Games Workshop staff will share a £5m bonus after it announced it expects profits to almost double this year.
About 1,700 employees at the fantasy games retailer will split the payout "in recognition of their contribution".
The Nottingham-based group said on Friday it expects to report an annual pre-tax profit of at least £74m, which is up from last year's £38.4m.
The results have also been helped by online sales and the continued popularity of tabletop game Warhammer.
Revenue is also expected to jump from £158.1 million to £219 million, with the firm boosted by £10m in licensing royalties.
Over the past 12 months, Games Workshop shares have risen by nearly 150% as the firm continues to bounce back from a difficult period when sales faltered.
The firm makes 75% of its revenues overseas, and has benefited from the weak pound.
Games Workshop moved its headquarters from London to the Lenton area of Nottingham in 1997.
It boasts a dedicated gaming room and Warhammer-themed pub.
Games Workshop's success has been boosted by the popularity of tabletop game Warhammer The rise of Games Workshop Some 40 years ago, friends Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson set up a board game shop called Games Workshop from their west London flat.
The pair made contact with the inventor of Dungeons and Dragons, Gary Gygax, and secured an exclusive three-year distribution agreement in Europe.
Pouring all of their money into Games Workshop, Mr Livingstone and Mr Jackson created dozens of fantasy board games and books which they sold all over the world.
Games Workshop has since grown to become a multimillion-pound business.
Always please when companies share their success with the employees that make them their money. Just hope the lower level staff get a decent chunk and it's not a case that 99% of that is going to the CEO.
Tamereth wrote: Always please when companies share their success with the employees that make them their money. Just hope the lower level staff get a decent chunk and it's not a case that 99% of that is going to the CEO.
According to the official RNS (official financial news release to the stock market) it was equal shares. I'd guess that's slightly apportioned to match hours worked, but my rough maths was about £3k each.
Well, glad to see someone’s grabbed Titanic GW’s wheel and is furiously pulling it away from the iceberg.
Good on them giving back to their employees. Instead of stuffing the CEO’s golden parachute. Hope they keep seeking ways to engage customers and encouraging their staff to excel.
When you look at how many shops have folded recently and how easily the CEO could have had the lions share of that money for himself (And not without cause, Kevin roundtree has done sterling work!) it's really great to see that the company is extending its new forward thinking positive attitude to its own employees.
Proof that if you practise a basic social media presence and tell people "no, no, we're totally listening" you don't have to change anything else and people will buy it hook, line and sinker.
What exactly has GW changed from before the Kirby era? Okay, so they say they're listening but once 8th edition took two steps out of the starting gate, GW's non-existent ability to write rules reared it's head again. Oh right, but now you get to pay £25 for their 'balance changes' that just swing the pendulum. You'd think for all this profit, they'd actually hire people who can do their jobs. In any other job if you were this incompetent you'd be sacked months ago, but apparently GW's writers get a pass from both the company and buyers because, uh, they smile and tell you they're your friend now?
It's all smiles on Facebook and WHCommunity, they make cute videos and comics - as per the social media presence - but as far as I can tell that's about the only difference between Kirby and now.
I'm always saddened by hearing about how loads of old British companies are going bust, being bought out, being bailed out by the government, etc. but GWs success gives me hope that Britain can still hold their own in some industries... even if it is just the manufacture of toy soldiers...
Arbitrator wrote: Proof that if you practise a basic social media presence and tell people "no, no, we're totally listening" you don't have to change anything else and people will buy it hook, line and sinker.
What exactly has GW changed from before the Kirby era? Okay, so they say they're listening but once 8th edition took two steps out of the starting gate, GW's non-existent ability to write rules reared it's head again. Oh right, but now you get to pay £25 for their 'balance changes' that just swing the pendulum. You'd think for all this profit, they'd actually hire people who can do their jobs. In any other job if you were this incompetent you'd be sacked months ago, but apparently GW's writers get a pass from both the company and buyers because, uh, they smile and tell you they're your friend now?
It's all smiles on Facebook and WHCommunity, they make cute videos and comics - as per the social media presence - but as far as I can tell that's about the only difference between Kirby and now.
Someone is cranky. Let's see what they've done since Roundtree took over;
-Launched regular free FAQ's/Errata's multiple times a year to try to maintain a fun and balanced playing environment (in both systems)
-Restarted non-gw playtesting
-Regular discount boxes for starting or expanding
-Brought back Specialist Gamges
-Created an entire new game and system that's actually pretty awesome (shadespire)
They've responded and actually listened and shown they have multiple times. Just cause they didn't do what you want doesn't mean there haven't been pretty solid changes.
Arbitrator wrote: Proof that if you practise a basic social media presence and tell people "no, no, we're totally listening" you don't have to change anything else and people will buy it hook, line and sinker.
What exactly has GW changed from before the Kirby era? Okay, so they say they're listening but once 8th edition took two steps out of the starting gate, GW's non-existent ability to write rules reared it's head again. Oh right, but now you get to pay £25 for their 'balance changes' that just swing the pendulum. You'd think for all this profit, they'd actually hire people who can do their jobs. In any other job if you were this incompetent you'd be sacked months ago, but apparently GW's writers get a pass from both the company and buyers because, uh, they smile and tell you they're your friend now?
It's all smiles on Facebook and WHCommunity, they make cute videos and comics - as per the social media presence - but as far as I can tell that's about the only difference between Kirby and now.
Someone is cranky. Let's see what they've done since Roundtree took over;
-Launched regular free FAQ's/Errata's multiple times a year to try to maintain a fun and balanced playing environment (in both systems)
-Restarted non-gw playtesting
-Regular discount boxes for starting or expanding
-Brought back Specialist Gamges
-Created an entire new game and system that's actually pretty awesome (shadespire)
They've responded and actually listened and shown they have multiple times. Just cause they didn't do what you want doesn't mean there haven't been pretty solid changes.
40k is full of whiners. I get it, the company's not perfect, but some folks get a Codex that requires them to synergize and do more than plop a wad of dudes on a spot and roll dice and suddenly they hate us all, right?
Arbitrator wrote: Proof that if you practise a basic social media presence and tell people "no, no, we're totally listening" you don't have to change anything else and people will buy it hook, line and sinker.
What exactly has GW changed from before the Kirby era? Okay, so they say they're listening but once 8th edition took two steps out of the starting gate, GW's non-existent ability to write rules reared it's head again. Oh right, but now you get to pay £25 for their 'balance changes' that just swing the pendulum. You'd think for all this profit, they'd actually hire people who can do their jobs. In any other job if you were this incompetent you'd be sacked months ago, but apparently GW's writers get a pass from both the company and buyers because, uh, they smile and tell you they're your friend now?
It's all smiles on Facebook and WHCommunity, they make cute videos and comics - as per the social media presence - but as far as I can tell that's about the only difference between Kirby and now.
Someone is cranky. Let's see what they've done since Roundtree took over;
-Launched regular free FAQ's/Errata's multiple times a year to try to maintain a fun and balanced playing environment (in both systems) -Restarted non-gw playtesting -Regular discount boxes for starting or expanding -Brought back Specialist Gamges -Created an entire new game and system that's actually pretty awesome (shadespire)
They've responded and actually listened and shown they have multiple times. Just cause they didn't do what you want doesn't mean there haven't been pretty solid changes.
I honestly think it's a hard sell to say that GW isn't going in the right direction or that they aren't trying to make things as good as they possibly can, but I will say that the execution still needs some work. They're too relentlessly positive on media platforms they don't necessarily have to be. Stormcast, for example, would be a great place to look at mistakes they've made and things they've learned in making AoS and acknowledging that they're aware of risks associated with the rules they're planning on implementing and explaining why they think the changes are good anyway. They'd get a lot of work done just saying 'this is an issue you all have noticed with this change, we also see that issue, this is why we think it's not something that needs to be altered.'
Then you have business practice stuff like why in the Sam Hill are Witch Aelves still 60$? And why were the Malign Portents characters 35$? And why did you make the rule of 3, it's an abomination?
They've been a solid B-B+ up from the like...Q they were at before so it's okay, but there's still plenty of the Old GW that still needs shaking out.
The biggest change GW has made, which has undoubtedly had a massive impact, is diversifying their product line. At the end of the Kirby era GW had three product lines with very occasional standalone boxed games. Now they have 7 distinct ranges (40k, aos, Shadespire, bloodbowl, Necromunda, Horus Heresy and lotr) with an 8th (adeptus Titanicus) and maybe even a 9th (Killteam) on the way. All of these ranges are getting active, continued support. They all have different entry points in terms of price, time and space needed.
The three tiered starter sets for 40k, the start collecting and battleforce boxes, the easy build kits, the regular standalone games, the interesting experiments like space marine heroes, the improved relationship with freelancers and better licensing all add up to give the impression of a company that actually has a considered business plan for the future.
All the listening to the community stuff is just window dressing.
Yeah, GW still has major issues, but they are sloooowly starting to show signs that it’s NOT business as usual. Things like the SC sets, the free PDF 8E rules, snap-fit kits and triple levels of starter set sizes show they are opening up different cost levels at getting into the game.
Yes, their rules-writing ability needs a crash cart and $35 characters are obnoxiously priced. But there is a sense they are open to change, one baby step at a time and are not snubbing their customers, which is frankly what they had been doing under Kirby. The change is all much slower than we’d like, but I do hope they keep making these small steps towards being better until they finally are better and we can all laugh at the “ bad ol’ Days” of GW.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Now if only they'd stop charging Australia/NZ/Japan/etc. x2 the UK price, maybe all would be forgiven...
Anyway, this just popped up on my Facebook feed as well. Is employees sharing in a bonus unusual in the UK?
Who honestly believes that GW sets those prices?
Um, they have the prices on their own web site, so I would assume GW is setting those prices.
Is GW setting the prices for Steam games or electronic products? How about other books and games from other companies? GW set those prices as well? This thing with Aussies and New Zealanders is not just a GW problem but an over all problem. Blaming GW for this is just silly.
I am glad the employees are getting a bonus. Good for them.
Davor wrote: Is GW setting the prices for Steam games or electronic products? How about other books and games from other companies? GW set those prices as well? This thing with Aussies and New Zealanders is not just a GW problem but an over all problem. Blaming GW for this is just silly.
It is an overall problem, but one that's really gotten much much better over the last decade or so. I don't know if it's still cheaper to fly to America and buy Adobe than buy the the Aussie version but all my Steam purchases these days are just done with US prices and whatever the current exchange rate is.
As everything else has been reducing that gap GW under Kirby did everything it could to stop us buying from overseas at cheaper prices.
Actually lets check something. The Combat Company, my first choice for online shopping in Australia lists the Japanese starter box from Infinity (most recent big release from another mini company) at $131 AUD recommended retail price. The War Store (not sure how popular that is in the US but I've heard the name plenty) has it listed as $99 USD RRP. According to Google's currency converter that's bang on the same exact price in both regions (in fact it's 38 cents more expensive in America ). The big Foregebane kit that GW released recently is $265 AUD, which converts to $201.50 USD, but the US price for the same set is only $160.
Neronoxx wrote: Who honestly believes that GW sets those prices?
Everyone. Duh! GW has their own retail chain and international web store where the prices are fixed based on region. Of course they set them themselves. How could you possibly think otherwise?
Davor wrote: Is GW setting the prices for Steam games or electronic products? How about other books and games from other companies? GW set those prices as well? This thing with Aussies and New Zealanders is not just a GW problem but an over all problem. Blaming GW for this is just silly.
All of which has very little to do with what we were talking about, but nice try all the same.
Scott-S6 wrote: It's unusual for a company to just decide to give staff that don't have some sort of bonus or commission in their contract a bonus.
Ah, ok, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying that.
I remember two staffers once talking about how crap it was to work for GW, the low pay et cetera, and one of them reckoned that GW had put him up in some kind of bedsit but when he got there, a joist was so rotten it had fallen through the ceiling and there was a hole right through to the roof.
The company seems to have come a helluva long way since those days, it's good to see.
Adeptus Doritos wrote: Spoiler: All the bonuses are actually in GW credit. Only redeemable on their products.
Another spoiler: No one would probably complain.
Actual spoiler: from what I heard, most people took the bonus, turned right around and gave the money back to their employer in exchange for more plastic crack not unexpected but still funny.
Yeah... should have bought shares back in 2016. I was really tempted when we saw the Genestealer Cult in Overkill - for me that was the turning point. Regret not doing so.
I don't really get the idea GW haven't changed. They are acting like a games company rather than a pure model company. Its not just having a facebook thread and some funny videos - its an entire culture shift in the relationship with the consumer.
The fact the quality of the models has (IMO anyway) increased significantly, putting them once again ahead of the competition, probably helps too.
Anyway, this just popped up on my Facebook feed as well. Is employees sharing in a bonus unusual in the UK?
Not unheard of but it's usually confined to businesses that are (part)owned by their workers or who always do it (and often pay less 'basic' as a consequence),
an out of the blue bonus just because the firm did really well is fairly unusual
Arbitrator wrote: Proof that if you practise a basic social media presence and tell people "no, no, we're totally listening" you don't have to change anything else and people will buy it hook, line and sinker.
What exactly has GW changed from before the Kirby era? Okay, so they say they're listening but once 8th edition took two steps out of the starting gate, GW's non-existent ability to write rules reared it's head again. Oh right, but now you get to pay £25 for their 'balance changes' that just swing the pendulum. You'd think for all this profit, they'd actually hire people who can do their jobs. In any other job if you were this incompetent you'd be sacked months ago, but apparently GW's writers get a pass from both the company and buyers because, uh, they smile and tell you they're your friend now?
It's all smiles on Facebook and WHCommunity, they make cute videos and comics - as per the social media presence - but as far as I can tell that's about the only difference between Kirby and now.
I would tend to agree. While there have been positive changes, like previews and massively discounted box sets, return of SG... and the model line is stronger than ever, in the end it all comes down to the rules, and GW evidently doesn't have a single competent designer left now that Hewitt left. "Listening to the community" is just "New GW" speak for "if you complain enough, we'll errata these massive problems with the game that any other gaming company would have caught in playtesting". It's astounding to me that people still bend over backwards to make excuses for a company that is continually failing not only to match its direct competitors in rules quality, but struggles to even stay in the same ballpark as the free games on Wargames Vault written by lone enthusiasts in their free time.
Adeptus Doritos wrote: Spoiler: All the bonuses are actually in GW credit. Only redeemable on their products.
Another spoiler: No one would probably complain.
Actual spoiler: from what I heard, most people took the bonus, turned right around and gave the money back to their employer in exchange for more plastic crack not unexpected but still funny.
Amusing, but as you say quite an expected thing if one considers that many of those working for GW are likely hobby fans themselves in some form. As a niche hobby and an industry that, lets face it, isn't top paying they are more likely to attract people who have a genuine interest in the hobby itself. Heck most GW shop staff I've met are basically just gamers who get paid to sell games to other gamers (at least in the UK market). So yeah give them a bonus and chances are some of that is going right back on getting some hobby stuff (I bet FW division did well! )
ERJAK wrote: Then you have business practice stuff like why in the Sam Hill are Witch Aelves still 60$? And why were the Malign Portents characters 35$? And why did you make the rule of 3, it's an abomination?
You know, while I agree on the first two (and ditto for Primaris characters, especially seeing in their case they don't even have low volume of sales excuse) I like how something we had for ages in 40K in the form of 3 slot FOC is suddenly now abomination because you can't spam whatever cheese your Codex comes with (and the fact some people would prefer their best unit to be ruined instead of being able to take a few of them still is mind boggling to me). I mean, I am last person here that would support broken units or pay to win stuff, but if writer feels a unit that is awesome in fluff needs good rules, then it should get good rules and be limited in some other way instead, not being mediocre in fluff-breaking way because then you won't be spamming it anyway...
H.B.M.C. wrote: Now if only they'd stop charging Australia/NZ/Japan/etc. x2 the UK price, maybe all would be forgiven...
Yup, because local taxes and duties, shipping costs, and aussies deliberately shooting themselves in the foot by mass buying recasts (with two of biggest AU 40K youtubers being the most prominent recast apologists on the net, to boot) forcing GW to raise margins on volume of sales they get all don't exist, eh?
And that's ignoring the fact most of EU pay much more in absolute terms for GW stuff, and somehow doesn't complain even 1/100 as much despite not living in a country with highest wages in the world. Poor AU indeed
I know the guy who runs my local GW spends a large portion of his paycheck on plastic crack. It's always much better for the store when the guy running it is very into the hobby
I'm pleased as punch. This sort of bonus invigorates your workforce and enables retention of talent, as well as boosting morale. GW really do seem to be turning around magnificently from the Wayland Yutani of miniature wargaming (as I used to refer to them a few years back) to a company that treats it's employees well, invests in them, invests in the community and has opened it's doors to us in a way that I haven't seen since... well, perhaps the 80s and even then I don't know that the lines of communication really existed to the extent you could make that argument.
It really drives home to me what a difference in culture a company can experience with a change in just a couple of senior positions. Chair and IP Director...
Genestealer Cults, Mechanicus, Sisters are on the way, Necromunda's back, Blood Bowl's back, Titanicus is on the way, I have a free warhammer tv channel I can watch with my amazon prime account, I've built two armies from the days of the Horus Heresy, I actually bought and enjoyed a White Dwarf the other day...
We pine for the days of the LotR bubble, I say these days are better. With the single exception of missing Warhammer Fantasy like crazy, I'd say we've never had it so good.
Assuming the bonus is evenly split (which is not certain), that is just under £3k per person. Nice but not exactly life changing. I wouldn't be surprised if the management got a bigger cut of the bonus. Still it is good for morale.
Iracundus wrote: Assuming the bonus is evenly split (which is not certain), that is just under £3k per person. Nice but not exactly life changing. I wouldn't be surprised if the management got a bigger cut of the bonus. Still it is good for morale.
I'd be pretty damn stoked if I got a $300 bonus
But damn seriously that much extra profit over last year, which was already a big uptick from the Kirby days irrc, I really hope (and with the new leadership this isn't nearly as unthinkable as it was a few years ago) that means GW now have a ton of money left over even after everyone's bonuses to pump straight into designing and tooling more stuff.
Exactly, I was speaking to the same guy last year about GW, and he mentioned he gets paid a little over 20k a year, and it would be slightly less if he lived outside London. I'm sure 3k is a lot for most GW employees outside of Central management.
Arbitrator wrote:Proof that if you practise a basic social media presence and tell people "no, no, we're totally listening" you don't have to change anything else and people will buy it hook, line and sinker.
What exactly has GW changed from before the Kirby era?
Hulksmash wrote:
-Launched regular free FAQ's/Errata's multiple times a year to try to maintain a fun and balanced playing environment (in both systems)
-Restarted non-gw playtesting
-Regular discount boxes for starting or expanding
-Brought back Specialist Gamges
-Created an entire new game and system that's actually pretty awesome (shadespire)
They've responded and actually listened and shown they have multiple times. Just cause they didn't do what you want doesn't mean there haven't been pretty solid changes.
To which I will add:
- The paying of an equally split bonus to all employees (in contrast with no raises or bonuses ever under Kirby). The very subject of this thread.*
- Sicking their lawyers on no one. They asked one site to remove an army building software that used their images (the guy running it agreed it was a copyright violation).
- A redesign of 40k so it works much much better for smaller games so new people can have a fun experience right away. If anyone doubts this, they should actually play the scenarios in First Strike and Storm of Sigmar (the two tiny warhammer starter sets).
- Conducting a survey to make sure they know exactly what their customers want and think
- Actually accepting and supporting multiple ways to play instead of just claiming their games are only for narrative players (of which I am one)
- Not threatening employee's jobs in their financial reports anymore. Kirby used to remark that they had replacements lined up for store employees that didn't perform.
- Way better treatment of independent stores. Including slashing of minimum orders and mandatory products.
- Not splitting rules into multiple supplements like Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus so you had to buy multiple books to get all the rules for your army
- Not charging you more for bundles than the products were individually (yes, some of their larger bundles during the Kirby years actually cost more than the sum of their parts).
* It's actually kind of amazing that someone could ask "have they really changed?" directly in the face of this news alone.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Iracundus wrote: Assuming the bonus is evenly split (which is not certain), that is just under £3k per person. Nice but not exactly life changing. I wouldn't be surprised if the management got a bigger cut of the bonus. Still it is good for morale.
Their investor relations website confirms it was equally split.
And yes, it is life changing in that if any of their employees were living paycheque to paycheque, they now have a couple cheques worth of money to get them out of that situation. This will make a massive difference to their lowest paid employees.
And the effect on morale and job satisfaction will be incredible compared to telling them they'll never get a raise beyond cost of living increases and that the company already has a replacement lined up if they don't meet their sales targets.
Adeptus Doritos wrote: Spoiler: All the bonuses are actually in GW credit. Only redeemable on their products.
Another spoiler: No one would probably complain.
Actual spoiler: from what I heard, most people took the bonus, turned right around and gave the money back to their employer in exchange for more plastic crack not unexpected but still funny.
It was 2k before tax, it was a profitshare, everyone got the same amount, from the guy who cleans the bog to the chairman.
Whilst everyone was free to do whatever they liked with it, I am told several Warlords were sold from FW...
GW seem to have an almost ideal business model. They effectively sell a hobby.
Right now the lore is as good as ever and their miniatures, rulebooks and paints are excellent quality. Starter boxes are affordable and contain simplified rules and painting guides to draw people into the hobby. Alongside that, GW's social media presence is excellent, so once their new customer base is hooked they can readily up-sell more expensive/new products.
Arbitrator wrote:Proof that if you practise a basic social media presence and tell people "no, no, we're totally listening" you don't have to change anything else and people will buy it hook, line and sinker.
What exactly has GW changed from before the Kirby era?
Hulksmash wrote:
-Launched regular free FAQ's/Errata's multiple times a year to try to maintain a fun and balanced playing environment (in both systems)
-Restarted non-gw playtesting
-Regular discount boxes for starting or expanding
-Brought back Specialist Gamges
-Created an entire new game and system that's actually pretty awesome (shadespire)
They've responded and actually listened and shown they have multiple times. Just cause they didn't do what you want doesn't mean there haven't been pretty solid changes.
To which I will add:
- The paying of an equally split bonus to all employees (in contrast with no raises or bonuses ever under Kirby). The very subject of this thread.*
- Sicking their lawyers on no one. They asked one site to remove an army building software that used their images (the guy running it agreed it was a copyright violation).
- A redesign of 40k so it works much much better for smaller games so new people can have a fun experience right away. If anyone doubts this, they should actually play the scenarios in First Strike and Storm of Sigmar (the two tiny warhammer starter sets).
- Conducting a survey to make sure they know exactly what their customers want and think
- Actually accepting and supporting multiple ways to play instead of just claiming their games are only for narrative players (of which I am one)
- Not threatening employee's jobs in their financial reports anymore. Kirby used to remark that they had replacements lined up for store employees that didn't perform.
- Way better treatment of independent stores. Including slashing of minimum orders and mandatory products.
- Not splitting rules into multiple supplements like Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus so you had to buy multiple books to get all the rules for your army
- Not charging you more for bundles than the products were individually (yes, some of their larger bundles during the Kirby years actually cost more than the sum of their parts).
* It's actually kind of amazing that someone could ask "have they really changed?" directly in the face of this news alone.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Iracundus wrote: Assuming the bonus is evenly split (which is not certain), that is just under £3k per person. Nice but not exactly life changing. I wouldn't be surprised if the management got a bigger cut of the bonus. Still it is good for morale.
Their investor relations website confirms it was equally split.
And yes, it is life changing in that if any of their employees were living paycheque to paycheque, they now have a couple cheques worth of money to get them out of that situation. This will make a massive difference to their lowest paid employees.
And the effect on morale and job satisfaction will be incredible compared to telling them they'll never get a raise beyond cost of living increases and that the company already has a replacement lined up if they don't meet their sales targets.
An excellent post!
For most people that work a 3K bonus is huge and indeed can help a lot for most families! It will also make GW very attractive as an employer. It's a great move and great publicity!
A 3k bonus is pretty solid for most people...and even more for someone dealing with the hourly wages of retail. GW has made some major improvements and really taken the hobby out of a pretty dark period IMO
The idea that 3k bonus per person is anything but fantastic is crazy!
Kudos to GW for doing this. Too often the financial rewards are absorbed by shareholders rather than the ground-level people who make a company function.
Gordy2000 wrote: Jeez, are people still beating that dead horse that everything in Aus/NZ is twice as much due to import costs and duty?
No,prices are higher because wages, rent and utilities are higher. Wages being the most important bit.
If your minimum wage is 3 times what mine is, and you demand equal costs, you are basically saying that your burger flipping skills are worth three times as many warhams as mine. Because spiders, or something.
Arbitrator wrote: Proof that if you practise a basic social media presence and tell people "no, no, we're totally listening" you don't have to change anything else and people will buy it hook, line and sinker.
What exactly has GW changed from before the Kirby era? Okay, so they say they're listening but once 8th edition took two steps out of the starting gate, GW's non-existent ability to write rules reared it's head again. Oh right, but now you get to pay £25 for their 'balance changes' that just swing the pendulum. You'd think for all this profit, they'd actually hire people who can do their jobs. In any other job if you were this incompetent you'd be sacked months ago, but apparently GW's writers get a pass from both the company and buyers because, uh, they smile and tell you they're your friend now?
It's all smiles on Facebook and WHCommunity, they make cute videos and comics - as per the social media presence - but as far as I can tell that's about the only difference between Kirby and now.
I would tend to agree. While there have been positive changes, like previews and massively discounted box sets, return of SG... and the model line is stronger than ever, in the end it all comes down to the rules, and GW evidently doesn't have a single competent designer left now that Hewitt left. "Listening to the community" is just "New GW" speak for "if you complain enough, we'll errata these massive problems with the game that any other gaming company would have caught in playtesting". It's astounding to me that people still bend over backwards to make excuses for a company that is continually failing not only to match its direct competitors in rules quality, but struggles to even stay in the same ballpark as the free games on Wargames Vault written by lone enthusiasts in their free time.
Blood Bowl has great rules, Shadespire has great rules, Necromunda has great rules (no matter what you think of the way they are released), AoS has great rules that are getting better every year, HH people seem very pleased with their rules. So I guess if you don’t care about anything GW puts out except the 40k rule book and the 40k codices, and you really hate those, you might have a point? But you can be pretty sure those products are pretty low on many peoples list of “most important part of my hobby”,with many preferring modelling, painting, reading, etc to a tight rule set, or indeed, preferring to play any of the many great GW games that aren’t 40k (including several of their board games). In any case, I doubt that “in the end it all comes down to the rules” is a statement many will get behind. If they did, they would be playing board games or hex-and-counter war games instead of 40k. Rules are one part of people’s interaction with this hobby, but for many it’s a pretty small part.
Mymearan wrote: So I guess if you don’t care about anything GW puts out except the 40k rule book and the 40k codices, and you really hate those, you might have a point? But you can be pretty sure those products are pretty low on many peoples list of “most important part of my hobby”,with many preferring modelling, painting, reading, etc to a tight rule set, or indeed, preferring to play any of the many great GW games that aren’t 40k (including several of their board games).
I think WH40K rules are a huge part of the hobby, but I really don't think they are bad. Yes there's FAQ bloat, but most errata (except where there are corrections to loadouts) and FAQ's are really clarifying RAW to RAI (which to many of us seemed fairly obvious in the first place). For matched play there are currently 2 new approved rules (on top of the existing 3), and another 2 beta rules under consideration. Aside from that, points costs are being updated yearly in CA which has to be a good way to balance the game without changing the rules.
Just read a BBC article that mentioned GW have also announced this week that they are halving their dividend payment to 30p, which was greeted by a 6% drop in there share price.
Once again proving share prices have nothing to do with how well a company is preforming and everything to do with how much money shareholders think they can make out of the shares.
GW has overpayed dividends for years. They're finally getting to a more normal and sustainable dividend payout ratio and their stock will adjust accordingly.
£3k is not life changing? It's over 10% of my yearly salary before tax and NI deductions... Christ it's more than 10% of the average UK salary of £27271, It's 16% of the UK living wage salary.
Yeah, it won't make it so you no longer have to work, but it will have a huge impact on most employees receiving it.
Some companies that I have worked for have given these as an even share to all employees from a % of profit, so it’s not uncommon in the U.K. This usually was circa £500-700 per year; also in my experience discretionary performance bonuses would allso be paid in addition to this and be a much bigger sum.
So a one off £3k is good assuming even share. I’d suggest pay bands and service would be factored in to weighting the sum for each individual.
£3000 is 6 months rent in a flat outside of london, or about 4 in london.
that's a pretty big deal, I'm kind of amazed anyone can call than a piddling bonus.
that's a nice holiday if you couldn't afford one, or some redecorating of your family house. it's your kids school supplies or university savings.
Even if you just keep it for hobby stuff, it lets you buy guilt free for a good while and means you don't have to stress about enjoying yourself.
Monkeysloth wrote: I doubt it's 3k per person. These type of bonuses are common in my field and they usually cap out at 10% of what you made the previous year.
Still, they're always great when you get one.
Well, it was. Everyone in the company, regardless of salary, got the exact same amount, confirmed by Andy Hoare on FB and an official document someone linked earlier.
And remember guys, it's 3k pounds. That's closer to 4000 USD.
I don't know about any of you, but I've worked sales and retail jobs and never got a bonus above about a hundred dollars around Christmas. 4000 dollars is massive. That's months of rent, mortgage payments, car payments, phone bills, credit card debt, medical debt, any big thing that's weighing over your head, that 4k solves it. And if nothing is ailing you, that's a MASSIVE boost to a retirement, to getting a kid through multiple years of college, to finally being able to replace that old 1985 beater with a car that doesn't make blender noises every time you put it into reverse.
For GW to push that to their employees instead of just holding onto it so the CEO can buy himself a new private jet... it really speaks to the direction GW is going. Positive.
Yeah, there's still complaints. Their prices are expensive. Their games aren't perfectly balanced. They definitely favor Space Marines and Stormcast over any other faction, but at the end of the day, I'm just happy that some of the people working a one-man job in retail are getting some recognition.
Gordy2000 wrote: Jeez, are people still beating that dead horse that everything in Aus/NZ is twice as much due to import costs and duty?
No,prices are higher because wages, rent and utilities are higher. Wages being the most important bit.
If your minimum wage is 3 times what mine is, and you demand equal costs, you are basically saying that your burger flipping skills are worth three times as many warhams as mine. Because spiders, or something.
The minimum wage in the UK is roughly the same as NZ (depending on age bracket, in some cases it is higher), so nice try but no banana
Quite simply, there is no other UK-based store that charges the kind of mark-up in NZ that GW does. Other retailers, such as H&M have aligned pricing for most of their products. The most extreme example I can find is a brand new Range Rover, which has about a 23% mark up in NZ. Given the cost and compliance issues involved with importing a 3 ton luxury vehicle, that seems reasonable.
GW charges up to and over 100% more for its products in NZ than in the UK. If every other UK based business can manage a hugely lower (or zero) mark up, why can’t GW?
Of course, GW can charge whatever they like, but when you combine their pricing policy with a ban on other suppliers sending product to NZ, it’s hard not to feel a little miffed.
But once again, good show GW on the bonus. That is a good chunk of change for retail staff. Is that for all global staff?
It may also suggest they are looking to keep more staff for longer, especially in the retail end of things
the stores have always had a fair degree of staff churn from people looking for a better job, (and from those not hitting performance targets), bonuses of that size will keep at least some tloyal for a few more years especially if they repeat it next year if their performance is equally strong
Gordy2000 wrote: Jeez, are people still beating that dead horse that everything in Aus/NZ is twice as much due to import costs and duty?
No,prices are higher because wages, rent and utilities are higher. Wages being the most important bit.
If your minimum wage is 3 times what mine is, and you demand equal costs, you are basically saying that your burger flipping skills are worth three times as many warhams as mine. Because spiders, or something.
The minimum wage in the UK is roughly the same as NZ (depending on age bracket, in some cases it is higher), so nice try but no banana
Quite simply, there is no other UK-based store that charges the kind of mark-up in NZ that GW does. Other retailers, such as H&M have aligned pricing for most of their products. The most extreme example I can find is a brand new Range Rover, which has about a 23% mark up in NZ. Given the cost and compliance issues involved with importing a 3 ton luxury vehicle, that seems reasonable.
GW charges up to and over 100% more for its products in NZ than in the UK. If every other UK based business can manage a hugely lower (or zero) mark up, why can’t GW?
Of course, GW can charge whatever they like, but when you combine their pricing policy with a ban on other suppliers sending product to NZ, it’s hard not to feel a little miffed.
But once again, good show GW on the bonus. That is a good chunk of change for retail staff. Is that for all global staff?
I do wonder if the next logical step is a Foundry in your neck of the woods. Would certainly reduce shipping costs, no?
Monkeysloth wrote: I doubt it's 3k per person. These type of bonuses are common in my field and they usually cap out at 10% of what you made the previous year.
Still, they're always great when you get one.
Well, it was. Everyone in the company, regardless of salary, got the exact same amount, confirmed by Andy Hoare on FB and an official document someone linked earlier.
Gordy2000 wrote: Jeez, are people still beating that dead horse that everything in Aus/NZ is twice as much due to import costs and duty?
No,prices are higher because wages, rent and utilities are higher. Wages being the most important bit.
If your minimum wage is 3 times what mine is, and you demand equal costs, you are basically saying that your burger flipping skills are worth three times as many warhams as mine. Because spiders, or something.
The minimum wage in the UK is roughly the same as NZ (depending on age bracket, in some cases it is higher), so nice try but no banana
Quite simply, there is no other UK-based store that charges the kind of mark-up in NZ that GW does. Other retailers, such as H&M have aligned pricing for most of their products. The most extreme example I can find is a brand new Range Rover, which has about a 23% mark up in NZ. Given the cost and compliance issues involved with importing a 3 ton luxury vehicle, that seems reasonable.
GW charges up to and over 100% more for its products in NZ than in the UK. If every other UK based business can manage a hugely lower (or zero) mark up, why can’t GW?
Of course, GW can charge whatever they like, but when you combine their pricing policy with a ban on other suppliers sending product to NZ, it’s hard not to feel a little miffed.
But once again, good show GW on the bonus. That is a good chunk of change for retail staff. Is that for all global staff?
I do wonder if the next logical step is a Foundry in your neck of the woods. Would certainly reduce shipping costs, no?
Exchange a massive foreign currency boon for a fixed overhead, there’s no logic there.
I’m guessing the cost of business and risks associated with trading with ANZ facilitate the higher cost that other U.K. companies (that generally won’t manufacture in the U.K.) will not have which will internally justify the price. Whether that is the 100% claimed is anyone’s guess.
Good stuff. I hope my man Rob ( formerly known as GW Rob) get's a well deserved piece of that pie, countless lols were had because of that man -feel goodsies, all around..
Warhammertv will nevarr be the same :/
Media articles like these, and the forum threads that follow, really go far to show how little people know about a company's inner workings, and also the power of media reporting.
This profit sharing at GW isn't in any way new, and has been going on for the past 8 years at least as far as I'm aware (yes, under Wells/Kirby too). If there are spare profits, GW is happy to hand them out, equally, to all staff.
Tamereth wrote: Just read a BBC article that mentioned GW have also announced this week that they are halving their dividend payment to 30p, which was greeted by a 6% drop in there share price.
Once again proving share prices have nothing to do with how well a company is preforming and everything to do with how much money shareholders think they can make out of the shares.
This is bad reporting (the BBC) based on an error from a financial news service (Alliance) which has since been withdrawn and corrected. GW's dividend has increased on any measure - unlike many companies, GW doesn't pay dividends at set points of the year. Most FTSE companies pay a larger final dividend when they report the end of their financial year and a smaller one midway through the year. GW pay out dividends whenever they have enough cash that they haven't got plans for. This means that if they have a lean year, there's not a lot of reserves to keep paying out, but in good years, the cash flows freely. It does make it a little tricky to pick dates to measure a year's worth of dividends though, but here's the recent list - not exactly halved (the descriptions are mine, not official):
The dates are the pay dates, not the declaration or ex-div dates (for finance geeks). Also, if you check these numbers elsewhere, there was one payment (I think in 2017) that they messed up some paperwork on and had to re-declare something like £0.24 as dividend and £0.06 as a loan to shareholders that was corrected the next time around.
The mis-reporting by Alliance definitely impacted on Friday's share price, but also the price had shot up in recent weeks, so it wasn't a huge surprise that there was some selling pressure as people took their profits. This morning it's climbing back up and if you'd bought at the down points on Friday you'd be in decent profit.
So, as others have said, if it is £3k per person, after standard tax it’ll essentially be ~£2400. Still a fantastic amount of money for those on the warehouse and shop floor!
Then, take into account, that they get a 50% discount off GW products and a smaller one off FW, if you went down the hobby spending route, you’ve practically got everything you ever wanted all in one go!
Hopefully we’ll continue to see the company grow, and then start to catch up on everything!
Kdash wrote: So, as others have said, if it is £3k per person, after standard tax it’ll essentially be ~£2400. Still a fantastic amount of money for those on the warehouse and shop floor!
Then, take into account, that they get a 50% discount off GW products and a smaller one off FW, if you went down the hobby spending route, you’ve practically got everything you ever wanted all in one go!
Hopefully we’ll continue to see the company grow, and then start to catch up on everything!