The £10 million Boho One facility has opened as the first core building of the Tees Valley Boho Zone creative quarter and will provide space to house 27 small firms.

Regional development agency One North East, which invested more than £7 million in the development, points out that the new building is part of the wider Digital City project, which aims to establish a business cluster in the area for creative and high-tech firms.

Margaret Fay, chairman of One North East, comments: ‘This latest piece of the DigitalCity jigsaw is exciting news and is telling the world that the Tees Valley is emerging as an important new arrival on the creative map, providing a digital cluster for the whole region.’

When complete, the Boho Zone will comprise three facilities that will provide workspace for growing digital media, digital technology and creative businesses.

Last month, One North East revealed that an extra £2.9 million investment has been awarded to the Sunderland Software City in order to support 40 high-tech start-ups and small firms commercialise their research developments.

See also: Why Entrepreneurs should relocate to the North East