TEES TECH AWARDS 2025

SPONSORED BY MIDDLESBROUGH COLLEGE GROUP

Middlesbrough College Group vice principal business innovation Gary Potts presented the Rising Star trophy to iConvert’ s Ashley Wood.

WINNER

A trip to Malta next morning beckoned for Rising Star category winner Ashley Wood.

But Ashley’ s imminent morning flight, just hours after he picked up the Rising Star trophy, was very much work-related.

And hopping on a plane is a fairly common occurrence for Ashley, whose conversion platform, iConvert, helps online casinos, sportsbooks and crypto gaming brands turn wasted traffic into deposits.

He explained:“ The online gambling industry is quite international, so I usually travel about three weeks every month to places like Malta, Gibraltar, Las Vegas.

“ This industry is very‘ network heavy’ and people don’ t necessarily meet each other only via social media, so we go to events, we exhibit, we show our clients what we have to offer and just try and make really good connections.”

From working in Subway to fund his studies to stints as a hotel quality assurance manager in Cyprus and Tenerife, Ashley’ s journey has been anything but conventional.

But every role he took built the skills that help him spot problems, find solutions and refuse to accept“ that’ s just how it is”.

Returning to Teesside, he climbed the ranks to sales director at Salesfire before making the bold move to take over iConvert.

In 2024, aged just 28, he completed a management buyout, securing full ownership and scaling the business globally.

And now, from an office on Albert Road, Middlesbrough, the six-string iConvert team is transforming conversion figures in the online gambling and gaming world.

Ashley said:“ It began originally as an idea six years ago, but I’ ve really honed it in the last two.

“ Basically, we’ re a conversion platform that helps online casinos verify their players and make sure that ultimately, they aren’ t spending more than they should be in the industry – so we’ re safeguarding online people in the gambling and gaming space.

“ We spent a few years part-time building the project and then about a year and a half ago, I decided to jump into it full-time and after the first 12 months, we’ re on track for a £ 1.5m turnover.

“ And hopefully this is just the start. We need to keep building and improving the product, improving client results and ensuring we keep building the culture, hopefully hiring more people and then we’ ll see where it takes us.”

SPONSOR’ S MESSAGE

Gary Potts, vice principal, business, innovation and community partnerships, Middlesbrough College: We are all about creating, supporting and nurturing rising stars in our region. It’ s our day job! Therefore, sponsoring the Rising Star Award is a fantastic opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of emerging talent within the region’ s thriving tech sector. The finalists were unbelievably impressive and it was an honour to award Ashley his trophy, a very worthy winner. The future of the tech sector is definitely looking bright.

FINALISTS

JESSICA MULLIGAN( COLEWOOD DIGITAL)

Over the past year, Jessica has successfully managed projects within a new service area while also leading the expansion of the Colewood creative team, recruiting and mentoring five new staff members and helping drive new service offerings.

Her ability to merge creativity with strategic execution has driven a 25 % increase in project capacity and a 30 % boost in client satisfaction. By introducing innovative tools and refining creative workflows, Jessica has helped shape the future of services at Colewood Digital – a Stockton-based digital marketing agency she joined in 2019.

Her leadership, adaptability and passion for digital innovation make her a true rising star and mark her down as a future leader in the sector.

DANNY REED( INVICTUS MEDIA & MARKETING)

Director Danny leads a consultancy that specialises in helping businesses rebuild and optimise their marketing systems.

Despite being diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD as an adult, Danny completed a master’ s in digital marketing and now lectures at Teesside University. He also founded Echo3. cloud, a freelancer-focused project management platform designed with neurodivergent-friendly workflows, and is developing the Invictus Marketing Academy, an e-learning platform bridging workplace marketing education gaps.

With more than 11 years in business and a place on the Tees Valley Labs programme, Danny’ s blends entrepreneurship and innovation, marking him as a real one to watch in the thriving Tees tech sector.

The voice of business in the Tees region | 153