready_to_move_into_new_office/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Planning permission]] to demolish the old Amex offices and build a replacement was granted in 2009, and work started in March 2010. Other major employers include [[Lloyds Bank]], [[Legal & General]], [[Asda]] (which has hypermarkets at [[Hollingbury]] and [[Brighton Marina]]), [[Brighton & Hove (bus company)|Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company]] and call-centre operator Inkfish<!-- Don't wikilink this -->.<ref name="NEB113" /> In 2012, it was reported that about 1,500 of [[Gatwick Airport]]'s 21,000 workers lived in the city of Brighton and Hove.<ref name="Argus-11122012">{{cite news |url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10100845.Thousands_of_jobs_at_Gatwick/ |title=Thousands of jobs at Gatwick |date=11 December 2012 |work=The Argus |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-date=24 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224115327/http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10100845.Thousands_of_jobs_at_Gatwick/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Brighton is a popular destination for conferences, exhibitions and trade fairs, and has had a purpose-built conference centre—the [[Brighton Centre]]—since 1977. Direct income from the Brighton Centre's 160 events per year is £8&nbsp;million,{{NoteTag|2009 figures.<ref name="NEB56" />}} and a further £50&nbsp;million is generated indirectly by visitors spending money during their stay. Events range from political party conferences to concerts.<ref name="NEB56">{{Harvnb|Collis|2010|p=56.}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| align             = right
| image1            = Sussex House Building, Hollingbury Industrial Estate, Brighton (December 2012).JPG
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| image2            = Exion 27 Building, Hollingbury Industrial Estate, Brighton (December 2012).JPG
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| footer            = The Hollingbury Industrial Estate has large industrial, commercial and retail buildings such as Sussex House (left) and Exion 27 (right).
}}

The Hollingbury Industrial Estate is one of the largest such facilities in Brighton; in its early days about 6,000 people were employed, principally in industrial jobs, but in the late 20th and early 21st centuries its focus has switched to commercial and retail development,<ref name="BB-990853">{{cite web |url=http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20110409.990853.htm |title=IKEA fails to get Hollingbury site |date=9 April 2011 |publisher=Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194551/http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20110409.990853.htm |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> limiting Brighton's potential for industrial growth. Brighton Corporation laid out the estate on {{cvt|18|acre|ha}} of land around Crowhurst Road in 1950. By 1956, large-scale employment was provided at a bakery, a typewriter factory and a machine tools manufacturer among others. Most of the large factories closed during the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s, employment fell to 1,000, and structural changes started in the mid-1980s with a move towards small-scale industrial units (the Enterprise Estate was finished in October 1985) and then retail warehouses. [[Asda]]'s superstore opened in November 1987, [[MFI (retailer)|MFI]] followed two years later, and other retail units were built in the 1990s.<ref name="NEB149–150">{{Harvnb|Collis|2010|pp=149–150.}}</ref> Two large headquarters buildings were vacated in quick succession when British Bookshops left in March 2011<ref name="BB-451248">{{cite web |url=http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20110320.451248.htm |title=British Bookshops warehouse on the market |date=20 March 2011 |publisher=Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194549/http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20110320.451248.htm |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[The Argus (Brighton)|''The Argus'']] newspaper moved out of its headquarters in 2012—although the [[Brighton & Hove (bus company)|Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company]] signed a contract to move its 1,250 employees into the latter building.<ref name="BB-398183">{{cite web |url=http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20120601.398183.htm |title=Hove bus garage move offers a real win-win prize |date=1 June 2012 |publisher=Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809035859/http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20120601.398183.htm |archive-date=9 August 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Brighton has a high density of businesses involved in the media sector, particularly digital or "[[new media]]", and since the 1990s has been referred to as "Silicon Beach".<ref name="TechCrunch-SB">{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/09/22/brightons-silicon-beach-tech-cluster-finally-breaks-shore/ |title=Brighton's Silicon Beach tech cluster finally breaks shore |last=Munford |first=Monty |website=TechCrunch |date=22 September 2011 |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127203820/http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/22/brightons-silicon-beach-tech-cluster-finally-breaks-shore/ |archive-date=27 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 2007, over 250 [[new media]] business had been founded in Brighton. [[Brandwatch]] is a [[Social media measurement|social media monitoring company]] based in offices near Brighton station. Computer game design company [[Black Rock Studio]] was founded in 1998 and was taken over by [[Disney Interactive Studios]],<ref name="NEB113"/><ref name="TechCrunch-SB"/> who closed it down in 2011.<ref name="Eurogamer">{{cite web |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-01-split-second-dev-black-rock-to-close |title=Split/Second dev Black Rock to close |last=Purchese |first=Robert |website=[[Eurogamer]] |date=1 July 2011 |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224102430/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-01-split-second-dev-black-rock-to-close |archive-date=24 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Gamer Network, whose portfolio of websites relating to computer gaming (including [[Eurogamer]]) and creative industries was founded in 1999, is based in Brighton.<ref name="GamerNetwork">{{cite web |url=http://www.gamer-network.net/ |title=Gamer Network |year=2013 |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131124180055/http://www.gamer-network.net/ |archive-date=24 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

By the early 21st century, the market for office accommodation in the city was characterised by fluctuating demand and a lack of supply of high-quality buildings. As an example, the Trafalgar Place development ({{circa}} 1990), "now considered a prime office location", stood partly empty for a decade.<ref name="TBS-9.2.2">{{cite report |url=http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/brighton-hove.gov.uk/files/downloads/ldf/Tall_Buildings_Study_Final.pdf |title=Brighton & Hove Tall Buildings Study |publisher=Brighton & Hove City Council (in association with Gillespies and GVA Grimley) |date=October 2003 |edition=Issue C |section=§. 9.2.2: Brighton Office Market |page=28 |access-date=22 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224112141/http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/brighton-hove.gov.uk/files/downloads/ldf/Tall_Buildings_Study_Final.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Exion 27 (built in 2001), a high-tech, energy-efficient office development at [[Hollingbury]], remained empty for several years and is still not in commercial use: it houses some administrative departments of the [[University of Brighton]]. It was Brighton's first ultramodern commercial property and was intended for mixed commercial and industrial use, but its completion coincided with a slump in demand for high-tech premises.<ref name="BB-772119">{{cite web |url=http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20040721.772119.htm |title=Change of Use for Exion 27 indicates planning flexibility? |date=21 July 2004 |publisher=Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224095619/http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20040721.772119.htm |archive-date=24 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Argus-6703608">{{cite news |title=Exion won't be empty for much longer |url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/archive/2005/06/16/6703608.Exion_won_t_be_empty_for_much_longer/?ref=arc |work=The Argus |date=16 June 2005 |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219021922/http://www.theargus.co.uk/archive/2005/06/16/6703608.Exion_won_t_be_empty_for_much_longer/?ref=arc |archive-date=19 December 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>