Smokestack Lightning

How Middlesbrough reclaimed its post-industrial landscape and embraced a digital future

This street, Tom Beardsmore tells us, used to be “an alley of prostitutes and drugs.” The CEO of Sunderland-based developer and publisher Coatsink is talking about a road that runs alongside the train tracks near the top of the high street in Middlesbrough; beyond it there was once a post-industrial wasteland, framed by the flare stacks of the chemical plants beside the River Tees. This area inspired the opening shot of Blade Runner, Beardsmore points out. “And it literally looked like that.”

Crossing the train tracks into this part of town was known locally as ‘going over the border’. But the past decade or so has seen the area undergo a turnaround, thanks in part to Middlesbrough’s DigitalCity project. “It’s completely transformed now,” Beardsmore tells us. “And if they go ahead with all these building projects, it’s going to transform even more. It’s amazing.”

Daniel Watson manages what’s become known as the Boho Zone, seven buildings that are the heart of Middlesbrough’s fast-growing digital sector. Coatsink started here before moving to bigger offices in Sunderland, and it’s currently the home of indie studios including Double Eleven, SockMonkey and Cardboard Sword, plus app developers and other digital firms. Watson says DigitalCity has supported over 700 start-ups, and over 800 digital businesses, throughout the region.