Debbie Bestwick

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Debbie Bestwick

MBE
Debbie Bestwick, Gamelab 2018 (41307122860) (cropped).jpg
Bestwick in 2018
Born
Deborah Jayne Bestwick

(1970-03-07) 7 March 1970 (age 51)
United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
OccupationChief executive officer
Years active1986–present
Known forTeam17
AwardsSee § Accolades

Deborah Jayne Bestwick MBE (born 7 March 1970) 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 acts as chief executive officer. Bestwick was awarded various accolades related to the video game industry between 2015 and 2017, and was pronounced a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in June 2016 for her services in that industry.

Career[]

Deborah Jayne Bestwick was born on 7 March 1970.[1][2] She attended Holgate School in Hucknall.[2] Bestwick gained a significant interest in video games at the age of twelve, when she played Football Manager on her brother's ZX Spectrum.[3] 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 that caught her interest, one at a grocery store and one at a video game store, of which she chose to apply for the latter.[3] Bestwick described the idea of working with video games as "heaven".[3] She never returned to finish her exams.[3] A short time into her part-time job, the store's owner stepped down and offered Bestwick to take over the business, to which she agreed.[3] Subsequently, Bestwick managed the store for twelve months before negotiating its sale to entrepreneur Michael Robinson and its integration into Microbyte, Robinson's UK-wide computer retail chain headquartered in Wakefield.[3] At Microbyte, Bestwick was promoted time and time again, eventually becoming promotions manager[3] and later sales manager.[4]

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.[4] Team 7 was previously formed the same year through interaction between Brown and Swedish programmer Andreas Tadic, and at the time consisted of Tadic, Rico Holmes and Peter Tuleby.[4] After Robinson agreed, Brown became, as intended, project manager, while Bestwick was given the role of "commercial support" for 17-Bit Software.[4] The two studios soon agreed to formally merge and created Team17 on 7 December 1990.[3][4][5] Day-to-day business was run by Bestwick and Brown,[3] however, following her management buyout of both Brown and Robinson in 2010, Bestwick became the sole manager of Team17 as chief executive officer.[3] In May 2018, Bestwick and Chris Bell, who she hired as Team17's chairman, created an initial public offering for Team17; the company was listed the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market and Bestwick received around GB£50 million in windfall gain for the sale of 50% of her shares.[6][7]

Personal life[]

Bestwick is single with two children and resides in the countryside north of Nottingham.[2]

Accolades[]

In April 2015, at the 2015 MCV Awards, video game magazine MCV named Bestwick "Person of the Year".[8] At the first Women in Games conference in September 2015, also organised by MCV, Bestwick was honoured with the "Hall of Fame" award.[9] At the second iteration of that conference, held in May 2016, Bestwick won the "Businesswoman of the Year" award.[10] 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.[11] At the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards, Bestwick was awarded in the category for "Outstanding Contribution to the UK Games Industry".[12]

References[]

  1. ^ "Deborah Jayne Bestwick". Companies House. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Evans, Peter (11 November 2018). "Interview: Debbie Bestwick — the CEO with purple hair". The Times. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j McKeand, Kirk (20 September 2016). "How Worms studio head Debbie Bestwick went from retail to MBE – interview". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Parkin, Simon (12 June 2016). "Worms or bust: The story of Britain's most tenacious indie games company". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  5. ^ Aston, Bethany (1 December 2015). "Industry Veteran Team17 Turns 25!". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  6. ^ Sweney, Mark (8 May 2018). "Founder of Worms maker Team17 in line for £50m windfall". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Team 17 floats, and then soars, on its AIM debut". The Yorkshire Post. 23 May 2018. Archived from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  8. ^ MCV Editors (17 April 2015). "MCV Awards 2015: Debbie Bestwick named Person of the Year". MCV. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  9. ^ Batchelor, James (2 September 2015). "Debbie Bestwick wins Women in Games' Hall of Fame award". MCV. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  10. ^ Diver, Mike (20 May 2016). "Here Are the Winners from the 2016 Women in Games Awards". Vice. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Team17 founder Debbie Bestwick made MBE". BBC. 11 June 2016. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  12. ^ Moyse, Chris (17 November 2017). "Here are the Golden Joystick award winners for 2017". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
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