The first independent, cross-sector research platform for Sussex.
Decision-making in Sussex is being transformed — but without the evidence to make those decisions well. The Sussex Intelligence Unit is changing that.
What is the Sussex Intelligence Unit?
An independent evidence base built for Sussex.
Sussex looks prosperous on national metrics. But the numbers don’t tell the real story. Business formation, social cohesion, civic infrastructure and governance capacity vary sharply across East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton. Decisions about investment, devolution and place are being made without data that reflects that reality.
SIU is the only independent, cross-sector research platform for Sussex — tracking Growth, Infrastructure, Governance and Belonging as a system. Not a council product. Not a sector report. Not a one-off study. A repeatable, independent evidence base that belongs to Sussex and grows in value with every edition.
“The organisations that help build the evidence base now will have a hand in shaping Sussex for a generation. The ones that wait will inherit a framework they had no part in designing.”
What we track
Four pillars. One integrated evidence base.
SIU tracks Sussex as a system — combining economic, civic, social and governance indicators that no single existing dataset brings together.
Who it is for
Built for the organisations that shape Sussex.
SIU intelligence is designed to be used — in strategy, in service design, in funding bids, in policy, in the boardroom.
Business
Regional businesses and professional services
Investment decisions, client conversations and market positioning grounded in locally specific intelligence your competitors don’t have.
VCSE
Voluntary, community and social purpose organisations
An evidence-led case for investment to commissioners, funders and government — built on data that tracks social health alongside economic indicators.
Policy
Policymakers and Combined Authority
An independent evidence base you can trust and cite. Sussex’s story to national government told in evidence, not assertion.
Media
Journalists and commentators
Reliable, independent, locally specific data and expert commentary — the source no other regional dataset provides.
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