The hunt is on to find the city’s most exciting new businesses as the world’s biggest free business accelerator prepares to roll into the city.

Entrepreneurial Spark, powered by NatWest, is now open for applications for up to 80 entrepreneurs to join its Brighton accelerator, or ‘Hatchery’, which opens in August in NatWest premises at 149 Preston Road.

The free programme sees entrepreneurs, or ‘chiclets’, based in the Hatchery as they undergo six months of intensive support, as well as benefiting from essential start-up necessities such as superfast broadband, office space and telephones.

The initiative is coming to Brighton due to its “incredibly vibrant culture, creative industry excellence and innovative thinking”.

Entrepreneurial Spark’s chief executive Jim Duffy said: “Brighton is undoubtedly a very happening place with an excellent culture and mindset.

“What marks out Entrepreneurial Spark is that we focus on the person, not just the business, and ensure their behaviours are complementary to achieving success, and we do this all for free.

“That is our secret sauce which has seen us support over 350 business with a turnover of £41 million in 2014.

“Bringing together that secret sauce and Brighton’s culture, we can’t wait to see what we can accomplish in Brighton.”

The successful business accelerator was founded in 2012 and has six other hubs across the UK to date.

It has announced plans to set up a further four hubs across the UK after securing multi-million pound backing from RBS and NatWest.

Tim Boag, regional managing director, added: “This is a superb opportunity for budding entrepreneurs and those who have just started on their journey in Brighton and the South East to access some first-class support.

“The successful applicants will get to work in a collaborative atmosphere in our Preston Street offices and will have plenty of access to the local team from NatWest, as well as our wider networks.

“We hope to receive lots of exciting applications from across the city and South East.

“The local economy is experiencing solid growth and this is reflected in the increasing confidence we are seeing among our business customers,” he added.

“These are the ideal conditions in which to launch this new hatchery and I’m confident we’ll see some great success stories emerge from it.”