Latest news with #Dundonian
The National
4 days ago
- Business
- The National
Scotland bucks trend with 'substantial' games industry growth
Figures show employment in the sector in Scotland has doubled over the last 10 years. The statistics also show that there were 130 computer game enterprises in Scotland in 2024, compared to just 15 in 2010 – a 766.67% increase. READ MORE: Martin Compston says Unionist abuse made him stop independence posts In 2022 the industry had a turnover of £339.7 million, compared to profits of £38.1m made in 2010 – a 791.6% increase. The data also showed that there had been a 103.3% increase in the number of staff working in the industry (including additional PAYE units), up from 1,045 in 2015 to 2,125 in 2023. With the sector globally experiencing significant jobs losses and changes to job patterns, Scotland's computer game industry is bucking the trend. Commenting, SNP MSP for Dundee City West, Joe FitzPatrick, said: 'At a time when the computer games industry is struggling globally, thanks to SNP investment, Scotland is bucking the trend. 'Scotland was the first part of the UK to develop a video games strategy to support the industry and invests in exhibiting Scottish-built games across the world. 'Our world-leading computer game developers, including those based in Dundee, are thriving thanks to a unique blend of government support, creativity, innovation, and talent.' READ MORE: TransPennine Express to run up to 3 additional services during Edinburgh Fringe Rockstar North, a computer game studio based in Edinburgh and set up as DMA Design by Dundonian David Jones, is arguably the most notable firm in the Scottish industry. The company are behind the Grand Theft Auto series, including Grand Theft Auto V – the second-best selling video game and reportedly most profitable entertainment product of all time. FitzPatrick continued: 'From globally recognised studios to bold new start-ups, this is an industry that not only creates economic value but connects people across the world and brings opportunity to Scotland.'
Daily Record
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Kyle Falconer makes TRNSMT a family affair bringing kids along for festival
Kyle didn't need a make-up artist for his appearance at TRNSMT, having brought his three eldest children along. Scots rocker Kyle Falconer didn't need a make-up artist for his appearance at TRNSMT yesterday, having brought his three eldest children along. It was left to his eight-year-old daughter Wylde to style him, including applying pale blue eye shadow for his King Tut's stage set. The Dundee -born rocker, 38, who now lives in Spain, said: 'I've got my kids – Wylde, Winnie and Jet – here and my youngest is in Spain with the mother in law. 'They are obsessed with Gracie Abrams so I took them on the plane with me to see her. 'They are really excited. Kids are not meant to be at TRNSMT. There is a great buzz. My kids like to see a lot. They go to a lot of festivals and think TRNSMT is cool.' Kyle, who found fame with Dundonian rockers The View, added: 'I got my daughter this morning to dress me up onstage and do my eye make up. 'The kids were right at the front for my set. 'This is the sixth time I've played her. The first time I played here was on the main stage. I have played the main stage with The View before. 'Today, I'm quite chuffed with the band I've got. It felt good onstage. I have a new album coming out. I felt in control. In May, 2023, the singer brawled with his bandmate Kieren Webster, throwing punches during The View's concert at the Deaf Institute in Manchester. But Kyle insists the pair are on good terms and The View are simply having time out. Speaking to The Record backstage at TRNSMT, he said: 'We're just taking a break. There's loads of other stuff going on. They've got kids and I've got kids. I have my own music because I've got a studio so that's how it works. 'The last time Kieren and I wrote together was when we were kids. But the relationship is all good. We're completely fine and there is nothing lingering there.' He added: 'I'm going to have a couple of beers and watch Gracie Abrams. I'm just getting the kids geared up for it. It's going to be absolutely buzzing. It's the only record I've heard for the last three months. "They've been playing her for years and she has been getting bigger. They're obsessed with this music. All my kids have vinyl players so I get them all records and I've found them all playing Gracie Abrams. They refused to share so I had to get them all a Gracie Abrams record each.'
Glasgow Times
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Singer of huge Scottish band draws crowd for solo TRNSMT show
Taking to the King Tut's stage, the 38-year-old Dundonian brought the best of his solo career and The View hits to an initially modest crowd which only got bigger as he ramped up the atmosphere. Opening up his set with the 2021 single Stress Ball, he was on top form vocally with his unmistakable tone. READ NEXT: I saw Jake Bugg at TRNSMT - he should have been on the Main Stage READ NEXT: Singer surprises with secret TRNSMT show - and Lewis Capaldi tribute was backstage (Image: Kyle Falconer played the TRNSMT King Tut's stage on Sunday, July 13 2025.) (Image: Kyle Falconer played the TRNSMT King Tut's stage on Sunday, July 13 2025.) The View banger Grace, quickly followed. Taking a minute to fix his guitar, he then admitted: 'This is my old View guitar, I only bring it out for special occasions, hence I need to tune it, man.' Face for the Radio then had the crowd singing in unison with the star, whose voice was packed with power for the rock ballad. His family was watching from the side of the stage when he dedicated Family Tree to them before he rounded off in style with Same Jeans.
The Herald Scotland
14-06-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Eilish McColgan: I've run a marathon, now I feel pressure-free
And secondly, she'll almost certainly never tackle a marathon that challenges her as much as her debut did. McColgan has a stellar record on both the track and the road, but having decided she was going to move up to the marathon, it took her literally years to reach the start line. A number of injuries, including knee surgery in late-2023, served to delay and further delay her marathon debut. But finally, at the London Marathon in April of this year, McColgan ran her first marathon. And from almost the second she crossed the finish line, a wave of relief crashed over McColgan and she's spent the past weeks basking in a pressure-free state that she's never before experienced in the entirety of her decade-long elite career. 'This is the first time in my career I'm in no rush to get back into things. It's nice not to feel that intense pressure or stress because so often, I've been rushing to get ready for the next thing,' the 34-year-old says. 'Last year, I was rushing to get back from knee surgery to make it to the Paris Olympics then almost immediately, I felt like I was constantly fighting against time to be ready for the London Marathon. 'So this is the first time ever that I've felt like okay, I've ticked my box for the year and so if I do another marathon in 2025 then great but if I don't then it doesn't actually matter. "It's now up to me what I want to do for the rest of the year instead of feeling like I'm constantly rushing to get ready for the next championship and running out of time. 'It means I now feel the least pressure I've felt during my whole career, and that's really, really nice.' (Image: PA) From the outside, McColgan's run in London was something close to a dream marathon debut; an eighth-place finish, top British female and a new Scottish record of 2 hours 24 minutes 25 seconds was an impressive performance. And given the way the race panned out - McColgan was forced to run almost the entirety of the 26.2 miles alone - the Dundonian appeared to be coping admirably with her maiden marathon run. Appearances can be deceiving, though, and how she appeared to spectators could not have been more contrasting to how she felt. 'From very early in the race, I felt rough. Literally as soon as I started running, I was concerned about how heavy my legs felt and that's obviously a big worry when you've got 26 miles to go,' she says. 'That feeling didn't ever really go away and if anything, it just gradually got worse so mentally I found that tough. I knew it was going to be a very long slog, and it was made even harder given I was running by myself because I had never visualised doing the whole race solo. 'I definitely had moments of thinking of stopping. From halfway, I had cramp in my right quad so in my head I was just telling myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other. 'So I honestly don't think I'll ever run a marathon that feels as hard as that again. 'It wasn't until I got in that last half mile stretch heading on to the Mall that I actually believed I was going to be able to finish.' Despite her struggles throughout the two-and-a-half hours of the race, though, McColgan admits her first marathon experience was something she'll treasure. Despite having raced on the biggest stages of them all - she's a four-time Olympian and produced one of the most memorable moments of the Commonwealth Games in 2022 when she won 10,000m gold - the experience and the atmosphere of her debut marathon was, she admits, unique. 'London was very different from track racing because people were cheering specifically for me. I could hear people shouting 'Go Eilish', people were shouting my mum's name or were shouting Dundee Hawks. It was very different from the Commonwealth Games when it was very noisy but you can't pick out what people are saying. The crowd was the only thing that kept me going.' Eilish McColgan won 10,000m gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (Image: Steve Christo - Corbis) On seeing her finishing time, McColgan's initial feeling was disappointment. She had bettered Steph Twell's previous Scottish record by over two minutes, and her own mum, Liz's, by two-and-a-half minutes. McColgan was, she thought, in shape to go faster but as the weeks since the race have passed, she's begun to realise that finally making her marathon debut after two heavy disrupted years of injury, and battling to the finishing line feeling far from perfect is a remarkable achievement. 'I've been trying to get on the start line of a marathon for two years and it had never happened so of course there was a little bit of doubt in my own mind wondering if it's going to happen,' she says. 'So, on reflection, I'm really proud of finishing it because it would have been much easier to have called it a day early doors.' There is, unsurprisingly, a number of things McColgan will take from her run in London into her upcoming training, and into future marathons. The Scot will focus almost exclusively on the road going forwards and while she remains uncertain quite when her next marathon appearance will be, she's sure of what she wants to achieve on her hermit outing over 26.2 miles. 'Sub 2 hours 20 minutes is a big goal - that's when you start becoming more competitive and giving yourself a chance of being on the podium at the major marathons,' she says. 'I definitely feel like 2:20 could potentially be the next step for me given how tough London felt so next time, if I could feel normal until halfway, I think that would make a big difference to me and to my time. 'I don't know exactly where my next marathon will be but the great thing is there's a major marathon every few weeks so if I aim for Berlin but amn't quite ready, I can push it back to New York or Chicago or even London next year. 'So I feel like I'm in a great position.'
The National
14-06-2025
- Sport
- The National
Eilish McColgan: I've run a marathon, now I feel pressure-free
Firstly, she can finally call herself a marathon runner. And secondly, she'll almost certainly never tackle a marathon that challenges her as much as her debut did. McColgan has a stellar record on both the track and the road, but having decided she was going to move up to the marathon, it took her literally years to reach the start line. A number of injuries, including knee surgery in late-2023, served to delay and further delay her marathon debut. But finally, at the London Marathon in April of this year, McColgan ran her first marathon. And from almost the second she crossed the finish line, a wave of relief crashed over McColgan and she's spent the past weeks basking in a pressure-free state that she's never before experienced in the entirety of her decade-long elite career. 'This is the first time in my career I'm in no rush to get back into things. It's nice not to feel that intense pressure or stress because so often, I've been rushing to get ready for the next thing,' the 34-year-old says. 'Last year, I was rushing to get back from knee surgery to make it to the Paris Olympics then almost immediately, I felt like I was constantly fighting against time to be ready for the London Marathon. 'So this is the first time ever that I've felt like okay, I've ticked my box for the year and so if I do another marathon in 2025 then great but if I don't then it doesn't actually matter. "It's now up to me what I want to do for the rest of the year instead of feeling like I'm constantly rushing to get ready for the next championship and running out of time. 'It means I now feel the least pressure I've felt during my whole career, and that's really, really nice.' (Image: PA) From the outside, McColgan's run in London was something close to a dream marathon debut; an eighth-place finish, top British female and a new Scottish record of 2 hours 24 minutes 25 seconds was an impressive performance. And given the way the race panned out - McColgan was forced to run almost the entirety of the 26.2 miles alone - the Dundonian appeared to be coping admirably with her maiden marathon run. Appearances can be deceiving, though, and how she appeared to spectators could not have been more contrasting to how she felt. 'From very early in the race, I felt rough. Literally as soon as I started running, I was concerned about how heavy my legs felt and that's obviously a big worry when you've got 26 miles to go,' she says. 'That feeling didn't ever really go away and if anything, it just gradually got worse so mentally I found that tough. I knew it was going to be a very long slog, and it was made even harder given I was running by myself because I had never visualised doing the whole race solo. 'I definitely had moments of thinking of stopping. From halfway, I had cramp in my right quad so in my head I was just telling myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other. 'So I honestly don't think I'll ever run a marathon that feels as hard as that again. 'It wasn't until I got in that last half mile stretch heading on to the Mall that I actually believed I was going to be able to finish.' Despite her struggles throughout the two-and-a-half hours of the race, though, McColgan admits her first marathon experience was something she'll treasure. Despite having raced on the biggest stages of them all - she's a four-time Olympian and produced one of the most memorable moments of the Commonwealth Games in 2022 when she won 10,000m gold - the experience and the atmosphere of her debut marathon was, she admits, unique. 'London was very different from track racing because people were cheering specifically for me. I could hear people shouting 'Go Eilish', people were shouting my mum's name or were shouting Dundee Hawks. It was very different from the Commonwealth Games when it was very noisy but you can't pick out what people are saying. The crowd was the only thing that kept me going.' Eilish McColgan won 10,000m gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (Image: Steve Christo - Corbis) On seeing her finishing time, McColgan's initial feeling was disappointment. She had bettered Steph Twell's previous Scottish record by over two minutes, and her own mum, Liz's, by two-and-a-half minutes. McColgan was, she thought, in shape to go faster but as the weeks since the race have passed, she's begun to realise that finally making her marathon debut after two heavy disrupted years of injury, and battling to the finishing line feeling far from perfect is a remarkable achievement. 'I've been trying to get on the start line of a marathon for two years and it had never happened so of course there was a little bit of doubt in my own mind wondering if it's going to happen,' she says. 'So, on reflection, I'm really proud of finishing it because it would have been much easier to have called it a day early doors.' There is, unsurprisingly, a number of things McColgan will take from her run in London into her upcoming training, and into future marathons. The Scot will focus almost exclusively on the road going forwards and while she remains uncertain quite when her next marathon appearance will be, she's sure of what she wants to achieve on her hermit outing over 26.2 miles. 'Sub 2 hours 20 minutes is a big goal - that's when you start becoming more competitive and giving yourself a chance of being on the podium at the major marathons,' she says. 'I definitely feel like 2:20 could potentially be the next step for me given how tough London felt so next time, if I could feel normal until halfway, I think that would make a big difference to me and to my time. 'I don't know exactly where my next marathon will be but the great thing is there's a major marathon every few weeks so if I aim for Berlin but amn't quite ready, I can push it back to New York or Chicago or even London next year. 'So I feel like I'm in a great position.'
