NEW Palace Pier owner Luke Johnson is the star speaker at this year's Brighton Summit.

The serial entrepreneur built up Pizza Express, Strada and also owns stakes in Brighton's Small Batch Coffee and Laine's Pub Co.

A group he heads up took over the Palace Pier in April and he will speak at the Brighton Chamber of Commerce event on Friday, October 14.

Held at The Clarendon Centre in New England Street, the master of ceremonies will be general manager of the Duke of York’s Cinema, Felicity Beckett.

Other speakers include Si Conroy from Scarlet Monday, Susan Carroll from Scala Advance, James Dempster from Cobb Digital and Jon Malyon from Tilt.

The Summit is aimed at freelancers, CEOs, entrepreneurs and employees as well as start-ups, social enterprises and those from not-for-profit organisations. Delegates will leave with ideas, contacts and strategies for turning desire into growth and tips to use straight away to develop their businesses.

Chamber president Carol Lewis said: “We all have desires and dreams. At this Summit we’ll look at how these could drive our businesses and our work. We will give everyone a brilliant day of networking, learning and fun. It will be the most enjoyable business conference you’ve ever attended.”

www.brightonsummit.com