ONE of the North-East's leading entrepreneurs has joined Teesside University to help develop the next generation of digital media businesses.

David Jeffries, who founded the Mere Mortals group of companies and helped make acclaimed films such as Slumdog Millionaire has taken charge as Head of DigitalCity Innovation and Graduate Enterprise.

Built on Teesside University's expertise and reputation in digital media and digital technology, DigitalCity is creating record numbers of high-growth businesses and jobs in North East England.

Mr Jeffriess role will see him using his contacts within industry and his business knowledge to expand the work of DigitalCity Innovation and help create new companies, jobs and business opportunities.

Built on Teesside University's expertise and reputation in digital media and digital technology, DigitalCity is creating record numbers of high-growth businesses and jobs in the North-East.

Mr Jeffries said: "One of the key things I'll be doing is raiding my address book to make full use of all the contacts I've developed over the years and connecting Teesside to key people within industry to help further business opportunity.

"I'll continue to work on my businesses outside of my new role as I feel it's vitally important to keep a presence within the industry.

"When I left university there was no logical connection between university graduates and industry and I had to find my own way.

"Things are very different now, and I want to help define the relationships we have with employers, find the best graduates and postgraduates for business and to make sure that we are encouraging the right kind of businesses and bringing value to those we support in start-up."

Over the past 15 years, David Jeffries has grown a series of digital media companies, at one point employing more than 50 people in four businesses and turning over several million pounds annually.

After leaving Cardiff University with a Fine Arts degree, he worked as a 3D animator before founding Mere Mortals in 1999.

The Newcastle-based company grew from a two-man operation to a leading group of companies in the North-East digital media sector and worked on several major films including 28 Weeks Later, Sunshine and Slumdog Millionaire as well as several leading computer games for clients such as Sony and Ubisoft.

He then moved to New Zealand in 2007 to set up an arm of Mere Mortals in Auckland before moving back to the UK in 2010.

In 2011, David launched Spitfire in Dubai, a digital media company specialising in Moving Image which has gone on to work for global brands including McDonalds' and Toyota as well as a whole host of ad agencies and film companies based in the Middle East.

David added: "This is a very different challenge and I'm really looking forward to helping new businesses to succeed.

"I think one of the key things to a successful start-up is the speed at which you can react to change and given the current speed of change in the digital world it's important to remain agile.

"Additionally, watching and being aware of trends both current and future can define whether you are first to market or become a 'me too' company.

"Our fellowship programme at DigitalCity Innovation is a good example of a short programme that can have significant impact on the success of a start-up business.

"Quarterly we choose a number of graduate submitted digital related start-up ideas and assist them with funding for a period of up to six months, offering incubator space, mentoring and workshops along the way to help them to succeed at the end of that period.

"At the end of the fellowship programme we can offer the businesses space in our Graduate Enterprise Centre, where both digital and non-digital businesses are housed."