24 | Tees Business
Middlesbrough’ s Investment Prospectus targets in numbers …
Commercial and housing investment –
£ 625m
Total supply chain jobs –
750
Total land regenerated –
57.5 hectares
Business accommodation developed –
1.7m sq ft
Total direct jobs-
4,250
Total new homes built –
5,500
The seven pillars of the masterplan
1. Middlehaven – A major leisure and sports hub with the £ 30m snow centre as the catalyst for a total investment of up to £ 60m
2. Centre Square – Plans include 200,000 square feet of premium office space bringing 2,000 jobs, as well as the £ 8m town hall restoration
3. The railway station and historic quarter – Revitalising the entire area to be ready for direct services to London in 2020
4. University Quarter – Creation of a new £ 6m student village in Gresham
5. Media and Innovation Village – Highquality commercial, cultural and leisure space, including a new bus station
6. Business and Enterprise – Including Teesside Advanced Manufacturing Park, Hemlington Grange Business Park and the expansion of the Boho area
7. Housing – Meeting the housing aspirations of a growing population, including town centre living
In the footsteps of the founding fathers
History – Dave Budd says Middlesbrough’ s thriving high-tech digital economy is the breeding ground for the“ Bolckow and Vaughan” of the 21st century.
Middlesbrough’ s thriving hi-tech digital economy is the breeding ground for the“ Bolckow and Vaughan” of the 21st Century, according to Dave Budd.
The mayor was speaking during a visit to the growing Boho Zone, where around 1,000 people are employed.
Just as the town’ s founding fathers Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan changed the world with iron and steel, Budd says the town’ s digital businesses are now doing the same in the creative and high-tech sectors.“ It’ s a huge part of our future,” he said.“ We have the fifth highest concentration of digital jobs in the country, more than Leeds, Manchester or London. Boho is a real asset that we’ re looking to build on.“ You could say these people are the new
Bolckow and Vaughan.”
Bob Makin, CEO of games developer Sockmonkey Studios, said:“ There’ s been a lot of games development in Middlesbrough.
“ We have good internet speeds, so it doesn’ t make a difference now where you are – you can work with people all over the world.”
“ It’ s fantastic,” added Animmersion managing director Dominic Lusardi.“ Ten years ago we started out on a dream of seeing a digital cluster develop and we can see the fruits of these labours. We are so proud to be here.”