TIGA Comments on Autumn Statement and CSR

By November 25, 2015 Press Releases

TIGA, the network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the video games industry, said today that the Government should explore further measures to reinforce successful sectors such as the video games industry in the March 2016 Budget, including a Creative Content Fund, enhancing Games Tax Relief and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, and the establishment of Games Development Incubators at universities.

 TIGA called on the Government to monitor the impact of its policy to change Innovate UK funding from grants to loans and urged the Government to be flexible on its training levy: in particular, there should be no requirement for the levy, which will be imposed on large firms, only to fund apprenticeships. Instead, contributing employers should be free to spend the money on the form of training that best meets the needs of their businesses. TIGA made the comments in response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement and CSR in Parliament today.

 Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:

 “The UK still needs to reinforce those sectors where it has a competitive advantage, including the video games industry. That is why TIGA has proposed university incubators to strengthen regional growth, improvements to SEIS and Video Games Tax Relief, and the introduction of a Creative Content Fund to enable more development studios to expand, flourish and prosper. TIGA will continue to advance its agenda to strengthen the games development and digital publishing sector in the run up to the Budget in March 2016.

 “There is little appetite in the video games industry for a compulsory training levy to fund apprenticeships. The Government needs to be more flexible on its training levy: in particular, there should be no requirement for the levy only to fund apprenticeships. Instead, contributing employers should be free to spend the money on the form of training that best meets the needs of their businesses. Often this will be in the form of on-the-job training or short, bite sized courses.”

 TIGA, in advance of the Autumn Statement and CSR, proposed a series of measures to strengthen firms, industries and the UK economy:

  1. A Creative Content Fund (CCF) should be established in order to improve studios’ access to finance, stimulate new content development and IP generation. The CCF could make grants or loans available to games businesses on a pound for pound, matched funding basis. The CCF could be financed via the National Lottery or via Grant-in-Aid money from the Government. The CCF could be managed by the British Film Institute, or by Innovate UK, or by Creative England or by The UK Games Talent and Finance Community Interest Company.
  2. The Government should carry out a cost benefit analysis of the merits of enhancing Video Games Tax Relief in order to stimulate further investment. For example, the £1 million limit on subcontracting could be lifted. A Triple A game could involve $7 million in outsourcing by the time of its first release. Additional outsourcing work follows with content updates under the games as a service model. Increasing the outsourcing limit would not only help large games businesses. It could also benefit smaller UK games businesses involved in the supply chain and help to build up their skills, talent and capacity.
  3. The amount of money that a company can raise via SEIS investment should be increased from £150,000 to £200,000 per annum to reflect the rise in development budgets required to make internationally competitive games.
  4. Regional/National Games Development Incubators should be established at a university or at a consortium of universities in each of the English regions and in each of the nations within the UK to boost start-ups, universities and regional growth.
  5. Specialist roles should be added to the Shortage Occupation List (including, but not limited to,Game Analyst, Senior Game Artist, Senior Game Designer, Senior Producer, and Engine Programmer). This will enable games businesses to address skill shortages in highly specialised roles.
  6. The Government should aim to enhance the commercial, management and leadership skills of games studios. In particular, the Growth Accelerator Service should be tailored to the needs of games developers and digital publishers.
  7. A pilot Training Tax Relief should be introduced for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). TTR would operate in a similar way to the existing R&D tax credits and would enable SMEs to offset expenditure on training, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for staff and education outreach activities against corporation tax.
  8. UKTI should enable more UK video games businesses to maximise their export potential.

 Notes to editors:

TIGA is network for games developers and digital publishers. We are the trade association representing the UK video game industry. We help developers and digital publishers build successful studios, network with the right people, save money and access professional business advice. We also have traditional publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership.

TIGA is 90% funded by independent UK businesses. 80% of our board members are developers and/or from UK owned businesses, and 50% of our board are UK business owners themselves. Since 2010, TIGA has won 17 business awards.

TIGA focuses on three sets of activities:

  • Political representation
  • Media representation
  • Business services

This enhances the competitiveness of our members by providing benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities. It also means our members’ voices are heard in the corridors of power and positively represented in national, broadcast and UK video game trade media.

Get in touch:

Tel: 0845 468 2330

Email: info@tiga.org

Web: www.tiga.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tigamovement

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TIGAMovement

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tiga

For further information, you can also contact:  Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org

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