TIGA, the trade association representing the games industry,said today that the £1.5 million of Treasury money available for skills
development in the games industry should be straight forward to access and
available to fund internships, and technical, people management and business
training.
The Treasury made public money available for skills development in the games
industry and other creative industries in the 2012 Autumn Statement. Employers
will have to provide match funding in order to access the Treasury money.
Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:
“The UK games industry has a highly skilled workforce, over 80 per cent of
the industry is qualified to degree level or above and studios spend on average
3.7 per cent of turnover on training. Yet the majority of game developers and
digital publishers in the UK are small and medium sized enterprises with
limited financial resources. The industry must continue to invest in
professional development and training in order to enhance its competitive edge.
“TIGA would like to see the Treasury money available to help fund
internships and so help more students to be ready to work effectively in the
industry on completion of their studies. Public money should also be used to
finance a variety of technical training (eg flash, Mudbox, Agile, Prince2),
people management training (eg performance management, interview techniques,
coaching), and business training (eg monetization, financial, marketing, foreign
langauges). The cost of attending conferences and seminars relevant to these
training areas should also be eligible for Treasury training funding.
“Treasury money for this training needs to be match funded by employers.
As the overwhelming majority of games businesses are small and medium-sized
operations it is important that bureaucracy is kept to a sensible level so that
they are not impeded from applying and accessing the money.
“If executed effectively, this policy intervention could be a great help
to many UK games businesses.”
Notes
to editors:
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. Since 2010, TIGA has won 14 business awards and has been nominated a
finalist for 16 other awards.
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: 07875 939
643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org.