SHOKIZM

The UK has the talent and creativity to build entertainment franchises that compete with the biggest in the world. We want to see more British businesses supported to develop, own and grow them. Britain has no shortage of great creative ideas. The challenge is making sure the businesses behind them can develop those ideas, retain ownership and build something that lasts. When Chris and I founded Rebellion in 1992, we wanted to make great games and build a business that could succeed on its own terms. More than 30 years later, we're still fiercely independent. That independence has allowed us to invest in our own ideas, take a long-term view and retain ownership of the characters and stories we create. Rogue Trooper is a good example. We've been publishing the comics since 1999, developed a video game and have now brought the story to the big screen. It's a great example of how brilliant British storytelling can find new audiences across different formats and generations. The media and entertainment landscape has changed enormously since we started Rebellion. Audiences now experience their favourite stories through games, comics, film and television, and businesses are increasingly investing across all of them. The UK's existing creative industries tax reliefs have supported a great deal of investment and growth. But with incentives still largely focused on individual formats, I think there's a worthwhile conversation to be had about how the system can evolve to reflect the way modern entertainment businesses operate. That's why we've made a submission ahead of this year's Budget, exploring how the tax system might better support companies creating, developing and retaining British IP. There are different ways to approach this, and we're keen to start a conversation with Government and industry about what could work best. We also support proposals to strengthen incentives for video games development, particularly for smaller studios. The UK has the talent and creativity to build entertainment franchises that compete with the biggest in the world. I'd like to see more British businesses given the opportunity to build them, own them and keep the economic benefits here. I'm looking forward to discussing how we can make that happen.