Take 5 with Nick Mills, patron and sponsor

He is also a Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival patron – as well as a Brighton local, big fan of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, and supporter of the arts.

We chatted to him about what it’s like being a patron and sponsor.

1. Hi Nick! Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved in Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival?

I’m delighted and proud to be a patron of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival. I was born in Brighton in 1974, the same year that ABBA visited Brighton Dome and won the Eurovision Song Contest! I was a member of various local theatre groups as a child and sang and danced there, including a solo singing ‘Who will buy?’ as Oliver Twist and as Bugsy in Bugsy Malone. I have a real fondness for Brighton Dome and have been a supporter of Brighton Festival for many years.

I’m now Senior Partner at Graves Son & Pilcher (GS&P), a respected firm of Chartered Surveyors and Property Managers in Brighton, with a history dating back to 1897. Mr Graves (and his son) and Mr Pilcher were all staunch supporters of the arts and very involved in local business, committees and society events. All these years later, I see my involvement now with Brighton Dome as a natural and very welcome succession of their legacy. As well as being a patron, with my partner Marie, GS&P are corporate sponsors for a second year, which is terrific.

2. What’s it like being a patron and sponsor?

I wasn’t sure what I was signing up to at the beginning! However, the patrons, the supporters and everyone involved with Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival have been wonderful. It’s a very friendly group, who are all supportive and inclusive. There’s a strong feeling of a desire to make the annual Brighton Festival a great success and it’s a real honour to be involved with it all.

3. What would you say to other businesses and individuals interested in supporting Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival?

My partner Marie works as a local solicitor and as a couple, we work hard to expand our professional network. I would definitely recommend it! Being a patron complements our efforts in business networking and we have met many wonderful people who have become good friends. I’ve recommended joining the Patrons Circle at Brighton Dome to lots of other friends and colleagues.

4. What’s been a personal highlight or favourite moment so far?

Last year we bought tickets for a very wide variety of shows at Brighton Festival. We had a busy month of May and enjoyed it immensely. My favourite performance was having front row seats to see Johnny Flynn and Robert McFarlane and their immersive song and prose performance. Quite incredible and unforgettable.

As sponsors, GS&P supported the Without Walls performances as part of Brighton Festival 2024. From circus to puppetry, the programme showcased the diversity of outdoor arts in the UK today. Read more

Another highlight was the amazing Cornucopia dinner and fundraising event in the newly refurbished Brighton Dome Corn Exchange. It was a proud moment for everyone involved.

5. And what are you looking forward to in 2025?

I can’t wait to see the line up for 2025, with Lucy Davies at the helm and Anoushka Shankar as Guest Director of Brighton Festival 2025. It will be awesome and I’ve blanked out my diary from the start of May. GS&P will this year be supporting the Contemporary Music programme.

This sits well with our firm which has changed greatly over the last few years, with more diversity and a younger, more dynamic team of staff and partners. We don’t yet know which artists will be performing, but that just adds to the excitement!