Latest news with #GamesWorkshop
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Hull tabletop gamers level up struggling high street
With Warhammer creator Games Workshop riding high on the success of videogame Space Marine II and recently joining the FTSE 100, Josh Gorroño Chapman visits the tabletop gaming club thriving on a struggling high street in between Boyes and a vape shop, you could easily miss the small shopfront with "Hull's Angels" above the the staircase leading up from it, the hum of voices turns into a cacophony and I find myself in a large room packed with people."You've got the Hell's Angels motorbikers in America. We're not quite that," laughs Adam Stephenson, chair of the tabletop gaming club on of players are locked in battle across 18 tables, each populated with terrain from the shelves that line the explains the space had been empty for nine years and was not always the well-equipped gaming hub it has become."It used to be a William Hill betting site, so it took a lot of effort and time from our volunteers trying to make this our new home."They showed up, scrubbed the floors, scrubbed the walls and got painting," explains the 32-year-old. "It was a a great experience and we turned it around within a month." Mr Stephenson says the idea for a club first came about when they realised nowhere else in the city had the capacity for Warhammer games on this play the Games Workshop wargame, with the worldwide tabletop sector worth about £8.6bn in 2023, according to consumer data firm in 1983, players simulate battles between armies using painted plastic miniatures. "You may have a 100 model army," explains Adam, "all the way down to a five model. It's available for all sizes and budgets."Hull's Angels have set up their own leagues, matching players who want to get involved."It's great for growing that community and getting people together." Connor O'Neill says he first got into the hobby during Covid-19, "to keep [his] sanity", but has since found it is a great alternative to boozy nights out."As I got older I stopped going out partying and drinking and it was just a way for me to socialise," explains the 30-year-old. "A lot of the friends and people I associate with now are from this place."Asked what has driven the recent surge in interest he cites ex-superman actor Henry Cavill being a "poster boy" for the hobby as well as the videogames and media surrounding the Taylor, 32, thinks games like Warhammer offer a "very different sort of experience" to online games. "It's very social," he Atkin agrees. "I get bored after about 20 minutes," he says. "The computer's doing it all, whereas here I'm physically moving the pieces."The 70-year-old started playing in the early 1980s and says, while the scene in the city has "massively increased", having a place like Hull's Angels has really helped. "I had my garage kitted out, but it's much easier to come to a central hub." Amy Snuggs is sitting with her partner Tim Davis learning a new tabletop game. "It's changed my life," says the 32-year-old."Before I met him, I had no idea about miniature painting or war gaming."Finding she loved the painting side, she has now turned it into a job, becoming a professional miniature painter for tabletop gaming company 2020, Hull City Council received a £1.75m grant from Historic England to regenerate and "breathe new life" into Whitefriargate. The council said the street had been impacted by the Covid-19 Stephenson says centres like Hull's Angels could help revitalise Britain's high streets. "We see it in the news all the time. Our high streets are struggling and shops are struggling to stay open.""Places like this really seem to thrive and succeed, and it's maybe time for the high street to change."Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Is this Britain's most successful firm? The High Street shop which has given every worker thousands of pounds - after being set up by three supergeeks in a bedroom in 1975
A major high street firm that could be Britain's most quietly successful brand has enjoyed such a prosperous year that it has given all its staff members bonuses totalling thousands of pounds, 50 years after it was founded. Games Workshop was set up by three supergeeks in a bedroom in 1975, but is now one of the UK's top companies, having entered the FTSE 100 with a total value of more than £5billion. Best known for creating Warhammer figures - a table-top model game played by millions of people worldwide, which has spawned a series of video games - the firm is now worth more than easyJet, B&M, Burberry and Ocado. And after a bumper year it's now handing out some £20million to its 2,950 staff worldwide - the equivalent of £6,779 each. Games Workshop's shares have soared in recent years and it joined the FTSE 100 for the first time in December. The £20million payout is an increase on the £18 million awarded last year and £11 million the year before that. It comes as Games Workshop forecast its sales to soar to at least £560 million for the year ending June 1, up from £494.7 million in the previous 12 months. The brand is beloved by millions across the world - most notably actor and The Witcher star Henry Cavill, who has previously posted photographs of himself painting his own figures on social media. Former Conservative leadership candidate James Cleverly is also a fan of the game. But the origins of the firm are far, far away from the bright lights and star-studded hills of Hollywood or crowded chambers of Parliament. The gaming dynasty was founded by a trio, Steve Jackson, John Peake - who came up with the name - and Ian Livingstone. Livingstone has since been honoured with a knighthood for services to the 'online gaming industry'. Originally, the pals had been a manufacturer of wooden board games such as backgammon, with Peake crafting sets to supplement his meagre income as a trainee civil engineer. But everything changed when the schoolmates managed to wrangle the distribution rights to Dungeons & Dragons - which has since seen a recent resurgence in popularity after being featured Netflix's 1980s-based sci-fi fantasy, Stranger Things, and a film starring Star Trek actor Chris Pine released in 2023. The 'pivot' from traditional board games to fantasy table-top figurine battlers proved divisive and led to Peake cutting ties with Games Workshop in 1976. 'John left because he wasn't really interested in fantasy games, he did wooden games,' Jackson said in an interview. Little is known of what happened to Peake after he left the company. However, he seemingly wrote a critical one-star review of his former business partners' book 'Dice Men', earlier this year. The book chronicled the rise of Games Workshop but was dubbed 'very much a disappointment' by a reviewer claiming to be Peake on Amazon. 'I'm John Peake, the co-founder of Games Workshop with Steve Jackson. Having read the first thirty or so pages of Dice Men I realise I need to tell things the way I remember them,' the reviewer says. 'It's now over 49 years since Games Workshop came into being, and I've kept quiet all this time. But much of the account of the founding and early days of Games Workshop given in Dice Men does not align with my memories of that time, which remain clear. 'I feel strongly that Dice Men almost completely ignores my pivotal role in those early times, not only with conceiving the name, but also the crucial financial contribution I made in the first twelve months, producing wooden games for sale and thereby funding our fledgling business. 'I know I'm banging my own drum, but without my initiative, Games Workshop would not exist, and I regret that this fact is ignored in the book.' Initially working from their top-floor flat in Shepherd's Bush, west London, the Games Workshop founders started selling Dungeons & Dragons by mail order, having netted themselves an exclusive three-year deal to supply all of Europe. 'We started selling D&D by mail order, but people would be milling about outside looking for a shop,' Ian told the Londonist. 'Of course it wasn't a shop. We'd have to open the window and yell down: 'are you looking for Games Workshop? Up here mate". 'The phone would always ring, it would be telephone sales for D&D and we'd run down the stairs, and it'd be too late because he'd just hang up on people, because he got fed up of all the calls. 'Ultimately we agreed we had to leave because people and parcels were arriving.' The pair opened their first office in the 'cubby hole round the back of an estate agents' that was so small 'that if a customer arrived, one of us would have to leave as it wouldn't have space for all three of us', Ian added. Despite their increasing popularity in the late 70s, retailers failed to spot the appeal. In 1978, Jackson and Livingstone opened their very first Games Workshop store in Dalling Road, Hammersmith. Fast-forward 46 years, and there are now 548 stores worldwide - with branches in most cities and big towns in the UK. Livingstone and Jackson sold their shares in the company in December 1991 for about £10million. Livingstone has since gone on to be knighted, while Jackson is a professor of game design at Brunel University. It was after this period that Games Workshop's new bosses sought to focus on is miniature games, Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 - which have gone on to become their most lucrative sellers. Small packs of its resin models typically sell for £26 a pop while some of the most expensive individual figures can sell for an eye-watering £2,169.99. Some fans have become so addicted by the hobby, that they have vast collections of 'armies' worth tens of thousands of pounds. The firm's revenues benefited considerably from the Covid-19 pandemic, when consumers sought new indoor hobbies to occupy their time. Although lockdown curbs eventually ended, the firm's trade has continued expanding, and its market value now stands just above £5billion. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'Games Workshop has a rock-solid core business, underpinned by an army of fans emerged in its fantasy worlds who collect miniature figures and play its board games. 'This success has enabled the company to build a rich library of intellectual property that is now the platform for additional revenue generation. 'Licencing the rights to certain brands and characters is easy money, but Games Workshop is fiercely protective of its assets and won't let anyone come along and milk them.' Superman star Cavill, a self-declared lifelong fan of the figures, will star in and produce a Warhammer 40,000 series with Amazon Prime and Games Workshop. Last December, hw posted on Instagram: 'To celebrate some Warhammer news, I decided to make a pilgrimage to the very first place I bought Warhammer models over 30 years Little Shop, on my home island of Jersey! 'My incredible team and I, alongside the brilliant minds at Games Workshop, have been working away in concept rooms, breaking down approaches to the enormity and magnificence of the Warhammer world. 'Together, we've been sifting through the plethora of incredible characters and poring over old tomes and texts. 'Our combined efforts have led us to a fantastic place to start our Universe, which has been agreed upon by those up on high at both Amazon and Games Workshop. That starting place shall, for now, remain a secret.'
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Warhammer figurine maker to share £20m staff bonus after sales and profit boost
WARHAMMER figurine maker GAMES WORKSHOP is handing some £20million to staff after the key game series grew profits and sales over the past year. The UK-based firm says it will hand out the bonuses as a share of its profits 'on an equal basis to each member of staff'. The reward for the brand's strong performance beat the £18million given to employees last year, and the £11million they got the year before. Games Workshop is understood to have 1,500 people working at its headquarters in Nottingham, and more around the world. At the end of the last financial year, the firm had nearly 550 stores selling miniatures for fans to collect, paint and play games with. Games Workshop said it expects revenues this tax year to be at least £560million, up from £495million the year before. And pre-tax profits for the year are reckoned to be £255million, up from £203million in spring 2024. The firm last year capped off its successful streak by joining the FTSE 100 index. In December, the company struck a deal with Amazon to let it adapt Warhammer's setting for TV and film. It has other licensing agreements with partners who make computer games set in the fantasy sci-fi universe. Belief is high Confidence in personal finances for the coming year leapt five points to +2, still five points worse than in May 2024. The outlook for the general economy saw a four-point boost to -16, also worse than last May. What is inflation and what does it mean for me? Heat 'n' rises RETAIL sales rose last month as warmer weather pushed up demand for food and clothing, figures show. Overall sales increased 1.2 per cent in April, from 0.1 per cent in March. The Office for National Statistics said it means growth over the past three months has been the 'largest in nearly four years'. Good week 3 EASYJET chief Kenton Jarvis after the low-cost airline reported an 8 per cent rise in passengers within a year. Bad week 3
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Up 250 times since 2015, but are Nvidia shares ‘cheap'?
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares might just be the hottest property worldwide. They're up 250 times in the last decade. A £4,000 stake in 2015 is worth £1m today. The firm's high-tech chips are crucial in powering a revolution in technology that may well be remembered as being as monumental as the internet, the internal combustion engine, the printing press and the wheel all rolled into one. Heck, if even a few of the claims being made about artificial intelligence come true, then future historians might write about AI as being more revolutionary than when cavemen started flicking bits of flint together. Perhaps the oddest thing about the shares in this company on the frontier of electronic intelligence might be that they're still 'cheap' from one angle. The metric I'm thinking about here is the forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E). In short, it's the price divided by profits over the next 12 months. Nvidia has a forward P/E of 28. One way to think about it is that however much my stake in the company is, it takes 28 years to make the profit back. That number is on the higher end. Most would call that an expensive share price. The FTSE 100 average is only 14. But high P/E ratios are par for the course with high-growth companies. If a company grows, and earnings go up? Well, a higher price tag is justified. So what happens if we compare Nvidia to other high-growth companies? Well, the shares don't look quite as pricey. British tabletop games seller Games Workshop has a forward P/E of 30. Housebuilder Barratt Redrow is up at 45! Online shop Amazon comes in at 33, Costco at 51 and Tesla at 172! Do these companies have better prospects than the dominant supplier of next-generation AI chips? I don't think so. With all that in mind, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28 starts to look quite attractive. What's the catch then? Well, AI is in a boom period, for one. After ChatGPT took the world by storm, a host of tech giants made big orders to get in on the action. It's why so many new large language models like Gemini, Grok or Claude sprang onto the market. While Nvidia doesn't reveal the names, around half of its revenue comes from only four customers. If and when this customer base has filled up their stockpile of chips, it's very possible that earnings could slow. A second pitfall might be AI not delivering on its promises. It's still early days for the technology. No one can definitively say whether we're witnessing the invention of fire or just a false dawn. The current forms of AI, like those language models, are very impressive, but they may be the limit of what is achievable with current technology. If so, then Nvidia's bottom line will likely take a beating. Personally, I think it's too soon for anyone to tell. But the possibility that AI lives up to the claims mean that this is a stock investors should consider, particularly with Nvidia shares looking, on some levels at least, rather 'cheap'. The post Up 250 times since 2015, but are Nvidia shares 'cheap'? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Fieldsend has positions in Games Workshop Group Plc and Tesla. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Amazon, Barratt Redrow, Games Workshop Group Plc, Nvidia, and Tesla. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
ITV News
23-05-2025
- Business
- ITV News
Nottingham based Games Workshop to hand out £20 million to staff after profits grow
The Nottinghamshire company that makes Warhammer is handing out around £20 million to its staff, after it grew sales and profits over the past year. Games Workshop, which is based in Nottingham, said it will make the cash payments, as a share of its profits, 'on an equal basis to each member of staff'. It says it is in recognition of employees' contributions to its strong performance over the last financial year - and is an improved payout on the £18 million it awarded staff last year, and £11 million the prior year. Games Workshop does not disclose how many staff it employs, but it is thought to have some 1,500 people working at its Nottingham base and more globally. The company ran more than five hundred stores at the end of the last financial year, selling Warhammer products that customers can collect, paint, and play games with. Games Workshop said it expects revenues for the latest financial year to be at least £560 million, up from £495 million the year before. Pre-tax profits for the year are estimated to be at least £255 million, up from £203 million last year. The company joined the ranks of the FTSE 100 index last year, just under 50 years after founders Ian Livingstone, Steve Jackson and John Peake set up the company in in 1975. In December, Games Workshop struck a deal with Amazon to . As well as making miniatures, the company also has licensing agreements with partners who make video games based around the fantasy sci-fi universe.
