Debbie Bestwick

Deborah Jayne Bestwick^[1] MBE (born March 1970)^[1] is a British entrepreneur. Following a short career in video game retail, she was part of the December 1990 merger between British video game publisher 17-Bit Software and Swedish developer Team 7 that led to the formation of Team17, where she presently acts as chief executive officer. Bestwick won various awards related to the video game industry between 2015 and 2017, and, in June 2016, was pronounced a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her services in that industry.

Career

Bestwick gained a significant interest in video games at the age of twelve, when she played Football Manager on her brother's ZX Spectrum.^[2] As she approached her A-level examinations aged sixteen, Bestwick sought for a job to fund her summer vacation, and eventually found two open positions in Nottingham though caught her interest, one at a grocery store and on at a video game store, of which she chose to apply for the latter.^[2] Bestwick described the idea of working with video games as "heaven".^[2] She never returned to finish her exams.^[2] A short time into her part-time job, the store's owner stepped down and offered Bestwick to overtake the business, to which she agreed.^[2] Subsequently, Bestwick managed the store for twelve months before negoating its sale to entrepreneur Michael Robinson and its integration into Microbyte, Robinson's UK-wide computer retail chain headquartered in Wakefield.^[2] At Microbyte, Bestwick was promoted time and time again, eventually becoming promotions manager^[2] and later sales manager.^[3]

In 1990, co-worker Martyn Brown conceived the idea of converting 17-Bit Software, a video game publisher also owned by Robinson, into a venture that acted as both publisher and developer, using a Swedish three-man team from Olofström, Sweden, known as Team 7, as internal developers and Brown as project manager.^[3] Team 7 was previously formed the same year through interaction between Swedish programmer Andreas Tadic and Brown, and at the time consisted of Tadic, Rico Holmes and Peter Tuleby.^[3] After Robinson agreed, Brown became, as intended, project manager, while Bestwick was given the role of "commercial support" for 17-Bit Software.^[3] The two studios soon agreed to formally merge and created Team17 on 7 December 1990.^[2][3][4] Day-to-day business was run by Bestwick and Brown,^[2] however, following her management buyout of both Brown and Robinson in 2010, Bestwick became the sole manager of Team17 as chief executive officer.^[2] As of May 2018, Bestwick and Chris Bell, who she hired as Team17's chairman, are preparing an initial public offering that will value Team17 between GB£200 million and 230 million, and offer a 50% stake in the company on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market.^[5] Bestwick is set to sell 50% of her own ownership, which will award her GB£50 million in windfall gain.^[5]

Awards

In April 2015, at the 2015 MCV Awards, video game magazine The Market for Computer & Video Games (MCV) named Bestwick "Person of the Year".^[6] At the first Women in Games conference in September 2015, also organised by MCV, Bestwick was honoured with the "Hall of Fame" award.^[7] At the second iteration of that conference, held in May 2016, Bestwick won the "Businesswoman of the Year" award.^[8] At the 2016 Birthday Honours Bestwick was pronounced a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services in the video game industry.^[9] At the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards, Bestwick was awarded in the category for "Outstanding Contribution to the UK Games Industry".^[10]

References