The North East Tech Leaders Forum was held at the Orbit facility at NETPark, Sedgefield. The discussion centred on how the tech sector in the North East is performing, how it compares with other regions and how the tech ecosystem can take advantage of new opportunities. We heard about the businesses growth plans of the businesses and some of their challenges, including the difficulties of raising finance and ensuring the region has the necessary skills.
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00:00So I'm with Daniella Croce of Intercite, just been on the roundtable, Danielle, I hope you
00:16enjoyed it and what did you get out of the discussion?
00:20I think it was absolutely funny, so I think it's really good to kind of understand where
00:26the tech sector is happening in terms of the bridge, how the North East is growing in terms
00:32of tech, but also what we still need to do in terms of decreasing that bridge, looking
00:41into our skills and development in the skills area and what we can do to attract more talent
00:47to the area.
00:48Your business is based in Teesside, there's lots going on there and lots of businesses
00:54that are looking for your services I think?
00:57There is, I mean Teesside's now been known as GreenEdge.com, so there's a lot of things
01:03going on in terms of hydrogen, and a lot of construction going on for the renewable sector,
01:09so I mean it is kind of a really energetic time for Teesside and lots of companies are
01:16really wanting digital tech to take it to the next level, because the infrastructure
01:21isn't here, it is going significantly, and the need for more tech to stream out obviously
01:26what is going on.
01:27And so it's a very positive outlook for the business in 2025?
01:32It is, yeah, it's really positive for Teesside, we grew 40% last year, we're seeing further
01:38growth this year, we've got past the four of the C's expansion, so we've seen a rise
01:43in sourding and we're now really looking to expand into that market not further, and we're
01:49also amongst a bunch here, access control and delivery, I think, and the clients, deliver
01:54that full-fledged access and safety solutions.
01:57Thanks Charlie, thanks for joining us.
02:00Hi David, David Bryce, the CEO of Clear Data, you've just taken part in the roundtable this
02:06morning, what did you think of it and what did you get out of the roundtable?
02:11Well I've learned some things about the North East that I didn't know before I came here
02:15today, which is good, I've got some notes, I've got some ideas, made some good contacts
02:19as well, particularly interested in how I can maybe get some support from graduate
02:24programmes and met somebody from Uni today and I'm going to be asking, re-contacting
02:31them about finance, about other things other than capital, because I didn't know what else
02:35was around there, maybe I should have a look at that.
02:38And for the business itself, you've had a good 2024 and how are things looking forward
02:44for 2025?
02:46Well, it's all about the positive, but I doubt that obviously because we're in a document
02:51scanning business and documents and paperwork are starting to disappear, so we're gradually
02:55adapting towards working with digital products, so there's inbound emails, digital mail, artificial
03:04intelligence, how to process documents and more efficiently work with clients and trying
03:08to find ways to save their money.
03:10Fantastic, thank you very much David.
03:13So I'm with Riz Shahid of Square One Law, one of the sponsors of today's roundtable.
03:18Riz, why is it important for the firm to support tech visitors in the North East?
03:26I think tech has a changing environment, it has a changing space and for us, we on break
03:33quite heavily in the tech space, a lot of our clients function in tech, so I think it's
03:38a good example.
03:39It's good to give back, it's good to support and good to help and leverage on that work
03:43to be able to do so.
03:44And the roundtable today, what did you get out of it?
03:47What was your sort of key takeaway of the discussion?
03:50I think for me, the key one is round number two and first of all, the access to finance.
03:56I think the North East, obviously, as a community, we need to shout up about how businesses can
04:04access the various different types of finance and then also what we need to do around the
04:09shortage of tech skills and how we need to better the environment, keep talent in and
04:16attract new talent into the community.
04:18They were my two key takeaways.
04:21And for 2025 for the firm and your role within the tech sector, how optimistic are you for
04:27the sector and for Square One Law?
04:29I think for the sector, very optimistic.
04:31I think we're doing the right thing.
04:33We're moving in the right direction.
04:35For me personally and for a firm, it's continuing doing more of the same, supporting our clients,
04:41facing, going through these legal challenges.
04:45It was a lot to align with their sort of commercial goals.
04:48It was definitely more of the same choice.
04:50Brilliant.
04:51Thank you, Rhys.
04:54So, I'm here with Stephen Adair of Broadshare Partners, one of the sponsors of the roundtable today.
05:00Stephen, thanks very much for your sponsorship.
05:02But tell us what you thought the mood of the room was this morning.
05:06I think it's really interesting in that everybody talks about the kind of different challenges
05:10they face, but ultimately there's a lot of positivity about the challenges are simply
05:15to create the opportunities or solve the opportunities that exist.
05:19And in particular, there's this great affinity from a regional perspective in that there's
05:26a lot of feeling and support for the concept of a tech sector within the region and a shared
05:32appreciation of the successes that people have.
05:35And as a firm, you're talking to businesses all the time, and there's a general positivity
05:40for 2025?
05:41I think so, yeah.
05:42And I think as a region, the region's always been very resilient and faces all the challenges
05:47faced periodically over time.
05:49I think there's just a genuine resilience and a willingness to get on with it and make
05:53the best.
05:54And events like this are important for board chair to get to audiences, what enter businesses,
06:02what you're all about.
06:03Yeah, they very much are.
06:04It's an opportunity.
06:05And I think we talked about that in the session, and it is communicating between businesses
06:09that have things in common.
06:10And from our perspective, we consider that we have things in common with our clients
06:14and in particular, in this case, the tech sector, which we're quite privileged to be
06:17involved in.
06:18Happy.
06:19Thank you very much, Stephen.
06:20Cheers.
06:22So I'm with Susan Bell of RMT Technology.
06:26Susan, you were at the roundtable this morning.
06:29What did you think of it?
06:31And what's your main takeaway from the event?
06:35So really interesting to get the insights of other people around the table and hear
06:40where their challenges are and where the opportunities is.
06:42I think a key thing is connecting the dots between whether it's access to finance or
06:49talent or the opportunity, that cross-selling.
06:52And I think one of the great things about the Northeast that we were talking about is
06:55the collaborative approach that we've got.
06:57So really interesting to see the wealth of knowledge and experience and the challenges
07:03that other people have.
07:04And as a sector, do you think the Northeast is positive?
07:07It's in fairly good shape, you'd say, although some challenges ahead.
07:12Yeah, always challenges.
07:14But I think we're on the cusp.
07:16There's an opportunity for us to, if we can get the finance, the talent, the amplifying
07:22what we're doing.
07:23I think that's one of the crucial things.
07:24We need to amplify the Northeast and the digital and tech sector more than we have done previously.
07:30And there's great examples of the Tech Next events, which happen once a year, and some
07:36of the other activities where we can tap into that.
07:41And I think that's going to be crucial to bring a bit of noise to the region, to get
07:46others outside the region to appreciate the benefits that we have here.