TEES TECH AWARDS 2026

SPONSORED BY DOUBLE ELEVEN

Outrank CEO Stephen Robinson, right, with Mark South, co-CEO of category sponsor Double Eleven.

WINNER

“ Teesside grit” and“ our people” – two winning ingredients behind the Tees Tech Awards Business of the Year, according to its CEO.

Stephen Robinson, of Middlesbrough-based digital marketing agency Outrank, said he was“ gobsmacked” to pick up the prestigious award against such tough opposition.

And for Stephen, it was further validation for a company that continues to attract national acclaim, having recently earned sixth place in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list and second place for medium-sized businesses in a Great Places To Work survey.

Asked by event host Bob Cuffe MBE for the secret to Outrank’ s success, Stephen told the 250-strong audience at the seventh Tees Tech Awards:“ Our people – they’ re behind our success.

“ We’ re a full-service agency backed by an intelligent platform that helps SMEs achieve marketing results far outweighing the investment they put in.

“ We’ ve been around for a lot of years – a bit of a silent builder for quite some time. But in the last two or three years, we decided to go at it as hard as we could.

“ Since then, we’ ve represented nearly 4,000 businesses in the last five or six years and our retention rate sits at 96 %. That’ s unheard of in our industry, especially when there are no contracts involved in what we do.

“ People only spend with us when they’ re happy and they continue to do so. So, we’ re really proud of being able to hold on to that through relationships – and that goes back to the people.

“ The results can be great but the people need to be so much more so again, thank you everyone. You’ re amazing.”

Stephen told Tees Business that winning the Small Business of the Year title at last year’ s Tees Business Awards was“ really impressive” but he felt this year’ s awards successes showed just how Outrank is developing. He said:“ It shows how far the company and our people have come.“ I guess the hard part for me is,‘ What next?’ We’ ve got a phenomenal team but it’ s a tough climate out there, so the only option we have is to put our heads down and keep going- and it’ s Teesside grit that does it, every single time. Get up every morning and win more than you lose – I think that’ s the formula for success.”

SPONSOR’ S MESSAGE

Mark South, Double Eleven co-CEO, said:“ The Tees Tech Awards are the perfect opportunity for our region’ s tech businesses to showcase their talent and share stories of how they are building the industries of tomorrow and redefining what Teesside is known for.

“ At Double Eleven, we have always carved out our own path and we are excited to support and celebrate others on their journey.”

FINALISTS

BONDGATE IT

Bondgate IT is a Tees Valley-based managed service provider leading the shift from reactive IT support to governance-led technology leadership.

In 2025, following the ransomware attack on Redcar and Cleveland Council, Bondgate IT stepped forward to raise the importance of cybersecurity across the region and nationally through collaboration with the BBC on“ Cyber Siege: From Russia to Redcar”, alongside contributions to BBC Look North and BBC Radio Tees.

Beyond media engagement, Bondgate IT delivers proactive IT services, cybersecurity maturity assessments and responsible AI adoption workshops for UK businesses.

It has also just recorded its strongest financial year to date and continues to invest in regional talent development.

TANGLEWOOD GAMES

Hartlepool-based Tanglewood Games provides major game developers with end-to-end services, including engineering and technical art support, optimisation, platform porting and technology integration.

With a portfolio including high-profile titles such as Hogwarts Legacy, Tanglewood has contributed its expertise to major game studios worldwide.

In 2025, it was one of just 23 worldwide to receive gold accreditation in the Unreal Engine Service Partner Programme.

Despite widespread contraction in the games industry, the studio grew 33 % year-onyear to 44 staff in 2025, delivering work across 15 projects.

Tanglewood also partners with charities, schools and universities to help reduce barriers for young people entering the games industry.

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