SE England Gets Game Business Development Scheme

A new industry led company development scheme has been announced for the South East of England by Skillset - the Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries, whose remit includes the video games industry. The scheme aims to support the employment base in the sector, by providing a package of support to small and medium sized companies in the region. According to Skillset, interactive media and video games have seen substantial growth in the wealthy South East area of England and now make up 60 percent of all audio-visual employment in the area. The scheme will be funded by SEEDA, South East Media Network, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and industry investment via Skillset. The support package will include expert business consultancy advice, and will focus on developing companies, when and how to invest in technology, raising necessary capital, planning projects properly and being aware of new markets and available resources. Delivered for Skillset by Wired Sussex, the support involves a bespoke suite of individual mentor sessions, workshops, masterclasses, networking events and online resources developed specifically for participants. The scheme is organized into two separate strands, one specifically for video games companies and the other for more general interactive media. Ian Livingstone, creative director at Eidos and chair of Skillset's computer games skills forum, said: "The initiative will ultimately improve the competitiveness of the sector as a whole through demonstrating the benefits of business orientated thinking to the games industry". "The scheme aims to address the need to combine both entrepreneurship and creative talent with business development and management skills and highlight the importance of this blend to the future of the interactive media industry", added Andrew Chitty, MD of Illumina Digital, and chair of Skillset's interactive media industry forum. Further information can be found at the Skillset website.