Games Workshop staff to get share of £5m bonus - BBC

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**beast_gts**

From the BBC:

Games Workshop staff to get share of £5m bonus

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.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Crikey o'blimey! Not bad, eh?

**judgedoug**

Anyone have a favorite firm in the USA to invest in UK stocks?

**General Helstrom**

Good show. They really turned that company away from its slow grind towards the edge of the cliff.

**Sinful Hero**

Glad to see GW doing well. I’ve been pleased with the new direction so far.

**vim_the_good**

Interesting that they make 75% of their profits over seas. I would assume a large chunk of that is the US.

They could have picked a better photo for the article though

**Tamereth**

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.

**richred_uk**

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.

**Hulksmash**

Very nice. It's really feeling like a completely different company. Even from it's successful years during the LotR bubble.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

vim_the_good wrote:
Interesting that they make 75% of their profits over seas. I would assume a large chunk of that is the US.

They could have picked a better photo for the article though

On the photo, I think it’s not a bad idea to show ‘achievable’ paint jobs

High End stuff on articles risks making the Hobby look too daunting.

Also, Auntie probably just yoinked the pic from the inter Webs!

**Blacksails**

Good for GW. They've certainly turned some poor aspects of the company around. Here's to hoping BFG turns out well.

**deathwinguk**

Good stuff

I wonder how much of that was generated by WH40K 8th edition?

**Ben2**

I remember Kirby delaying the cost of living increase until staff sold AoS better after it's launch.

The bonus is a great way of showing all the staff that GW values them.

**ElvisJuice**

Ben2 wrote:
I remember Kirby delaying the cost of living increase until staff sold AoS better after it's launch.

Seriously, the more I hear about him, the more he sounds like a cartoon villain.

This is great news though, I'm happy for GW. The guys in my local store are really awesome.

**Stormonu**

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.

**jonolikespie**

They bloody well deserve it, the last couple of years since Kirby was given the boot GW has been doing great work.

**nicromancer**

Makes you proud to be British ;D

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.

**Nostromodamus**

I was working for GW during the initial LotR launch and we got personalised boxed sets of the books. That was nice.

**Arbitrator**

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.

**Insectum7**

Great job GW!

Sure shows the difference between good and bad leadership too. The stories about Kirby remind of some of my old bosses.

**mrhappyface**

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...

**Adeptus Doritos**

Spoiler: All the bonuses are actually in GW credit. Only redeemable on their products.

Another spoiler: No one would probably complain.

**Hulksmash**

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.

**Neronoxx**

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.

Please leave. You'd be doing yourself a favor.

**Adeptus Doritos**

Hulksmash wrote:

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?

**ERJAK**

Hulksmash wrote:
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.

**Chikout**

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.

**Altruizine**

Another massively important change is them doing their own previews, teasers, news and projections.

Anyone who says they "can't see a difference" between 2018 GW and the GW of the previous era is either a fool or a liar.

**H.B.M.C.**

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?

**Stormonu**

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.