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Grauniad article confirms it

And yes, the Graudian really needs a proof reader.

A major proof reader...

Though if someone wrote this with no knowledge of GW or its brands, there can be minor forgiveness for misspelling Roboute and 10K instead of 40K.

Saw that news yesterday, but being a filthy colonial and too impoverished to do more than shovel retirement savings towards mutual funds, I wasn't entirely sure of the significance. It basically means that GW is one of the top 350 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange? That's a fairly impressive achievement for a company that is solely about selling toy soldiers.

While I'm obviously not looking at the highest level of journalism here, the 30m soldiers a year comment does make me curious. Do we think that's actually 30 million miniatures as labelled on the box contents (i.e. - a box of Primaris marines = 10 soldiers) or is that actually 30 million shots of sprues (i.e. - a Primaris kit is typically 4 sprues for 10 models, but a single Knight is actually 3-4)?

Good job to GW though; hopefully they can make enough good business decisions to stay there for a while.

What is the FTSE 250?

The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

 MadCowCrazy wrote:
What is the FTSE 250?

The FTSE 250 Index (/ˈfʊtsiː/ FUUT-see) is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, September, and December. The Index is calculated in real-time and published every minute.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTSE_250_Index

 MadCowCrazy wrote:
What is the FTSE 250?

The 101st to 350th largest public companies listed on the London stock exchange by market capitalization.

This does mean some stability to the share price as any fund dedicated to small cap UK companies with an index following approach will now buy shares.

Got to love that photo on the article. Battle for Macragge, wasn't it? With the crashed lander?

This is great news, both for the hobby and us fanboys. More money in theory means more investment and greater willingness to take risks.

It's also nice to see a British company succeeding to such a high level.

That's a good, well-researched article, considering the sort of level we're used to. The typos are hilarious though.

I can't remember whether the Guardian actually managed a typo in their own name or if that's just an urban legend/running gag in Private Eye*, but it's part of their reputation, as well as the source of a running gag in Terry Pratchett's The Truth.

*which is what Grotsnik's referring to when he calls it the "Grauniad".

Amusingly, the second Google result for "Grauniad" is the official Guardian website.

Interesting article.

Do snanyone mnow that Dimitri guy? Is he a dakkanaught?

I was more surprised to find that with the current share price today of 23.90 they are now worth over a Billion US dollars at current exchange rates. Far cry from a few years ago when they were only worth about 150 Million. And sales are still growing, so may be some legs in the old lady yet,,,

but...but but! I've read for years on Whineseer and here that GW was circling the drain and that is was good night Vienna. Are you telling me all those doom-mongering neckbeards were wrong?

 Hollow wrote:
but...but but! I've read for years on Whineseer and here that GW was circling the drain and that is was good night Vienna. Are you telling me all those doom-mongering neckbeards were wrong?

To be fair most people said they were solvent but headed for eventual and sudden decline if they didn't change their methods and most of them were predicting 5-10 years left max while Kirby was in charge. Only the truly scarred still think GW is any kind of financial trouble or haven't started truly righting the ship.

Who'd have thought making more content, that has better quality than ever, while appealing to the people who play the game is the way to make big dollars?

 Hulksmash wrote:

 Hollow wrote:
but...but but! I've read for years on Whineseer and here that GW was circling the drain and that is was good night Vienna. Are you telling me all those doom-mongering neckbeards were wrong?

To be fair most people said they were solvent but headed for eventual and sudden decline if they didn't change their methods and most of them were predicting 5-10 years left max while Kirby was in charge. Only the truly scarred still think GW is any kind of financial trouble or haven't started truly righting the ship.

Yeah, it was certainly more this than...that.

over all GW seems to be righting the ship nicely, we'll have to see if this is sustainable.

 Hollow wrote:
but...but but! I've read for years on Whineseer and here that GW was circling the drain and that is was good night Vienna. Are you telling me all those doom-mongering neckbeards were wrong?

Atleast half the people in economics or comment on it are wrong at any given time. This isn't that surprising nor rare.

 Hulksmash wrote:

 Hollow wrote:
but...but but! I've read for years on Whineseer and here that GW was circling the drain and that is was good night Vienna. Are you telling me all those doom-mongering neckbeards were wrong?

To be fair most people said they were solvent but headed for eventual and sudden decline if they didn't change their methods and most of them were predicting 5-10 years left max while Kirby was in charge. Only the truly scarred still think GW is any kind of financial trouble or haven't started truly righting the ship.

This is pretty much the answer. They really started to right the ship once Kirby left, and their new strategies have clearly been working. I didn't play any in 7th Edition, but 8th has pulled me back in a great way. If AOS was popular in my area, I'd give it a shot as well.

I've participated in my fair share of GW finance threads and those calling for GW's demise were always a severe minority. Like one person at a time. Like Wayshuba's pricing theory. Almost everyone else was like "they're shrinking but still making money and can borrow a ton of money to make changes if it comes to that."

Doomsayers were a rare breed in those discussions.

As well, GW has changed. They actually are marketing and communicating with customers and offering some discounting (start collecting and stand alone game boxes) and engaging with the wider community, going to trade shows, totally revamped the rules, are using social media effectively, have brought "specialist" games back.

Wow that's a lot of changes.

Oh nooooooes, we're a cult!

“Games Workshop fans act very much like those of Lego, as almost a cult following,”

T

timd wrote:
Oh nooooooes, were a cult!

“Games Workshop fans act very much like those of Lego, as almost a cult following,”

T

We know what happens to cultists...

zerosignal wrote:

timd wrote:
Oh nooooooes, were a cult!

“Games Workshop fans act very much like those of Lego, as almost a cult following,”

T

We know what happens to cultists...

We get to sacrifice virgins and bring about the end of the world?

 frozenwastes wrote:
I've participated in my fair share of GW finance threads and those calling for GW's demise were always a severe minority. Like one person at a time. Like Wayshuba's pricing theory. Almost everyone else was like "they're shrinking but still making money and can borrow a ton of money to make changes if it comes to that."

Doomsayers were a rare breed in those discussions.

As well, GW has changed. They actually are marketing and communicating with customers and offering some discounting (start collecting and stand alone game boxes) and engaging with the wider community, going to trade shows, totally revamped the rules, are using social media effectively, have brought "specialist" games back.

Wow that's a lot of changes.

It was more than just a couple people. Wayshuba and a couple others loudly proclaimed and predicted GWs demise and a number of people rallied around their statements. When Roundtree took over Reinholdt (sp?) over at Warseer said it was too little too late and GW had moved past the point of no return. While they were the main advocates throwing out their "economic expertise" as justification for predicting GW's downfall, a number of anti-GW posters would quote and point to them for justification.

A lot of the GW doomsaying was also tied to the GW vs PP animosity that was floating around for several years. The "economic experts" provided fuel to justify why GW was bad, why it would collapse, and why you needed to play this game instead.

Regardless, it's good to see GW is doing great and hope this isn't another bubble that will bring a return to the headaches and heartaches of the mid/late 00's.

 silent25 wrote:

 frozenwastes wrote:
I've participated in my fair share of GW finance threads and those calling for GW's demise were always a severe minority. Like one person at a time. Like Wayshuba's pricing theory. Almost everyone else was like "they're shrinking but still making money and can borrow a ton of money to make changes if it comes to that."

Doomsayers were a rare breed in those discussions.

As well, GW has changed. They actually are marketing and communicating with customers and offering some discounting (start collecting and stand alone game boxes) and engaging with the wider community, going to trade shows, totally revamped the rules, are using social media effectively, have brought "specialist" games back.

Wow that's a lot of changes.

It was more than just a couple people. Wayshuba and a couple others loudly proclaimed and predicted GWs demise and a number of people rallied around their statements. When Roundtree took over Reinholdt (sp?) over at Warseer said it was too little too late and GW had moved past the point of no return. While they were the main advocates throwing out their "economic expertise" as justification for predicting GW's downfall, a number of anti-GW posters would quote and point to them for justification.

A lot of the GW doomsaying was also tied to the GW vs PP animosity that was floating around for several years. The "economic experts" provided fuel to justify why GW was bad, why it would collapse, and why you needed to play this game instead.

Regardless, it's good to see GW is doing great and hope this isn't another bubble that will bring a return to the headaches and heartaches of the mid/late 00's.

I think Roundtree is aware of this on some level due to how he says that things will keep going well if they don't let board members ego's rule the company. At the end of the day if they give people largely what they want they will keep buying stuff and it's working.

It was more than just a couple people. Wayshuba and a couple others loudly proclaimed and predicted GWs demise and a number of people rallied around their statements. When Roundtree took over Reinholdt (sp?) over at Warseer said it was too little too late and GW had moved past the point of no return. While they were the main advocates throwing out their "economic expertise" as justification for predicting GW's downfall, a number of anti-GW posters would quote and point to them for justification.

I remember Wayshuba, he was barely credible when he was posting (under that name at least) and, having gone back and checked, the last post he made was back in Jan '15, which was a completely different economic picture than now, three years later after a raft of changes in approach.

Nevertheless, people being wrong and other people agreeing with them doesn't change the fact I've never once seen anyone credibly argue GW were going under in any immediate sense. Anyone who appeared to actually possess a decent real world understanding was largely in the camp of "if they don't change, they're going to find themselves in trouble."

What do you know? Rountree agreed, they've changed in several key areas, and things have changed. I happen to think they've kicked a few cans down the road and there are still challenges in their medium term, but show me a company that isn't true of.

Simple stuff like giving out shiny new certificates made me spend hundreds on Armies on Parade. An increase in competition prizes/opportunities is one of the incentives they never had, and I feel like they could push further into.

Stuff like "Best painted model of X bought in the shop wins a $100 Voucher"

 PandaMango141 wrote:
Simple stuff like giving out shiny new certificates made me spend hundreds on Armies on Parade. An increase in competition prizes/opportunities is one of the incentives they never had, and I feel like they could push further into.

Stuff like "Best painted model of X bought in the shop wins a $100 Voucher"

I'm planning on spending a decent amount on my board this year. I won my shops last year and got the cool certificates. I would say they're doing something right. I hadn't purchased anything GW related for 25yrs, now they've got my money again and I would assume I'm not the only one.