Henderson Loggie ramps up support of Scotland’s gaming industry

Henderson Loggie has reached an agreement to support Scotland’s newest gaming festival which will take place in Dundee in September.

The four-day event will kick off with the inaugural Games Design Awards co-sponsored by the accountancy firm, which is already behind the Indie Zone at the three-day Insomnia X Resonate gaming festival opening in Glasgow this weekend.

With over twenty-five years’ sector experience, Henderson Loggie’s specialist creative industry team is a leading tax and strategic finance adviser to Scotland’s growing games industry, now the third largest cluster in the UK after London and the South East.

At the festival, Henderson Loggie Partner and creative media specialist Steve Cartwright will host a workshop on financial strategy, giving an insight on how companies should plan in order to fully benefit from Video Games Tax Relief. Introduced in 2014, Video Games Tax Relief allows companies to claim an additional deduction of 80 per cent of qualifying production costs which can be surrendered for cash at a rate of 25 per cent.

Commenting on his firm’s decision to boost support of Scotland’s gaming industry, Mr Cartwright said: “Game designers deserve recognition for their contribution to a global industry that is expected to reach $128.5 billion by the end of 2020. We have helped many gaming success stories move from the nugget of a creative idea to international expansion and are delighted to co-sponsor the country’s first Game Design Awards to recognise the talent that is behind every commercial triumph.

“By backing the Indie Zone at Insomnia X Resonate we provide some of the newest independent developers a helping hand to establish themselves alongside some of the biggest names in the industry. It allows them to show their product and gain vital honest feedback from a critical audience. We will also be on hand to talk about Video Games Tax Relief which has been giving UK companies a competitive advantage in a global market since it was introduced three years ago. It is imperative that games developers are aware at the outset what they need to do to qualify from the earliest planning stages so that they don’t miss out.”

Head of Channel 4’s games publishing arm All 4 Games Colin Macdonald added: “Scotland already punches well above its weight in the global gaming industry and our game developers deserve gongs to underline and celebrate both their cultural contributions and the value they bring to the economy. The Dundee Games Festival and Awards look set to become a hugely important event for the industry this autumn. Together with Insomnia joining forces with Resonate this year it means upcoming developers have double the opportunity to showcase their titles and make their mark. I’m delighted to see specialist suppliers to the industry getting behind these initiatives, which will be instrumental in driving innovation and promoting growth.”