TIGA publishes Annual Report 2009
TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, today published its Annual Report 2009. The Report, sponsored by Realtime Worlds (developer of APB), highlights TIGA’s work in championing the games industry in political circles, raising the media profile of the sector and providing services for its members.
The Report highlights that TIGA’s Games Tax Relief campaign led to the Government’s decision in the March 2010 Budget to allocate £90 million in tax relief for the sector over the financial years 2011 – 2013. Tom Watson MP, who provides a Foreword in the Report, said: “Put simply, if TIGA had not compiled the evidence that the UK industry was at a competitive disadvantage, this would never have happened. It’s an extraordinary success for the trade body that should be recognised by all in the industry.””
The Report also shows that in 2009 TIGA made 27 innovations in its products, processes and markets. In particular, TIGA:
• achieved national media coverage for the games industry, including the BBC online, the Guardian, the Independent and the Financial Times;
• instigated the creation of the All Party Computer and Video Games Industry Group in the Westminster Parliament;
• secured grants from UKT&I that enabled 18 games businesses to attend overseas tradeshows;
• organized six events, including at the Westminster Parliament and at the Holyrood Parliament;
• became the awarding body for the Train2Game open learning courses in Game Development and Game Design;
• established a TIGA Human Resources (HR) Group, consisting of Heads of HR from games businesses, to share knowledge and disseminate best practice;
• launched the TIGA-NESTA Creative Industry Switch, to promote commercial collaboration and knowledge transfer between video games developers and businesses in other creative sectors
• established the TIGA-NESTA education exchange, an on line service available for education and game businesses, to promote opportunities for industry-academia collaboration;
• introduced an industry sharing programme to enable developers to share employees and so avoid making redundancies;
• created a jobs board on the TIGA website;
• re-launching the TIGA website (www.tiga.org).
Ian Hetherington, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer at Realtime Worlds, said:
“TIGA has proven that it can deliver real benefit to the games developer community, as a trade association it punches well above its weight in this respect. The extraordinary effort that the TIGA board expend to create a positive view of our industry with media and government alike has finally paid off with a tangible improvement in awareness of the cultural and economic significance of our industry to the British economy. The industry is now well placed to share in this achievement by supporting TIGA.”
Jason Kingsley, Chairman of TIGA and CEO and Creative Director of Rebellion Studios, said:
“TIGA is nothing without the developers, outsourcers, university and education providers that make up its membership. TIGA exists to serve your interests. We are proud to have advanced your interests in 2009. We will be zealous in working for you throughout 2010.””
Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, said:
“TIGA has made considerable progress over the last year. We secured a £90 million tax break for our sector. We generated substantial media coverage for the industry. We delivered new and improved services for our members. I would like to thank the TIGA team for their hard work in securing these achievements and to TIGA’s members for their support.””
For further information, please contact Eva Field, TIGA PR Manager on: 07814 039 983, or email eva@tiga.org.
A copy of the Annual Report 2009 is available from Suzi Stephenson at: suzi@tiga.org