UK must strengthen its appeal as investment location

By April 20, 2011 Press Releases

TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, said today that the Coalition Government needed to do more to enhance the UK as an investment location. TIGA made the comments following the publication of a new report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) which highlighted the competition between countries to attract inward investment. The CBI report, Making the UK the best place to invest, is based on research from 400 companies.

Foreign investment into the UK fell from $186.4bn in 2007 to $45.7bn in 2009 according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and the country’s share also declined. Britain has dropped from second to fourth as a destination for inward investment.

Dr. Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, commented:
“This CBI report vindicates what TIGA has being saying to Government for some time. Competition for inward investment is intense. As far as the video games industry is concerned the UK is at a disadvantage. Our key competitors have tax breaks for games production but the UK does not. This puts us at a disadvantage in the battle for inward investment. Between July 2008 and October 2010, investment in the UK video games industry declined by £41 million.

“76 per cent of investment in the UK games industry comes from overseas publishers. TIGA’s Games Tax Relief, a sector specific tax break for games production, would encourage inward investment and enable more games developers to access finance. Three of the major international publisher employers, Activision Blizzard, THQ and Ubisoft, have said that they support tax breaks for games production and would be much more likely to create jobs in the UK.

TIGA will continue to enhance the case for Games Tax Relief in order to encourage the Government to adopt this measure and so power inward investment into the UK.””
Ends

Notes to editors:
About TIGA:

TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have games publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. TIGA was awarded ‘Trade Association of the Year’ and the ‘Member Recruitment Award’ at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards 2010. TIGA has also been named as a finalist in the 2010 Chartered Management Institute (CMI) National Management and Leadership Awards in the category of ‘The Outstanding Organisation of the Year Award (SME)’. TIGA is an Investors in People organisation.

TIGA’s vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation, generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the competitiveness of our members. This means that TIGA members are effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.

For further information, please contact Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on 07875939643: or email richard.wilson@tiga.org; or contact David Hodges on 02070911653

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