A headline saying Tesco was to create 500 new jobs still meant no net gain in employment.

Other retailers can be expected to lose jobs and small businesses to close down.

Unemployment in the county has fallen but statistics for East Sussex show the total number of businesses has declined. The number of jobless on our housing estates is still high despite Government schemes.

had heard much about the Sussex Innovation Centre at the University of Sussex and went to see its executive director Mike Herd. He's good company and I was interested to hear about his previous career as a petrophysicist.

Mr Herd showed me around the centre, which has 40 individual units varying from 150 to 1,000sqft. They house technology companies of all kinds - information technology, design, medical, bio-technology,media, engineering and education.

One medical company, Destiny Pharma, has designed a pill that can be given a special coating, injected and then activated to work on infected areas only. Clever and valuable stuff.

Mr Herd and his team provide the best possible environment for start-up companies. The operation has been praised as an example of best practice.

Part of Mr Herd's job is to select companies that have real prospects and will most benefit from the assistance the centre provides.

The success rate is remarkable.

Thirty per cent of companies chosen exceed £1 million turnover and, of those, about a third achieve multi-million pound evaluations. The failure rate is less than ten per cent.

Back in Mr Herd's office, he said some critics accused the Innovation Centre of being elitist. An unfair criticism, I thought. It's vital, for all our sakes, small companies, mathematicians, scientists and those with ideas, are given every opportunity.

The Innovation Centre is a great success, employs more than 150 people and creates wealth.

A further 40 units are being constructed but it is unlikely even with these additions large amounts of new employment would be created.

Perhaps a way will be found.

Mr Herd mentioned a Tyne-

Tees centre that had created an appreciable number of new jobs. He told me his centre was developing a network of companies in Sussex to provide route for new products to find market.

Our traditional industries need innovation. We are buying new railway carriages from Europe.

Perhaps a small change of emphasis in new innovation centres now being built would make a difference.