FW Capital champions business innovation with Leaders On Tour: Tees Valley

The Leaders on Tour: Tees Valley event has celebrated the best of Teesside’s innovative businesses and entrepreneurs.

Sponsored by FW Capital, the strategic two-day summit brought together business leaders from Darlington, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton on Tees, Redcar and Cleveland to unite and inspire.

Together they enjoyed an entrepreneurial bus tour of innovative and pioneering businesses across the area, including Wilton Engineering; Teesside University's The Assembly Halls; Press on Vinyl (pictured); The Gaming Hideaway; and Double Eleven. Delegates were able to hear real-life inspirational stories and learn about some of the challenges these businesses have faced, along with the lessons they have learned along their growth journey.

Delegates at the event, on November 4th and 5th, also had the chance to participate in round table discussions and investment-themed talks and to share their experiences and perspectives of business funding, investments and grants available to Tees Valley based entrepreneurs.

FW Capital Deputy Fund Manager Keith Charlton said: “The past 18 months have seen many businesses focused on survival and pivoting to adapt to new challenges. The Leaders on Tour: Tees Valley event presented a great opportunity to step back from that and celebrate, learn and connect with like-minded business leaders. For those businesses that are at the start of their growth journey, it is so important  to learn practical lessons from those who have overcome obstacles and challenges and are now seeing real growth. We heard so many motivating stories from the businesses we visited. It is a real testament to the diversity and tenacity of the business community in Teesside.

“FW Capital is proud to be part of and support the business community in Teesside. Tees Valley’s local economy has been boosted by £110m thanks to the impact of 80 investments over 11 years by FW Capital.

“We were therefore delighted to sponsor this inspirational event, which celebrated the wonderful achievements of our innovative Tees Valley businesses and connected leaders from across the area to encourage more business growth.”

FW Capital’s investment into Tees Valley has been delivered through two of the funds FW Capital has under management - the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund – Debt Finance (NPIF) and the Tees Valley Catalyst Fund (TVCF), which is managed on behalf of Tees Valley Business, the local growth hub for the Tees Valley and part of the Tees Valley Combined Authority.