Region’s brightest shine at North East tech awards

Some of the biggest names and organisations from across North East tech descended on Newcastle as the region’s annual North East Tech Awards returned for a 12th year.

A total of 450 attendees braved the snow and sleet to attend Dynamo’s Dynamites Awards 2025, which this year attracted 88 entries across 14 award categories and was supported by headline sponsor, Accenture UK.

The winners of the Dynamites Awards celebrating with their awards at the end of the night.

placeholder image — The winners of the Dynamites Awards celebrating with their awards at the end of the night.

The glittering ceremony in Newcastle Civic Centre’s Banqueting Hall was hosted by comedian and Mock the Week star, Gary Delaney and was organised by Dynamo North East CIC, the region’s largest tech sector business network.

In a welcoming speech, Dr David Dunn, CEO at Dynamo, congratulated the winners and those shortlisted and thanked all of the sponsors.

Dr David Dunn, chief executive of Dynamo North East C.I.C

David also seized the opportunity to announce the next Dynamo North East Tech Charity Dinner, which will take place at The Fire Station in Sunderland on Thursday, March 19, 2026, and will help raise vital funds for the Dynamo Digital Inclusion Fund, which was launched last year to help combat digital poverty in the region.

He said: “What a brilliant night celebrating the North East’s tech community, with 450 people coming together to recognise the region’s brightest talent and most innovative businesses.

“Events like the Dynamites are a brilliant way to showcase the achievements of those who are driving growth and flying the flag for North East tech across the globe, and last night certainly proved that, with so many remarkable people and businesses taking to the stage to share their successes.”

Chair of the judges and Hay’s Travel CTO, Taya Reynolds, followed David on the stage, after which Helen Baker, Managing Director, Regional Technology Lead, at headline sponsor Accenture UK, spoke passionately about the region and why the global business has committed to investing so heavily in the North East since it opened its first Newcastle base in 1995.

Helen said: “What a lovely evening honouring the achievements of some amazing organisations in the North East – a true showcase of creativity, digital expertise, and world-class innovation.

“As Dynamo members we have a long relationship with the organisation and were incredibly proud to be the headline sponsors for The Dynamites for the first time.

"We’ve had a wonderful time celebrating the worthy winners and can’t wait to come back next year!”

Awards were handed out to a wide variety of winners, from major tech firms to emerging tech start-ups and organisations with IT departments who are blazing a trail in their respective industries.

The first winner of the evening was Sunderland City Council, which won the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award, sponsored by The UK Tech Cluster Group.

A series of awards then followed, before Paul Callaghan CBE, co-founder and chair of the Leighton Group, was presented with the prestigious Tech Champion Award later in the evening.

He said: “I’m genuinely honoured to receive this award. Any recognition like this really reflects the brilliant people I’ve had the privilege to work with across Leighton Group companies and Sunderland Software City over many years.

"I would like to thank Dynamo North East not only for this award but also for everything they do to support and grow our region’s tech community.”

The Marketing Impact award, sponsored by Creo Communications, was one of two new categories for 2025 and was awarded to Seriös Group.

Izy Herrera, Head of Marketing, was presented with the coveted stick of Dynamite and said: “When I joined Seriös Group at the start of this year, my goal was to grow our brand and share the amazing work that we're doing in the data space.

“Our partnership with Sunderland AFC was a key part of that strategy, and we created a campaign that not only has increased our brand awareness but also put our work with the club on a global platform.

"The results went beyond expectations, and it's such a career highlight for me to receive this award, and our work being recognised.”

The Dynamites Awards 2025 award winners were:

Best Use of Data & AI, sponsored by Neptune North

Winner – Transmission Dynamics

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, sponsored by UK Tech Cluster Group

Winner – Sunderland City Council

Growth Explosion, sponsored by LDC

Highly Commended – SafeCall

Winner – tombola

International Success, sponsored by Womble Bond Dickinson

Highly Commended – mkodo

Winner – SaleCycle