Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Manchester based Director operating in the Gaming space. If you think a Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Sir Alex Ferguson
Director, Football Board of Manchester United Football Club Limited
Born in Govan, Glasgow in 1941, Sir Alex Ferguson retired as manager of Manchester United in May 2013 following a period of over 26 years at the helm. Over the course of a management career that lasted 39 years, he won 49 major trophies, making him the most successful manager in the history of British football. He made his name with Aberdeen, who became the first club to consistently break the Old Firm dominance of the Scottish game, winning 9 domestic trophies over a 6 year period. But it was victory over Real Madrid in the European Cup-Winners Cup Final in 1983 that brought him to national attention. Following his move to Manchester United in 1986, he set about restructuring the club and his first trophy in 1990 opened the floodgates. In 2001 he became the first manager to win three championships in a row since the league began in 1888, a feat he repeated in 2009. Admired for placing his emphasis on attacking football, with homegrown talent at the heart of his teams, he bowed out as league champion following his 1,500th game in charge of Manchester United. In 2012, Harvard Business School wrote the case study “Sir Alex Ferguson: Managing Manchester United” before appointing him as a Fellow to the Executive Education Programme. Following his retirement in 2013 he took up the positions of both Director and Global Ambassador with Manchester United and was also appointed Coaching Ambassador by UEFA. In the same year he released “My Autobiography” which became the UK’s quickest selling non-fiction book since records began. This work was a follow-up to his first best-selling memoir, “Managing My Life”, which appeared in 1999. His new book ‘Leading’, written with Sir Michael Moritz, details the key skills and philosophies he used to deliver success both on and off the field and will be released in September 2015.
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About Harvard Business School, Manchester United Football Club Limited, UEFA, UNICEF – New York, Unicef UK: Manchester United is one of the most popular and successful sports teams in the world, playing one of the most popular spectator sports.
Nick Bamber
Digital Marketing Director of Betsson Group
Nick currently leads the global media teams at Betsson, one of the worlds largest betting companies. He is tasked with delivering significant digital transformation to ensure Betsson Group get the best “bang for its buck”. As part of this journey, unpicking the media supply chain to ensure it is working at its most optimal level is a major strategic pillar. Prior to working for Betsson, Nick led ASDA’s digital marketing and digital publishing business (Asda Media Group) through significant transformation to become one of the UK’s most sophisticated digital advertisers and retail publishers.
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About Betsson Group: Betsson Group is a gaming portal offering a wide range of brands packed with multiple products.
Thomas Kinniburgh
Director of Product and Monetization of Ayopa Games
With years of mobile games industry experience, Tom has been a key contributor to some of the largest mobile gaming franchises. Starting his career as a hands-on producer at Chillingo, Tom helped to establish the publishing process and worked with talented development studios such as Rovio, Zeptolab, 11-bit and Mokus Games. He worked directly with each of these previously unheralded partners to create worldwide hits and award-winning franchises. As a mobile game producer with Chillingo, Tom was responsible for helping developers to create their best content specifically for mobile platforms. As the transition into free-to-play began, Tom showcased key skills working with EA as well as helping major license-holders such as NBC and Fox Digital to move into the mobile space. Tom then sought further opportunities in the free-to-play genre, moving into a production and game management role with Wooga, the largest free-to-play development studio in Germany. There, he brought his experience and knowledge to help the company transition from Facebook to mobile. With Wooga, Tom honed his expertise specifically in game design and monetization of a variety of hit franchises, as well as immersing himself in the groundbreaking data-driven approach needed to create hit free-to-play mobile games. Tom has now decided to return to his indie game publishing roots with Ayopa Games. He’s keen to advise and collaborate with indie developers on creating and managing hit new mobile brands that really resonate with players globally. Together with Johnny Coghlan, Tom guarantees genuine publishing prowess for Ayopa Games and its indie development partners, enabling them to succeed and perform in the hugely profitable and highly competitive mobile gaming industry.
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About Ayopa Games: Ayopa Games is an independent game publisher for mobile platforms.MacGuffin’s Curse is a game developed by this company.
Ben Mills
Managing Director of Desk Dragons Interactive Limited
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About : Desk Dragons Interactive builds globally recognized gaming IPs and brands for next generation platforms.
Ben Mills
Managing Director of Desk Dragons Interactive Limited
Follow Ben Mills:
About : Desk Dragons Interactive builds globally recognized gaming IPs and brands for next generation platforms.
