TIGA and BIMA Call for Training Tax Relief for the Creative Industries

By October 27, 2014 Press Releases

TIGA, the trade body for games developers and digital publishers, has partnered with digital trade body BIMA, to call on the government to launch a training tax relief scheme for small to medium size businesses in the creative industries.

The associations believe the launch of a pilot SME Training Tax Relief (TTR) scheme to promote skills, training, and productivity is vital to support the future of the creative industries, a sector worth £71.4 billion a year to the UK economy.

The creative industries are underpinned by a thriving ecosystem of small to medium sized companies, where training is a critical issue. TTR would operate in a similar way to the existing R&D tax credits. SMEs would be able to offset expenditure on training, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for staff and education outreach activities against corporation tax.

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said: “This measure would enable developers and other businesses to finance management training, strategic skill development and promote investment in continuous professional development.

“It would also lead to stronger business-educational links. In the case of the games industry, more developers would have the incentive and resources to provide guest lecturers to universities, contribute to course development, participate in school, college and university career days and make work placements available.”

Although many UK employers do provide training, the duration of this training is much shorter than the EU average.[1] Employers face the hurdles of cost and lost time when training their staff. This is particularly true for SMEs.

Natalie Gross, Chair of Education & Public Policy at BIMA, said: “The digital industry is a major growth sector for the UK economy, in particular SMEs. At the same time, there is not enough trained and skilled talent to enable these businesses to thrive and the UK economy to grow at the rates it could. We believe putting incentives for training into the hands of employers is the most expedient and potent way to move the UK digital economy forward, and tax relief will be a step forward in supporting the engine room of the sector, SMEs, to do so.” 

 

-ends-

 

Notes to editors:

For further information, contact:  

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org

Drew Field, TIGA Communications Director on: 07720 643 344, or email drew.field@tiga.org

 

About TIGA  

TIGA is the network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the UK video game industry. 

We help developers and digital publishers build successful studios, network with the right people, save money and access professional business advice. We also have traditional publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership.

TIGA is 90% funded by independent UK businesses. 80% of our board members are developers and/or from UK owned businesses, and 50% of our board are UK business owners themselves. Since 2010, TIGA has won 17 business awards.

 TIGA focuses on three sets of activities:

  • Political representation
  • Media representation
  • Business services

This enhances the competitiveness of our members by providing benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.

It also means our members’ voices are heard in the corridors of power and positively represented in national, broadcast and UK video game trade media.  

Get in touch:   

Tel: 0845 468 2330

Email: info@tiga.org

Web: www.tiga.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tigamovement

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TIGAMovement

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tiga    

About BIMA

BIMA (the British Interactive Media Association) is the membership organisation representing and connecting the UK digital sector. Run by the industry, for the industry, BIMA’s executive board is chaired by Adam Graham (managing consultant at Cact.us) and vice chair Jen Topping (Business Manager at Soho Productions, Microsoft Studios).

BIMA’s flagship initiatives include the BIMA Awards (now in their 30th year honouring the UK’s best digital work); Digital Day (addressing the skills gap at the grass roots and linking schools with agencies); as well as regular networking events and knowledge-sharing seminars.

If you work in digital, you can benefit from being a BIMA member. Find out more at http://www.bima.co.uk/about-bima/index.asp

Contact BIMA on 020 3538 6607 or info@bima.co.uk

[1] The UK average is 7 hours vocational training, below the EU average and half the level of France. ‘Business Investment in Skills’ (Confederation of British Industry, August 2011) p.13.

 

Cookies

We use cookies on our site to track activity and visitor numbers - please help us by allowing us to use them on your visit.