Background

TeesAMP is a symbol of the Tees Valley’s new commercial future, attracting high-profile high-tech companies to locate their businesses in the Tees Valley.

TeesAMP will make a significant contribution to the Tees Valley economy, attracting outstanding firms and the 1,000-plus high-value jobs they will bring.

The brief

The consortium delivering TeesAMP needed to secure planning permission and the buy-in of multiple stakeholders including national and local politicians and business groups.

The aim was to get TeesAMP talked about on a national stage, to attract tenants from across the UK and help Tees Valley become synonymous with advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies.

Our clients wanted to be seen as ambitious and forward-thinking in order to change the narrative around the area and attract investment and jobs.

The positioning line, ‘Make it in Middlesbrough’, gives the dual message that companies can be successful in Middlesbrough and that the Tees Valley is a great place for manufacturing companies to be based.

Before any buildings were even out of the ground we had generated plenty of front page and top-of-screen headlines, as well as radio and TV coverage for TeesAMP. The story of advanced manufacturing, investment and a pipeline of jobs was great material for media – with much more following as building work progressed. We rolled out the big guns, for a high-profile launch to mark the start of work, in the form of Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark.

The Cabinet Minister called on manufacturers from around the world to “Make it in Middlesbrough” as he helped put the first spade in the ground at the 11 hectare site. With a VIP list of invitees and a clean sweep of regional journalists, plus national media – including Bloomberg – the day was a huge success, from excellent image setups, to live TV interviews and social media engagement.