Tees Valley Digital Innovation Survey 2024

The 2024 TVDIS was your chance to have your say on the state of technology, innovation and the support that you and your business needs in the year ahead.

Send me the final report

A survey for all businesses, not just tech businesses.

We, Embeddable, like so many other people and businesses are proud to call the Tees Valley home. The Tees Valley is a region of pioneers, innovation and technology success, but each of us define ‘innovation’ and ‘success’ differently. We aim to clearly define what innovation means and how our region is innovative.

Beyond that, we want to understand the challenges that individuals and businesses face when it comes to innovation and growing with technology.

With that in mind, tech-first and tech-focused businesses make up only a small portion of the innovation that takes place in our region. The TVDIS aims to understand the current state of technology and innovation in all businesses, not just those with an inherent tech focus.

Your chance: have a say on what we do well and the change you’d like to see.

The Tees Valley Digital Innovation Survey aims to highlight barriers, opportunities and the current state of innovation in our region to drive further support and success in a single report for use by business leaders, regional decision makers and institutions. Your responses help us to do just that.

The core focus for the 2024 survey was:

How would you define “innovation”?

Complete the survey for you chance to a prize

Grab a ticket to Middlesbrough’s hottest tech event, MFE 2024

We’ve got a ticket to Middlesbrough Frontend 2024 to give away, with previous speakers from the likes of Google and Monzo.

Shop local and save money with Independent Teesside

Win one of ten Independent Teesside cards, giving you discounts at some hidden (and not so hidden gems) on our doorstep.

Come and join the Flok

Complete the survey for your chance to snag a day pass and try out Middlesbrough’s bustling coworking space. We’ve got five to give away.

Win a share of £250 in Amazon credit

Every unique submission will be entered into a prize draw to win one of ten £25 Amazon gift vouchers.

Featuring post-survey report commentary from

James Lees
Managing Director, Blend

James is the Managing Director of Blend, a hands-on, results-driven marketing agency that helps business owners plug gaps in their marketing activity. The only team you need for joined-up thinking and turning mixed results into consistent hits.

We get a kick out of making your business more powerful at every step and are pretty good at finding quick wins on the way. It’s Time To Blend your business with the exciting potential of marketing.

David Dixon
Founder, Fireside

David is a hugely respected voice on tech and innovation in the Tees Valley.

His business, Fireside, is a knowledge marketplace. Its core solutions will bring multiple trusted perspectives – Fireside Chats – from across the planet to help solve business dilemmas and conundrums. Its use of vector databases will ensure that all indexed chats are publicly available and searchable.

Sharon Starkey
Managing Director, Resolution.

MD of Resolution, Stockton based brand and PR agency, Sharon has developed communication strategies for local and national organisations and been effective in campaigns which take her clients into new markets.

A lover of language, engagement is her passion, believing communication should be outcome focussed, offering a return on investment.

Bev Goodall
Managing Director, AbacusBean

AbacusBean was set up in late 2018 by Bev to enable her to follow her dreams of running her own practice.

Having both small and large accountancy firm practice, Bev has created AbacusBean to match her customer focused approach. Running her own practice allows a more autonomous approach with clients meaning she can put their needs unquestionably first. The practice started with 27 clients in 2018 and now stretches across the globe with clients in Canada, USA, France, Spain, Dubai and further afield. We stopped counting at 550 clients…

Tim Ward
Business Growth Strategist and Board Advisor

Tim is an accomplished executive with a remarkable track record, including over ten years of running successful business consultancies that have helped businesses win over £20 billion in contracts. As a thought leader in his space, he has imagined and brought to market a range of game-changing technology solutions onboarding millions of users. His advisory work spans prestigious clients such as PIF, KPMG, and G4S through to startup and scale-up businesses, where he’s known for expertise in strategic growth, bidding/procurement excellence, go-to-market strategies and mentorship—all rooted in a dedicated commitment to driving transformative impact and sustainable business value.

Peter Calvert
Founder, Embeddable

Peter has spent over a decade working in technology related roles – from an apprentice through to a Chief Technology Officer – for businesses across the Tees Valley before launching his own technology consultancy business, Embeddable, in mid-2023 in Middlesbrough.

Having launched his business in the Tees Valley with the aim of helping others to start, scale and succeed through, Peter is passionate about supporting the region’s businesses to grow with technology. Moreover, his focus is on supporting traditionally non-technical businesses to adopt and pursue growth through technical innovation.