40 jobs saved at GameCity: “We had more friends than we realised”
GameCity, the firm which owns The National Videogame Arcade (NVA) has been bought out of administration by an international group of investors in a deal that has saved 40 jobs.
The NVA, which is also home to the popular GameCity festival held in Nottingham, fell into administration on 19th August after it ran out of cash.
Andy Wood and Lisa Hogg of Sheffield-based Wilson Field were appointed to look after the day-to-day running of the business. The pair found buyers in a consortium of international investors led by GameCity director Iain Simons.
Simons told TheBusinessDesk.com that he was surprised at the number of investors the deal attracted.
He said: “One of the things that most moved us to keep going was the speed at which this group came together. It’s one thing to ask people to say they like what we do, quite another for them to actually financially commit to helping us do it. We have more friends than we perhaps realised.”
The National Videogame Arcade is a national centre dedicated to the history and development of computer and video games which contains many rare and original videogames and consoles and cafe Toast Bar.
It is also involved in collaborative work with Arts Council England, Times Educational Supplement, Wellcome Trust and the British Library on a variety of projects developing the role of videogames in culture and education.
Iain Simons, director at GameCity and investment consortium leader, said: “The NVA is like no other facility within the UK and is rapidly growing in popularity. It was devastating to us when we realised that the business was in financial difficulty, but we knew it could be overcome.”
“I have to give all credit to the staff here who volunteered to work without pay when we announced that the business was in trouble and this undoubtedly allowed us the time to pull together a consortium of investors to give the facility a bright new future and secure those jobs.”
“GameCity is rapidly picking up pace and the Toast Bar, National Videogame Arcade and our collaborations with new partners in the UK and beyond are proving to be just as popular as we’d hoped.”
