Leading the charge – CFO Kimberley Turner says Double Eleven is building for the future. Picture: Tom Banks
How Double Eleven’ s worldwide reputation is powering up the Tees Valley tech boom
GAMING
ON A GLOBAL SCALE
WORDS: DAVE ROBSON
Vision – Double Eleven’ s Boho X HQ features a gym, 200-seater auditorium and rooftop terrace. Picture: Tom Banks
It’ s proud to be a“ games firm like no other” – and entering the Tees Valley home of Double Eleven, it’ s easy to see why. Double Eleven is one of the largest independent video games developers and publishers in the UK.
The firm works worldwide with some of the games industry’ s most high-profile partners and on some of the world’ s biggest IPs – a few even having Prime series and Hollywood movies associated with them.
And since March 2024, Double Eleven’ s UK home is arguably the most impressive office building in a 100-mile radius of its Middlesbrough location.
The six-storey, 70,000-sq ft Boho X studio was built with creativity and collaboration in mind.
It includes a 24-hour gym, 200-seater auditorium, rooftop terrace, bespoke classroom and a market hall with subsidised healthy food, alongside its modern office accommodation boasting panoramic views across a town surrounded by rolling hills and endless countryside.
It’ s a stunning place to work and is where most of the UK team are based, with a further 80 employees based out of its growing Kuala Lumpur studio.
A location once known around the world for its traditional industries in chemicals, iron and steel, nowadays Middlesbrough is the fastestgrowing tech hub outside London, powered by a creative and innovative games sector – with Double Eleven leading the charge.
A credible, trusted partner with a solid and well-earned reputation, it’ s a firm that is respected globally while powering up the renaissance of the Tees region with tech and digital growth at its core.
But how did a games developer come to occupy such an amazing building?
CFO and commercial director Kimberley Turner explains:“ We are building for the future and investing in state-of-the-art workspaces, which meet the demands of the modern world.
“ The people who work for us can work anywhere in the world, so it’ s important we offer them a workplace relevant to their skill set and that reflects the calibre of the company they work for.”
Double Eleven’ s portfolio of partners and products reads like a Who’ s Who of the gaming sector – Obsidian Entertainment, Mojang, Bethesda Game Studios, Rockstar Games and titles such as Fallout 76, Red Dead Redemption and Facepunch Studios’ bestseller Rust Console.
It’ s all a far cry from the early days when founder Lee Hutchinson, armed with a Teesside University degree in visualisation and fuelled by a dream, started laying the foundations for his firm from his loft.
After a successful incubation period, in 2009
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