The voice of business in the Tees region | 13
/NEWS
/COMMENT
WHY WE’RE BACKING
TECH SECTOR
Understanding – professor Jane Turner OBE DL,
pro vice-chancellor for enterprise and business
engagement at Teesside University, with Animmersion
managing director Dominic Lusardi.
O
DIGITAL EVOLUTION DRIVES NEW
UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP
ne of the region’s most successful
digital enterprises, which started life
as a Teesside University graduate business
before carving out a global client list, has
pledged to work even closer with the
university to help drive forward the digital
cluster.
Animmersion, based in Middlesbrough’s
Boho One, was originally set up 13 years
ago by Teesside University graduates
Dominic Lusardi and Sam Harrison with the
help of a DigitalCity Fellowship.
It has gone on to establish itself as one
of the country’s leading digital visualisation
companies and it supplies a range of
immersive technology solutions, including
virtual reality, augmented reality and
holograms, as well as the more traditional
animations, dashboards and apps.
The company now has a 20-strong team,
made up primarily from Teesside University
graduates and works with regional, national
and international companies from sectors
ranging from engineering to retail.
Since graduating from Teesside and
helping his business grow, Dominic has
kept close links with the university, not only
recruiting graduate talent, but sitting on the
DigitalCity board, delivering guest lectures
and providing internship opportunities.
Now, to strengthen the already
successful relationship, Teesside University
and Animmersion have signed a formal
Memorandum of Understanding and
pledged to work together more closely in
the future.
I
“Middlesbrough has been the perfect
location for our business to flourish and
grow and we have heavily bought into
the digital cluster in the Tees Valley,” said
Lusardi.
“Teesside University has been
instrumental in our success – from the initial
support we received as a fledgling graduate
enterprise, through to today when 85% of
our staff are Teesside University graduates.
“It is a fantastic university which I
continue to be passionate about and the
formal Memorandum of Understanding will
enable us to continue to work together for
our own mutual benefit and also to support
the growth of the digital sector in this part
of the world.”
Professor Jane Turner OBE DL, pro
vice-chancellor for enterprise and business
engagement at Teesside University, said:
“We have a long-standing relationship
with Animmersion who are an incredibly
innovative and successful business,
operating at the heart of the region.
“We are extremely proud that one of
our graduate businesses is succeeding on
the international stage and the team have
established a global reputation as pioneers
in their field.”
DigitalCity, which is part of Teesside
University, are the joint headline sponsors
of the inaugural Tees Tech Awards, being
held next April – see page 16 for more
details about the awards.
See pages 54-55 to read our ‘Tees Up!’
feature with Dominic Lusardi.
TeesAMP site starts
to take shape
t’s full steel ahead at the £55m advanced
manufacturing park that is set to bring up
to 1,000 jobs to Tees Valley.
Time-lapse footage – available to see in
the video section at teesbusiness.co.uk
– shows Teesside steel being erected at
TeesAMP, located on the site of the former
Newport Ironworks Middlesbrough.
The 11-hectare site is being transformed
into a 21st Century advanced manufacturing
park – addressing the national shortage of
high-quality accommodation suitable for
manufacturers.
Garry Hope, regional managing director
of Robertson North East, the principal
T
here are an estimated 250 to 300
digital firms of varying sizes in the
Tees Valley region.
Some, such as Visualsoft, court the
spotlight and rightly win the plaudits for
their innovative work and working practices.
It’s fair to say others are an unknown
quantity, while others are simply unknown,
which is why we’re organising the inaugural
Tees Tech Awards – to allow this amazing
range of tech firms to remove their cloak
of invisibility and stand in the publicity
spotlight.
We love promoting local businesses – it’s
what we do. But we can’t wait to engage
with a sector that has never engaged with
us as much as we’d like.
Maybe it’s because they’re doing national
and even international deals, so they see
little point in promoting themselves locally.
Maybe it’s because they think a printed
magazine isn’t their market in this digital
age.
Or maybe they’re just getting on with
being techies and forget to shout about
their achievements, as so many others do.
Whatever the answer – and it’s probably
a combination of the three – we can’t wait
to shine a light on their achievements.
There’s also a fantastic opportunity for
local companies and institutions to raise
their profile with category sponsorships.
We already have seven sponsors, with
the awards’ co-founders DigitalCity and
Digital Middlesbrough leading the way.
To help us make the inaugural Tees Tech
Awards the success we know it can be,
we want local firms to step forward to
sponsor categories and join Punch Robson
Solicitors, Jacksons Law Firm, Tracerco,
Communicate and Baldwins Group.
We can guarantee a whole range of
benefits whilst also putting you in touch
with so many potential new digital
contacts.
Get in touch with us today to find out
more – email [email protected]
Martin Walker
Co-editor, Tees Business
contractor on the project, said: “The site
is really starting to take shape and seeing
the first buildings come together is an
important milestone in what is a nationally
significant project.
“We are proud to be playing our part in
creating a game-changing development
and adding to the industrial footprint on
Teesside.”
International trade secretary Liz Truss has
said Teesside is “ahead of the game” to
become one of 10 new Free Ports in the
UK. Free Ports are designed to create
tariff-free areas allowing firms to import
goods, store or work on them and re-
export them without paying taxes.
#TalkingUpTeesside #TalkingUpTeesValley