Council bosses and business leaders are aiming to raise the city’s international profile in a bid to attract millions of pounds of investment from abroad.  The exhibition will offer the opportunity to raise the profile of the best and brightest of the city’s businesses abroad and will attract lucrative investment and contracts from other leading international companies.  The exhibition would also be a useful platform to demonstrate the council's desire to support and grow the indigenous business base and those able to harness the talent available within the city.

Councillor Kennedy said: “We are exploring an exciting proposal for an international exhibition to showcase our unique offer as a city.  The city has an extensive knowledge economy with two major universities and a high ranking medical school.  It also has a proven reputation as a dynamic and creative digital hub and is home to a growing number of emergent sustainable industries.  The exhibition will form part of our forward commercial vision as a pre-eminent centre for the regional economy.”

In 2009 banking giant HSBC named Brighton as a supercity which could lead Britain out of recession and act as a business hub for the regional economy.  The bank described the city as having a “rebellious and alternative” economy which attracts innovative start-up business. Brighton and Hove already has some of the world’s biggest business names working in the city, including American Express.