AWARDS
SPONSORED AND SHORTLISTED BY TEES VALLEY
SMALL TEES BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
FINALIST CLIMB & CONQUER
Founded in 2021, Climb & Conquer is a Teesside digital marketing agency that has grown from one person to 20 colleagues, supporting more than 60 clients worldwide.
Since committing to Thornaby as its home, it has created 13 local roles, with 15 more planned, secured a 2,400-sq ft office, attracted global brands and helped Teesside businesses achieve national recognition.
FINALIST GLC PROJECTS
Winner – Stephen Humble, right, of Logic-i Group with Tees Valley Business Board chair Matthew Ord.
WINNER
LOGIC-i GROUP
Welcoming a new director and switching to a group structure has given the Small Tees Business of the Year a platform to move to the next level.
Commercial sector project consultancy Logic-i has grown tenfold since starting up in 2019. In the beginning, turnover was half a million pounds – now, it’ s a cool £ 5m. And after picking up the award from Tees Valley Business Board chair Matthew Ord, Logic-i project controls director Stephen Humble said the company is well placed for further growth.
He told event host Hayley McQueen:“ We’ ve grown tenfold in six years, which is testament to the people we have in the room with us tonight and who work with us – and especially to our wives and partners who’ ve supported us.”
A firm of project, commercial, planning, project controls and claims management consultants, Logic-i was started in 2019 by three directors with decades of construction project management experience – Stephen Humble, planning director Jason Nowell and commercial director Stephen Priestley.
Now they’ ve been joined by new director Mike Priestley, who brings with him vast international mega-project experience in the energy sector.
Stephen said:“ The addition of Mike and the ideas he’ s coming up with gives us the platform to move on to the next level.
“ We’ re doing that by creating some sister companies and moving to a group structure – so we’ ve pulled in what was the existing business with sister companies alongside it and we plan to have more subsidiary companies.
“ The move to a group structure gives us a platform to have more strings to our bow regarding other project management services.”
Asked how Yarm-based Logic-i had grown turnover tenfold in six years, he said:“ Largely through our existing network of clients, people and contacts.
“ We pride ourselves in providing a good service and our clients then come to us for more. And we recognise the skill set clients are looking for.”
Specialist enabling works contractor GLC Projects consistently punches above its weight, securing places on major frameworks across healthcare, education and infrastructure, including Northumbrian Water’ s £ 3.6bn AMP 8 programme.
Based in Hartlepool, it believes in sustained investment in its people, plant and systems, with its work directly supporting Teesside regeneration through public sector, infrastructure and redevelopment projects.
FINALIST TANGLEWOOD GAMES
Founded in 2017, Tanglewood Games has established itself as one of the world’ s best Unreal Engine engineering studios.
The Hartlepool-based studio has worked on globally recognised games, including Hogwarts Legacy and the Train Sim World franchise, and has partnered with titans of the video game industry. In 2025, it was made a Gold Unreal Service Partner by Epic Games, a status given to only 22 other companies.
FINALIST
SOUTHERN ASSET MANAGEMENT
SAM is a rapidly growing, innovative business making a national impact by delivering specialist structural testing and asset management services from its Stockton base.
Since its launch, SAM has achieved impressive financial growth, securing highprofile contracts with Teesside International and Stansted airports, multiple county councils and major infrastructure clients. It has also pioneered several industry-leading solutions.
SPONSOR’ S REFLECTIONS:
Sarah Walker, director of business solutions at the Tees Valley Combined Authority:“ Small businesses mean so much to our region.
“ They offer jobs and livelihoods for tens of thousands of our people – and continue to be the engines of ingenuity across the length and breadth of the Tees Valley.
“ We’ re proud to back our small businesses through a huge range of our programmes and it makes total sense to show our pride for the brilliant work they do by sponsoring this category.”
128 | Tees Business