We are delighted to welcome 8 new Corporate Sponsors onboard for our popular PLATFORM events that will be taking place in Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough & Edinburgh throughout 2025!
In alphabetical order, these are;
- Blu Sky Chartered Accountants
- Circle Cloud
- HR2day
- MIRA Marketing
- NEL Fund Managers
- Precursor Security
- Sweeney Miller Law
- Ward Hadaway
(The new sponsors have joined the British Business Bank, True Potential (Sea Road, Sunderland) & Wubbleyou who were already onboard as sponsors last year).
Paul Lancaster (PLATFORM | UK Startup Week | Stellar Business Events) said: “After running 20 x PLATFORM events in Newcastle & Sunderland for over 700 different people last year, we are excited to be expanding our reach across the North East of England, Teesside & Scotland by running more monthly events in Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough & Edinburgh throughout 2025. This is made possible thanks to our Corporate Sponsors who all have a proven track record of supporting ambitious business owners & leaders which is who our events are aimed at!”
Jon Dudgeon (Co-Founder & CEO, Blu Sky Chartered Accountants) said: “At Blu Sky, we’re passionate about championing the drive & ambition of innovative North East entrepreneurs. Partnering with the STELLAR team through their PLATFORM events allows us to help empower businesses across the North East of England, Teesside & Scotland to harness their numbers, fuelling growth, scaling success & leaving a lasting impact.”
Nicky Jolley (Managing Director, HR2day) said: “At HR2day, we’re passionate about supporting growth, innovation & collaboration in our community. Sponsoring PLATFORM is an exciting opportunity to connect with forward-thinking businesses & champion the power of people in driving success. We’re thrilled to be part of these dynamic events!”
Paul Scott (CEO, NEL Fund Managers) said: “The PLATFORM team have built an impressive reputation in the North East networking space, championing ambitious & growing businesses. Their vision to expand geographically & enhance the support they offer aligns strongly with NEL’s mission to empower business growth across all sectors through solutions-focused finance.”
“The partnership between NEL & PLATFORM will ensure that growing businesses across the North have access to the support & external finance they need to thrive. Together, we are committed to empowering ambitious businesses that are looking to scale & driving the economic prosperity of the region.”
Scott Cardow (CEO, Precursor Security) said: “Precursor are really excited to be a sponsor of PLATFORM. We see these events as being an amazing opportunity to showcase our Cyber Security offerings to a huge range of businesses in the North East of England, Teesside & Scotland.”
Claire Fenwick (Marketing & Digital Media Director, Sweeney Miller Law) said: “‘As a leading law firm in Sunderland, we are very proud to sponsor the PLATFORM events taking place in Sunderland throughout 2025 as well as the UK Startup Week festival happening in June. As a regular attendee of the PLATFORM events, I have seen first-hand the thriving community that has been fostered & the strong business connections that are made. This is an exciting time for Sunderland & the team at Sweeney Miller Law are passionate about supporting small business owners in their business journeys, so we are thrilled to collaborate with PLATFORM.”
Matt Cormack (Head of Company Commercial & Partner, Ward Hadaway) said: “Ward Hadaway are delighted to be sponsoring the monthly PLATFORM events in Newcastle & Middlesbrough along with the UK Startup Week festival in Sunderland in June. All three areas have a thriving business startup & scaleup scene & the events are a welcome addition to the North East & Teesside. We have worked with Paul & Neil over the years & are confident that their events will continue to go from strength to strength & look forward to being part of that journey.”
“As the North East of England’s largest independent law firm (with offices in Leeds & Manchester too), we have built our business on the back of supporting & advising fast-growing small to medium sized businesses & their ethos to inspire & educate aligns perfectly with our responsible business strategy to give back to small business & our desire to help our local ecosystems to thrive.”
More about PLATFORM
Launched in January 2024, PLATFORM is a free, monthly event for ambitious business owners & leaders in the North East of England, Teesside & Scotland.
Organised & hosted by Paul Lancaster & Neil Stephenson (Co-Founders & Directors of Stellar Business Events), the monthly PLATFORM events also feed into & compliment the 5-day UK Startup Week festival taking place in Sunderland between 2-6 June 2025.
PLATFORM event format / agenda
- 9am-9.30am: Arrivals with teas, coffees + light refreshments
- 9.30am-10.15am: Insights Briefing (on marketing, sales, funding & more to help you grow your business)
- 10.15am-11am: Show & Tell (presentations / talks from 3-4 startups / SMEs)
- 11am-11.15am: Short Break
- 11.15am-11.55am: In Conversation With… (interview / fireside chat with successful entrepreneur / business leader)
- 11.55am-12pm: Closing Remarks
Want to attend and find out more?
Book your ticket(s) for PLATFORM via our Eventbrite page & then: