Mon, 11 July, 2022
TWI’s Dyllan Phipps and James Kern were both among the attendees at the tenth Tees Valley Business Summit at Teesside University on Thursday 7 July 2022.
Over 700 delegates attended the in-person event, which was being held as a physical event for the first time since 2019.
The summit, which coincided with the ground-breaking ceremony of SeaH Wind’s £400 million offshore wind monopile facility, provided an opportunity for representatives to hear about the opportunities on offer at the Teesside Freeport, the UK’s first and largest operational freeport. Attendees were also told about the latest developments at Teesside Airport, which is capitalising on its assets with a £200 million business park.
In addition, there were plenty of networking opportunities, which provided ample opportunity for Dyllan and James to discuss both the Materials Integrity Technology Transfer project and the Tees Valley Innovation Accelerator, that both offer free support to businesses in the Tees Valley area.
Speaking on the event, Tees Business director Dave Allan said, “It was a fantastic event that I’m certain has already helped set up new business deals, partnerships and closer working across the Tees region. We were proud to be part of it.”
Also attending the event, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said, “On such a momentous day, when just minutes earlier we got spades in the ground on SeAH Wind’s huge monopile facility, it was fantastic that our businesses could hear about all of the opportunities available at our Freeport and the sites it covers, like Teesworks and our airport.” He added, “With everyone back in one place once again, there was a real buzz and enthusiasm which shows how important the Business Summit is in supporting our companies, helping them to forge new links and grow.
The event, which was held in partnership with UMi, Tees Valley Business, Tees Valley Combined Authority, North East Enterprise Agency, Square One Law and Teesside University, included input from Northern Skills Group, Cornerstone Business Solutions, Wander Films, Active Chartered Financial Planners, Azets, Enterprise Made Simple, Magnum Storage, Teesside University, the Education Training Collective and teams from Middlesbrough, Stockton and Hartlepool councils.
The Materials Integrity Technology Transfer (MITT) project is part of the Tees Valley Centre for Materials Integrity Programme, which is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020) and Tees Valley Combined Authority.