Hundreds of delegates get together at Wynyard Hall VentureFest

The event, held at Wynyard Hall, attracted more than 400 delegates.

The keynote speech came from Mark Chapman, Engineering Director of The Bloodhound Project, which aims to set a new land speed record of 1,000mph.

He encouraged the audience to question everything, take part in open innovation projects and adopt new ideas from other sectors.

“Bloodhound is a truly collaborative project that constantly tests, and causes us to rethink, the approach we’re taking to reach our goal of building the ultimate jet and rocket powered car,” he said.

“We’ve taken the best tools and ideas from the automotive and aerospace industries and showcased them in this supersonic car.

“Because Bloodhound is bespoke and pushing technology to the known limits, there’s real opportunity for the innovations we’re demonstrating to be reapplied in commercial sectors.

“I hope the message delegates take away is it doesn’t matter what sector you’re working in, we can all learn from each other’s successes and failures.”

VentureFest director Simon Green said: “Our speakers have provided an inspirational backdrop against which we hope many new connections and conversations were started. We’re very much looking forward to hearing about some of the success to come from VentureFest Tees Valley.”