WARWICKSHIRE MEANS BUSINESS

Games Hub will create 500 new jobs in the next two years

"It is wonderful to see the Games Hub going from strength to strength to the benefit of not only its own sector but the wider local economy."

The vibrant Leamington Spa Games Hub in Warwickshire is set to create 500 new game development jobs over the next two years, opening up huge opportunities for young people and graduates in the Midlands region and beyond.

Research carried out amongst local video games companies within the Leamington Spa area was conducted as the town hosted the second Interactive Futures conference & expo – a celebration of the talent and culture within the area.

The figures regarding the significant job opportunities within the area arrived on the back of further excellent news for Warwickshire - the publication of video games industry trade body Ukie’s Regional Impact Report (https://ukie.org.uk/regional-economic-report) which revealed Leamington Spa as one of the largest games hubs within the UK games ecosystem.

The highly-anticipated report took a look at where the UK games industry clusters are centred, highlighting the growth of individual regions, the jobs that have been created and the impact those areas have had on the country’s games output.

It lists eight towns and cities in the UK where the games industry generates over £60m in GVA – they are Leamington Spa, Edinburgh, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Crawley & Horsham, Manchester, Guildford, Slough & Heathrow and London.

Leamington Spa’s status on the national and international game development scene was celebrated at the Interactive Futures conference on January 31 and February 1 with locally-based studios SEGA HARDlight, NaturalMotion, Playground Games, Sumo Digital and Mediatonic among the exhibitors at the Royal Spa Centre in Newbold Terrace.

The organisers of Interactive Futures conducted a poll of the leading local games development studios to help understand the careers and employment opportunities that will emerge over the next two years.

In terms of jobs types, the top five roles being sought are: Artists, designers, producers, programmers, engineers. But the range of careers on offer extends beyond technical and creative disciplines and into worlds of marketing, HR, administration, community support and more.

Warwickshre County Council's assistant drector (communities) Dave Ayton-Hill said: "It is nothing new that the Leamington Spa Games Hub is such an exceptional and widely-renowned centre of excellence - it has been for some years. But it is wonderful to see the Games Hub going from strength to strength to the benefit of not only its own sector but the wider local economy.

"This region is fortunate to have centres of excellence across a number of sectors and 'Silicon Spa' continues to lead the way in theirs wth the knock-on positive effect to the town, district and region." 

Sarah Windrum, chair of the CWLEP Digital Creative Business Group, said: “Leamington Spa is representative of the ‘roots’ of the UK video games community, an industry that contributes around £2.8 billion in GVA to the UK economy. The region boasts some of the ‘godfathers’ of the global games sector and it is testament to the talent and creativity of the area that we are continuing to attract businesses to the region –all keen to benefit from the buzz that Leamington Spa’s games circle has to offer.

“It’s rare to hear of such a flurry of new job opportunities in one place, so the news that here in Leamington Spa we’ll have up to 500 new vacancies is great for the region and the local community.”

Taylorfitch. Bringing Newsletters to life