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A Teesside-based project aimed at helping creative entrepreneurs from all over the North East has been hailed a major success.

Creating a Business Buzz, which was delivered as part of the DigitalCity project at the University of Teesside, has helped over 100 creative SMEs to grow their businesses in the last 12 months.

This was the first time Business Buzz had been delivered by the Institute of Digital Innovation and was made possible thanks to £450,000 worth of funding from the ERDF and University of Teesside.

Thanks to the success of Business Buzz, which concluded at the end of September, talks are now underway about similar future projects.

Creative businesses and entrepreneurs from across the North East took part in individual mentoring sessions and workshops as part of Business Buzz to help them understand more about subjects such as marketing, sales, public relations and business finance.

Some of the people helped by the project include Peterlee-based photographer Paul Berry, Middlesbrough fine artist Hannah Campion, video games company Halch and songwriting and music production team BB Music House from Newcastle.

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Scott Watson, Industry Engagement Co-ordinator for the IDI, said: “This project has proved to be a huge success and has provided much-needed help for the growing creative sector.

“We tailored both the mentoring and the workshops to the specific requirements of creative entrepreneurs as their needs often differ from other industries. I’d really like to thank the mentors for their fantastic support which has made a real difference to the businesses we’ve been working with. Thanks to its success, similar projects are now in the pipeline.”

Special effects expert Franck Dhotel of Middlesbrough-based Verso Studio who took part in Business Buzz, added: “Although I have spent many years working in my industry and have excelled in what I do, understanding the business aspect was preventing me from growing my company further. Thanks to Business Buzz I now have a thorough understanding of where my business is going and what I need to do to expand further.”