If you're coming to Brighton for an in-person meeting with me, I'd love for you to make a day of it.
I work from The Projects on Ship Street, right in the heart of The Lanes - Brighton's oldest quarter, a beautiful tangle of narrow alleyways and independent shops just minutes from the seafront. My family's connection to this part of the city goes back decades, and I've been coming here since I was a child growing up along the coast. It is a part of the world I know well and love.
So, whether you're arriving for a few hours or staying for a couple of days, here are a few of my favourite places to eat, drink, browse and wander - all within walking distance of where we'll be meeting. Let's go.
Two Places, One (Almost) Name
First, a gentle clarification - because almost every visitor to Brighton gets this wrong. The Lanes and the North Laine are two entirely different places. They sit next to each other, separated by North Street, and the spelling of the second one is very much intentional.
The Lanes - where I work - are the footprint of old Brighthelmstone, the original fishing town. The streets are narrow, winding, and beautifully illogical: a surviving network of twittens (the Sussex word for a narrow passage between buildings) left behind by centuries of tightly packed houses, workshops, net stores and drying grounds. The layout is organic rather than designed, and the pleasure of walking it is getting gently, enjoyably lost.
The North Laine - spelled with an "i" - takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon word laine, meaning an open tract of agricultural land. The great arable fields that once surrounded the old town were divided into furlongs, and when Brighton boomed in the nineteenth century, the streets were built over the field boundaries. Walk up Sydney Street, Kensington Gardens or Gardner Street and you are following the geometry of a farming system, several hundred years after the last crop was taken off it.
The result is a street pattern that feels completely different: long, straight, parallel streets lined with colourful independent shopfronts, vintage stores, cafés and street art. It is Brighton's creative, alternative quarter - the Brighton most people picture before they arrive.
The two areas are a five-minute walk apart, with the Royal Pavilion sitting in the seam between them. Two street patterns, two economies, two centuries - and entirely worth exploring both.
The Projects, Ship Street
The Projects is where I work - a B Corp accredited workspace in a Grade II listed townhouse tucked into one of Brighton's oldest streets, just steps from the seafront.
The building has a rather wonderful history. It was once the office of William Attree, Brighton's first solicitor, who acted as conveyancer to the Prince of Wales - later George IV, the Prince Regent - including buying the land on which he built the Royal Pavilion. When the royal bills went unpaid, Attree famously received a portrait instead of cash! I love that detail.
As a certified B Corp, The Projects believes business should be a force for good, and this shows up in the details: in how fairly people are treated, how carefully resources are used, and how responsibly they grow. It's a workspace that reflects the values of the businesses inside it, which is one of the reasons I chose to be here.
If you arrive early for a meeting, there’s a lovely onsite café run by Lost in the Lanes where you can settle in with a coffee. And if you need somewhere to work or make calls during your visit, you can buy a half or full day pass.
Find The Projects at 8–9 Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AD.
My Family on Sydney Street
My connection to this part of Brighton is more than professional. My family operated their local business out of 29 Sydney Street for a long period through the mid-to-late twentieth century, including a paint and wallpaper shop. It's a few doors up from one of my favourite coffee shops, The Flourpot Bakery, and every time I walk past, I think of them.
Sydney Street runs through the heart of the North Laine, connecting Brighton station to the edge of The Lanes, and it is one of those streets that has always been central to the life of the city. It felt right to come back to work here.
Coffee
The Flourpot Bakery
I've been visiting The Flourpot Bakery on Sydney Street since 2015 - for the artisan bread, the handcrafted pastries, the breakfast buns and the coffee, which is roasted by their sister company, The Milk Shed Coffee Roasters. It is one of those places where the quality is so consistent that you stop thinking about where to go and just go. Founded in Brighton in 2012 by Oliver Hyde, it has since expanded to several neighbourhood spots across Brighton, Hove and Worthing, each with the same commitment to traditional baking craft.
A Mushroom Breakfast Brioche with Hillbilly Sauce and a cappuccino here before or after a meeting is one of life's small, reliable pleasures.
Find The Flourpot Bakery at 40 Sydney Street, Brighton BN1 4EP.
CoffeeTzar
If you're arriving by train, CoffeeTzar is just steps from Brighton station and a lovely place to start your day. It's an independent artisan café known for its Cuban-style coffee, generous homemade cakes and Mediterranean-inspired savouries. The spanakopita is excellent, and I highly recommend the Naxian breakfast. A perfect first stop before heading down into The Lanes.
Find CoffeeTzar at 97 Trafalgar Street, Brighton BN1 4ER.
Lunch
You're spoilt for choice here, and where you end up really depends on how much time you have and how hungry you are.
Lost in the Lanes
Lost in the Lanes is right next door to The Projects, and it has earned its name. Founded by Nathalie Demetriou, it's a stylish, contemporary all-day café, bar and restaurant in the heart of The Lanes, with seasonal menus that feature the best of Sussex produce alongside a hint of its Mediterranean roots.
It is a beautiful space - the kind of place where you sit down for a quick coffee and look up to find you've been there for two hours. The food is terrific, the mimosas are excellent, and it is moments from the beach. I can think of few better places to start or finish a day in Brighton, with a glass of wine at (almost) any hour.
Find Lost in the Lanes at 10 Nile Street, Brighton BN1 1HW.
The Permit Room
If you fancy something different, The Permit Room on East Street is an all-day Indian bar and café created by the team behind Dishoom. It pays homage to the historic permit rooms of 1970s Bombay, which traced back to the 1949 Bombay Prohibition Act, when drinking alcohol legally required a permit.
The signature bacon and egg naan rolls are as good as everyone says, and the house chai is my favourite. The menu runs from breakfast through street-food snacks, chaats, salads and comforting curries - and for every meal served, the venue donates a nourishing school meal to a child in need through its partnership with Magic Breakfast and the Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Find The Permit Room at 32 East Street, Brighton BN1 1HL.
The Royal Pavilion Garden
A short walk from The Lanes brings you to the Royal Pavilion, and I would encourage you to take it - even if you only have twenty minutes.
The Royal Pavilion began in 1787 as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, and was rebuilt by the architect John Nash from 1815 in the extraordinary Indo-Saracenic style you see today. George's presence transformed Brighton from a modest fishing and bathing town into one of the most fashionable destinations in England, and much of the city's character - the handsome seafront squares and crescents, the Regency terraces, the scale and confidence of the place - flows directly from that era.
The Pavilion's restored Regency garden is said to be the only one of its kind in the UK, maintained entirely using organic methods by the Trust's garden team. It is a calm, beautiful space in the middle of a busy city, and there is an intriguing experimental audio tour called The Mindful Garden, written by author and academic Craig Jordan-Baker, which invites you to slow down and notice the people and plants, the sounds and sensations that make up this historic garden.
It is a lovely pause in the day.
If You Have a Little Longer
If your schedule allows, cross North Street and spend some time in the North Laine. The atmosphere is entirely different. The streets are wider and straighter, lined with colourful independent shopfronts, vintage stores, record shops, bookshops, cafés and street art. It is the Brighton most people picture before they visit, and it lives up to the image.
The area came close to being lost in the mid-twentieth century, when road-building proposals threatened large parts of it. Local campaigning saved it, and the North Laine was given conservation area protection. The independent, creative, slightly rebellious character you enjoy today is the direct product of that reprieve.
Sydney Street, Kensington Gardens, Bond Street and Gardner Street are where most of the action is, and they reward a wander. I have a separate guide to my favourite purpose-led and independent shops in Brighton if you'd like to go deeper. Many of them are here in the North Laine.
Getting Here and Making the Most of It
A few things I'd share before you come.
By train or bus. Brighton station is about ten minutes on foot from The Projects, and most city centre bus stops are less than five minutes from the front door. It's an easy, enjoyable walk downhill, and you'll find yourself in the North Laine within moments of leaving the station.
By car. The Lanes car park is the closest to The Projects. You can find a list of accessible parking spaces nearby here.
Accessibility. The ground floor at The Projects is fully accessible, with a compact lift for those who prefer it to stairs. Corridors throughout are wide enough for wheelchair users, and two lifts provide access to all floors.
Go early. The Lanes are genuinely narrow and at their most beautiful first thing in the morning, when the shops are opening and the light is catching the flint and stonework. If you can, arrive with a little time to spare and walk before your meeting.
Look up. The ground floors have been remodelled over the centuries, but the upper storeys often tell you what a building originally was - bow windows, tile-hanging, old flintwork and roof lines that reward a second glance.
Leave space in the day. The best way to enjoy The Lanes is to wander. Leave a gap in your schedule, pick a direction, and accept that you will emerge somewhere unexpected. That is the whole point.
If you want to explore more of our vibrant independent scene while you're in town, take a look at my curated list of my favourite purpose-led spots in Brighton.
The Purpose Company is a full-service strategic consultancy on a mission to help values-led founders and leaders build commercially successful businesses grounded in purpose and ambition. Get in touch to explore how we can wor together.
