REGENERATION
Vibrant – the Boho Zone was first set up in 2009 and is now a thriving community.
Boho One, they have an extensive choice of new and bigger spaces to move into.
Debbie says:“ We have Boho Five, which includes smaller offices, a good starting point for some of the new fledgling businesses coming out of the university that want to start up with all the support we have to offer.
“ The council has dedicated officers to link with that sector and hold businesses within it by the hand, offering scale-up support.
“ Ultimately, we wanted to create highvalue jobs locally and retain talent in our region and that’ s what we have done and continue to do.”
The council also works closely with Middlesbrough College in nearby Middlehaven, which was on a growth trajectory when the Boho Zone was launched.
With the Boho Zone a significant factor, the whole Tees Valley area now employs about 8,000 in the creative digital and tech sector and Middlesbrough is the home of
Hub – Middlesbrough has become one of the fastest growing creative digital and tech clusters in Europe, with the Boho Zone playing a major part.
the fastest-growing tech hub outside of the London boroughs.
The Tees Valley
Combined Authority( TVCA) is also continuing that momentum, after the Tees Valley region was selected as the location for an Investment Zone in 2023.
TVCA was allocated the first £ 80m as part of an overall £ 160m investment earlier this year.
Proposals for this half of the funding include £ 10m to redevelop the former House of Fraser store in Middlesbrough into a high-quality business and innovation space and £ 3m for the redevelopment of the town’ s Marks & Spencer building.
Both buildings will support creative digital and tech sector growth. An additional £ 2.6m will be spent tackling crime in cluster areas.
The council has also recently secured £ 4.5m in National Lottery Heritage Fund funding and £ 1.8m from the government to restore the‘ Old Town Hall’ in St Hilda’ s, which will become office spaces for businesses in the creative digital and tech sector.
“ With all that is going on, Middlesbrough is an incredible force in the creative digital and tech world,” Debbie says.
While Debbie says the success of the Boho Zone has spilled out into the rest of the town, with successful businesses on Albert Road, as well as developers such as Jomast that have been encouraged to become a part of it, she admits investment coming in can be“ hard for businesses on the ground to grasp” and it“ does take a while to get these initiatives in place”.
However, that’ s where business support professionals in Middlesbrough Council and experts in how to transform funding into meaningful regeneration come in.
“ The Boho Zone has already expanded well beyond our original infrastructure,” Debbie says.
“ Other key support is now available through Flok Co-Working Space, Barclays Eagle Labs and Alt Labs, and we continue to support enterprise in this important sector for our town, with the help and support of government initiatives and the wider business support landscape.
“ There is continuous momentum from initiatives coming through Middlesbrough to continuously drive this sector forward and we are here to embrace them.”
The message is clear. If you’ re a creative digital and tech business, be part of Boho.
The voice of business in the Tees region | 73