MORE than 100 people from across the region attended the opening of a centre to help graduate entrepreneurs at the University of Teesside.

Margaret Fay, chairman of regional development agency One NorthEast, opened the refurbished Victoria Building.

The 114-year-old former Victoria Road School, on the Middlesbrough university campus, has undergone a £1.3m transformation, thanks to help from One NorthEast and European funding.

Some of the event's speakers, whose graduate companies were set up through the University of Teesside's business start-up initiative, told of their experiences in supporting an entrepreneurial revolution in the Tees Valley.

Keynote speaker was Curtis Jobling, production designer for the Bafta winning Bob the Builder children's animation series. Mr Jobling, based in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, said the support given to the young graduate companies was "priceless".

More than 60 companies have been set up by graduates with the help of the university since the initiative was launched in 2000.