TEES TECH AWARDS 2024
COMPANY OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY FITFACTORY & EVERFIELD
Triumphant – Behaviour Interactive UK general manager Bob Makin receives the Company of the Year award from Toby Barnes-Yallowley , strategic business partner for Everfield .
WINNER
BEHAVIOUR INTERACTIVE
The boss of the Tees Tech Awards ’ Company of the Year admits he is now working on games he could once only dream of .
Behaviour Interactive UK general manager Bob Makin says the firm – part of the Canadian games giant Behaviour Interactive – has “ massive growth plans ”.
And he admits he still pinches himself at the status of games being worked on at the firm ’ s Middlesbrough studio .
Back in 2013 , Bob and fellow Teesside University graduate Darren Cuthbert set up SockMonkey Studios .
Ten years on , SockMonkey was acquired by Behaviour – a move that ’ s taken Bob and Darren ’ s brainchild onto the next level .
Bob , who received the Company of the Year trophy from Toby Barnes- Yallowley of joint headline sponsors Everfield , admitted : “ The difference now is the class of games we ’ re working on – games like Mortal Kombat , Silent Hill , they ’ re huge .” And he ’ s confident there ’ s much more to come . He explained : “ There are more big ones in the pipeline that we ’ re working on in Boro in our Albert Road studio . They ’ re huge – games I ’ d never have dreamed of being able to work on .
“ It really is life-changing , but the staff are all enjoying it and the fact they ’ ve been able to work on these things is fantastic .”
And while small firms can sometimes be swallowed up by acquisitions , Bob says that hasn ’ t been the case with Behaviour .
He said : “ The fact me and Darren are still there and involved with the business shows continuity . It ’ s a good match and is going well .”
And while it took them five attempts to win the Company of the Year title , Bob now wants to increase his local staff fivefold , too .
“ We want to make the studio on Teesside a couple of hundred people . It ’ ll take time , but we can do it ,” he said .
“ This was always the one that got away – we could never win it , but it ’ s fifth time lucky . And this year feels different – it ’ s been absolutely insane , to be honest .”
SPONSOR ’ S REFLECTIONS :
Toby Barnes-Yallowley , strategic business partner ( Everfield ) “ It was an extremely hard process , getting down to a four-strong shortlist , so we ’ d like to thank and commend all the applicants – it really highlights the strength and depth of Teesside ’ s tech community . We focused on four main areas – underlying performance and technology , future expansion plans , innovative initiatives and positive impact to the region and industry – and Behaviour demonstrated all of those superbly .”
FINALIST
ALT LABS
An award-winning innovation consultancy , Middlesbrough-based Alt Labs blends alternative thinking and human-powered solutions .
While acknowledging traditional approaches , Alt Labs also champions outside-the-box thinking to future-proof innovation , tackling societal challenges across diverse sectors spanning transport , technology , policing and digital products .
It has also established Flok , Teesside ’ s largest co-working space , as a hub for innovation , networking , flexibility and business support for the community .
FINALIST
INTASITE
A leading technology software as a service ( SaaS ) platform , Stockton-based Intasite is dedicated to streamlining health and safety inductions and compliance procedures for safety-critical industries .
The platform , which is specifically designed for high-hazard industries , revolutionises the traditional induction method by allowing visitors and contractors to complete their inductions remotely before they even set foot on site – enhancing site access efficiency and reinforcing safety protocols .
FINALIST
TRADE INTERCHANGE
With blue-chip clients on a global scale , Trade Interchange – based on Thornaby ’ s Teesside Industrial Estate – helps organisations reduce the costs , risks and complexities associated with managing a large supply base .
ARCUS , its cloud-based software platform , offers end-to-end support for a range of supplier management activities , from sourcing to supplier onboarding to product information management and more .
WINNERS ’ ROLL CALL : 2020 : Mabo 2021 : Salesfire UK 2022 : EnAppSys 2023 : Fitfactory Technology
144 | Tees Business