Region set to challenge Soho as creative capital

Dec 10 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

"These days, you can see Soho-based companies responsible for the special effects in major movies. The Tees Valley has a lot of talent. This is potentially a very exciting development."

The Northern Way has invested £9.4m and the North West Development Agency has given a further £2.27m to build a single, high-speed 100-megabytes infrastructure, allowing companies to send super-sized audio visual files.

A visionary calendar of skills and relationship-building events has also been created, while a pay-as-you-go basis for using the network will help cashflow for fledgling companies.

The unveiling of NorthernNet coincides with a new prototyping service for the North East’s digital sector, which has been handed £1.9m to speed up the creation of high growth software companies.

Codeworks, the North East’s centre for digital innovation, has launched the Digital Evaluation Vehicle (DEV), to create new businesses and jobs.

The project, part-financed by the EU’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13 through One North East, will set up a demonstration facility to help companies secure finance for software development.