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Work in East Sussex
About East Sussex
East Sussex covers an area of 1,725 square kilometres (666 square miles), including 47 miles of coastline, and 63 per cent of the county lies within designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The county has rolling downland, part of the Ashdown Forest and the High Weald, and Pevensey Marshes, spectacular coastal features (Beachy Head and Seven Sisters), popular seaside resorts (e.g. Eastbourne, Brighton, Hastings), ancient and historic towns (e.g. Lewes, Rye), and a rich cultural heritage. It’s a popular destination for tourists and day visitors.
The county is strategically well placed, close to London and mainland Europe and with easy access to Gatwick Airport, the Channel Tunnel and the cross-channel ferry service at Newhaven.
The two counties of Sussex are both relatively affluent although there are pockets of deprivation, most significantly in the coastal towns and particularly in Hastings where significant regeneration has been taking place over recent years.
The economy
The East Sussex economy is mainly made up of service industries. In 2006 84.4 per cent of jobs in the county were in the service sector, 9.4 per cent in manufacturing, 5.7 per cent in construction and less than 1 per cent in agriculture, fishing, energy and water. Since 2005 there has been a slight move away from services to manufacturing and construction.
One third of people working in the county are employed in the public sector (public administration, education or health). (In Hastings 43.7 per cent of people working in the town are employed in this sector). Over a quarter of people working in the county work in distribution, hotels and restaurants. (In Eastbourne this figure rises to almost 31 per cent.) Service industries under-represented in East Sussex (when compared to the south east region generally) include banking and financial services, transport and communications.
Tourism is important to the local economy and East Sussex and Brighton & Hove are major tourist destinations. Some 17,000 employees and 2,000 self-employed people are directly employed in tourism-related occupations. (In the eastern part of area covered by the structure plan (1066 Country) nearly a quarter of all jobs are reported to be in some way dependent in some way on tourism.
The East Sussex economy is characterised by a high employment rate and a high number of small businesses. In 2006 the average business had just below eight employees. Three quarters of businesses employ fewer than five people while 87 per cent of local companies employ 10 or fewer employees. As a result, a low percentage of people who work in East Sussex work for large businesses.
Major employers
Despite the small business character of the East Sussex economy there are larger companies within the county e.g : American Express (Brighton), British Gypsum (Hastings), point of sale solutions company Case Bases (Newhaven), Crowson Fabrics Ltd (Uckfield), law firm DMH Stallard (Gatwick & Brighton), Ericsson (Business Network Division at Burgess Hill); major defence company General Dynamics (Hastings), Goldwell Products (hair cosmetics - Eastbourne); Hastings Direct (Bexhill-on-Sea), Hosiden Besson (Hove), Hotchkiss Ductwork (Eastbourne), Parker Pen (Newhaven), Legal & General (Hove), Llewellyn Management Services (part of ROK property Solutions - Brighton and Eastbourne); cable management, rainwater and drainage systems company Marshall Tufflex (Hastings), TR Fastenings (Uckfield); scientific equipment manufacturers VG Scienta (Hastings).
Eastbourne is a centre of excellence for the pumping industry (companies include Alva Laval, Johnson Pump Company, HMD Pumps, Eastbourne Pump Company) while in the Brighton area there is a significant cluster of new media companies.
The Sussex Innovation Centre (SINC), located on the University of Sussex campus at Falmer, near Brighton, is one of the UK’s premier technology business incubators, supporting the creation and growth of technology and knowledge-based companies. It provides a business incubation environment for over 70 high-growth companies working within the IT, biotech, media and engineering sectors and other SINC-based companies include those working in design media, artificial intelligence, laser development and games technology.
Major towns and employment and retail centres in East Sussex include Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, and Uckfield.
Higher education institutions within the county include the University of Sussex www.sussex.ac.uk , University of Brighton www.brighton.ac.uk , and University Centre Hastings www.uch.ac.uk , a collaboration between several universities managed by the University of Brighton.
Local authorities in East Sussex include: East Sussex Council Council, Brighton & Hove Council (unitary authority), Hastings Borough Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Lewes District Council, Rother District Council and Wealden District Council.
