Local tech giants Leighton and Sage have been unveiled as headline sponsors of the five-day TechNExt festival 2026, which runs from 15th to 19th June, alongside Irish firm Accenture, which has a regional office in Newcastle alongside further hubs in Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The festival is co-organised by Sunderland Software City, BeaconHouse Events and Dynamo North East and is returning for its fourth year – the 2025 edition sold out its Main Stage and drew over 3,000 attendees from across the UK and as far afield as India, with Cherrypick CEO and former Monzo COO Tom Foster-Carter among the keynote speakers.
The North East tech sector now generates £11.6 billion in annual turnover and supports more than 61,000 jobs.
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With Accenture, Leighton and Sage confirmed, TechNExt 2026 has the backing of three of the region’s largest tech employers. Each has deep North East roots and all three point to the same reason for getting behind the festival: Bringing the region’s tech community together in one place for a week.
Jonathan Cowan, EVP HCM and platform at Sage said: “TechNExt brings together people, ideas and ambition from across the North-East. It’s a chance to see first‑hand how the magic of innovation happens when businesses and the wider tech community come together to solve real‑world problems – and I’m proud to see Sage playing a role in supporting that.”
Alec Berry, MD at Accenture in Newcastle, said: “The North East is a really unique part of the UK in that we’re quite small but there’s a lot of exciting things going on here. It’s really important that we all work together and collaborate.”
Steve Morland, CTO at Leighton, added: “As a North East founded business, it’s in our DNA to support events like TechNExt that bring together and foster the huge talent in our region. It’s a great opportunity to network with peers, to learn, develop and to nurture the ambition of the future workforce.”
The 2026 programme is built around four themed hubs covering the biggest growth areas in regional tech: data and AI at The Catalyst in Newcastle, tech for good at The Village in North Tyneside, tech startups at Durham University Business School and creative yech at Culture House in Sunderland.
Six flagship events frame the week, including the festival launch at the Hilton Hotel Gateshead, the industry dinner at SIX at Baltic Rooftop, the Tech Careers Fair at Crowne Plaza Newcastle and the festival party at Revolucion de Cuba, with more than twenty community-led fringe events running alongside.
The full programme is at technext.co.uk.
