Leaders, innovators and rising stars honoured at Tees Tech Awards
Triumphs for a digital marketing agency, a games firm and two “double” trophy winners were among the many highlights of Thursday night’s successful Tees Tech Awards.
This year’s awards – the seventh – were held in an appropriately hi-tech new venue, Teesside University’s impressive £41.4m Digital Life building.
Around 250 people gathered for the black tie event, which was organised by Tees Business in association with trailblazing Middlesbrough-based games developer Double Eleven.
And as always, the night proved a fitting celebration of the Tees Valley talent and tenacity shown by the UK’s fastest-growing tech hub outside of London.
The event – which also featured fundraising for Teesside Hospice – saw Middlesbrough-based full-service digital marketing firm Outrank pick up the coveted Tech Business of the Year trophy.
The category – also sponsored by Double Eleven – saw Outrank pip Bondgate IT and Tanglewood Games to the title.
And for shocked CEO and founder Stephen Robinson, who simply proclaimed “Wow!” at winning the award, Outrank’s triumph was another success after the firm he founded in 2018 was also named Small Business of the Year at the 2025 Tees Business Awards and which regularly features highly on national “Best Places To Work” lists.
He told the audience: “The last year has been a fantastic rollercoaster.
“An agency is its people. There are 60 heads in our business and it’s only going to keep going. The week before last, we were lucky enough to get in the Sunday Times Top 100 for the culture we’ve built at Outrank – and a big shout-out to Alt Labs as well for achieving that same accolade.”
And pointing to the Outrank table, he added: “This is for you lot, this is for no one else – thank you for everything you do, you’re amazing.”
There was an uplifting end to the night for Double Eleven’s co-CEO Kimberley Turner – a former Tees Businesswoman of the Year – who was selected by a panel of former winners to be named the new Tees Tech Ambassador for 2026.
Kimberley, who received her trophy from Peter Wilcock of category sponsor Latos, is the first female recipient of the accolade following in the footsteps of Dom Lusardi, her Double Eleven co-CEO Mark South, David Dixon, Bob Makin, Dan Watson and last year’s winner, Imran Anwar.
Having slowly made her way to the stage on crutches following a badminton mishap, Kimberley – who earlier gave a brief speech about Double Eleven – said: “I’m really shocked – I thought coming up here once on crutches with papers in my mouth would be enough!
“I’m really humbled. All I care about is doing a good job, making sure we push the business forward and just staying strong and being who I really am, so this is lovely, thank you.”
And when asked by event host Bob Cuffe about her hopes for our local tech and digital sector, she said: “I hope we can all spend the time, money and effort getting ahead of AI and making it work for our businesses.
“It’s a scary topic and we can all bury our heads in the sand, but I think we need to be bold and brave because if we’re not, we’re at risk of getting left behind and we don’t want that.”
And while Tanglewood missed out on the Tech Business of the Year title, it still emerged with a major honour thanks to CEO Chris Wood clinching the Business Leader of the Year award – a category sponsored by Punch Robson Solicitors and chosen by a panel comprising several previous winners.
Although unable to be there in person, a video of Chris was played in which he expressed his delight at his success.
Two firms enjoyed a double taste of success, with Tricore Technical Services employees Noah Benjjaoui and Udari Jayasinghe winning the Rising Star and Janice Webster Unsung Hero categories respectively, while sea safety IT firm NCB Hazcheck picked up the Innovation and Tech For Good awards.
Other company winners included Intasite, Middlesbrough College Group, Saigo and virtual reality robotic surgery training firm Surghive, which won the Tech Start-Up prize ahead of Rivisio and Ace Education Training after its pitch won an audience vote.
Tees Business director Dave Allan said: “Tonight is about celebrating a sector that continues to shape the future of our region and beyond – a sector driven by innovation, creativity and a willingness to challenge convention.
“As a hub for digital skills, immersive media, cloud technology and AI, nowhere could be more appropriate to host our annual celebration of the region’s tech and digital sector.”
For more coverage of the Tees Tech Awards 2026, check out the Tees Business socials in the coming days.
And for the Tees Tech Awards 2026 roll call, click HERE.
