Appointment of New Chairman (4944F)

TIDMGMG

RNS Number : 4944F

Game Group PLC

27 April 2011

The GAME Group plc

Appointment of New Chairman

The GAME Group plc ('GAME' or 'the Group') announce that Chris Bell (53) will be appointed as non-executive Chairman, after the Group's Annual General Meeting on 15(th) June. Current Chairman Peter Lewis (70) has informed the Board of his intention to retire following the AGM.

Chris has been a member of the GAME Board since January 2003, and is currently the Senior Independent Director. He has extensive retail and Board experience with Ladbrokes plc and Allied Domecq plc.

Peter has been instrumental in overseeing GAME's growth over the past decade and in shaping the company's commercial direction. He was appointed to the Board in 1995 as a Non Executive Director and in June 1998 he was appointed Non Executive Chairman. Prior to joining GAME, Peter was a founder and Executive Chairman of Ashtead Group plc from May 1984 to December 2000.

Ian Shepherd, Group Chief Executive commented:

"Under Peter's tenure GAME has been transformed from a chain of around 130 outlets into the UK's leading specialist video games retailer. Peter oversaw both the Group's substantial expansion in the UK and its international growth.

"The changes in GAME's scale and operating structure were accompanied by substantial technological advances and a step change in the appeal of pc and video games to a much broader audience. Peter was instrumental in navigating the business through these developments, and leaves the company with a solid platform for further growth and channel development in a market which is continuing to address the changing needs of our customers. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Peter for his tremendous support and contribution to the business over the years.

I would also like to congratulate Chris on his appointment as Chairman. We look forward to working with him to implement our growth plans for the future, and leveraging his experience to provide support and insight over this period of change."

Peter Lewis said: "It has been a great privilege to serve GAME as Chairman for the last 13 years. It is testament to GAME teams around the world that they have remained passionately focused on customers during periods of growth and transition. I have every confidence in the strategy on which Ian and the team are embarking, and wish Chris every success as the new Chairman."

Chris Bell said: "I thank Peter for his guidance over the years at GAME and wish him the very best. Ian and the team are following a sound and promising strategy to build on their customer focus and firmly establish GAME as a multi channel retailer."

-ENDS-

Notes:

Chris Bell has served on the GAME Board since January 2003. He has extensive retail and Board experience, having joined Ladbrokes plc (formerly Hilton Group plc) in 1991. He became Managing Director in 1995, joined the Board in 2000, and became Chief Executive in 2006, a post he held for four years. Prior to that, he held a number of senior positions with Allied Domecq. He joined the Board of Quintain plc in September 2010 as Senior Independent Director, and is also a board member of The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board.

Peter Lewis became Chairman of the Group in June 1998, when it was Electronics Boutique plc and traded from around 130 UK stores. Following the acquisition of GAME (EB's largest specialist UK competitor) a year later, the Group was renamed GAME Group plc, and embarked on an expansion programme in the UK and overseas. This included international acquisitions in Spain, France, Norway, Australia and the Czech Republic between 2000 and 2008, plus UK acquisitions of Gamestation (GAME's largest specialist UK competitor) in 2007 and online retailer Gameplay in 2004. Today, GAME Group is trading under three brands from over 1,300 stores and 12 websites in ten countries.

In 1998 the UK video games market was dominated by the Nintendo 64 and Playstation 1 consoles, and the UK video games market was worth just over GBP1bn. During Peter's tenure, two further generations of technology have launched, selling over 55m consoles, and the UK games market is worth around GBP3bn annually.

Enquiries

 
               Ian Shepherd, Chief Executive 
                Ben White, Group Finance Director 
 GAME Group     Simon Soffe, Communications & Investor 
  plc           Relations Director                        +44 1256 784566 
 
 Brunswick     Jonathan Glass                             +44 207 404 
                Wendel Verbeek                             5959 
                Natalia Marisova

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END

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