As Group Chief Executive, Andrew sits on the main Board of the holding company, Irwin Mitchell Holdings Ltd, and the Executive Board of Irwin Mitchell LLP. His role makes him ultimately responsible for the management of the Group.Â
Andrew brings strong strategic vision to the Chief Executive role and a commitment to operational efficiency, execution and excellence.
Gameopolis, Manchester’s game hub organisation, is proud to present its next event hosted by Manchester’s Irwin Mitchell. This time, we’ll be chatting to the CEO of one of the UK’s most successful video games companies, Team17 Digital.
You'll get to hear Michael Pattison share his experiences and insights on the games industry, the challenges and the evolving landscape. There'll also be an oportunity for you to ask a question or two of your own and catch up with colleagues and friends in the industry. Â
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Fireside Chat: Michael Pattison
Michael Pattison, CEO of Team17 Digital, joins us for a fireside chat to talk about his career in games and all things Team17.
Starting as a ‘console kid’, playing on a Grandstand 360 MKIII Video Sports Centre in the 1980s, Michael was keen to get into the games industry. He leapt at the chance to get a role in marketing at Ocean Software in 1996, before going on to work at THQ, Capcom and, more recently, Sony, where Michael finished an event-packed eight years as SVP Platform and Planning. A year ago, Michael joined Team17 whose studios include a location in Salford’s MediaCityUK.  Â
Games Recruitment: Crisis or Opportunity
Gameopolis is proud to present a panel all about recruitment. Talent is everything in games and it’s getting increasingly difficult to get the right teams in place, wish some notably difficult roles to fill. What are the issues? What can we do to get the right people at the right time? How can we promote diversity in our recruitment? These and other questions will be answered by Liz Prince from recruitment consultancy Amiqus, Team17’s HR Director Lauren Baldwin and developer Nequinox’s Development Director, Matt Knott.
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Michael has been brought up on a carefully managed diet of video games, dating all the way back to his first ever console – the Grandstand 360 MKIII Video Sports Centre in 1981, before graduating to the ZX Spectrum 48K and every console ever since.Â
He was fortunate to start his first ever job at Ocean Software as a Marketing Executive in Manchester in 1996, before taking on roles in Brand Management and Marketing at THQ and Capcom, responsible for teams based in Europe, Asia and North America.Â
Michael then spent 8 years at Sony Interactive Entertainment during the PlayStation 4, PSVR and PlayStation 5 launches, with roles overseeing all Publisher and Developer relationships and most latterly as SVP Platform and Planning.Â
Since October 2021, Michael joined Team17 Digital as CEO and has been fortunate to lead a fantastic team helping developers from all around the world to bring their games to market.
Stephen’s career spans nearly 30 years of games PR, advertising, marketing and latterly the role of Marketing Director at EA studio, Chillingo.
Although Stephen loves games, he is terrible at them, but has a deep understanding of why people play games and what triggers people to buy them. He is lucky enough to have worked on some stand out games and franchises from Worms, Lego Star Wars, Resident Evil, Cut The Rope and Micro Machines to WWE, FIFA, PES and other acronym based classics. He now runs games marketing consultancy HeyStephenHey where his clients have included Red Bull, Merge, Milky Tea, Northern Ireland Screen, Bossa Studios and Radical Forge. Stephen is a BAFTA and UKIE member and humbled to be an ambassador for the gamer’s charity, SpecialEffect.Â
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Michael has been brought up on a carefully managed diet of video games, dating all the way back to his first ever console – the Grandstand 360 MKIII Video Sports Centre in 1981, before graduating to the ZX Spectrum 48K and every console ever since.Â
He was fortunate to start his first ever job at Ocean Software as a Marketing Executive in Manchester in 1996, before taking on roles in Brand Management and Marketing at THQ and Capcom, responsible for teams based in Europe, Asia and North America.Â
Michael then spent 8 years at Sony Interactive Entertainment during the PlayStation 4, PSVR and PlayStation 5 launches, with roles overseeing all Publisher and Developer relationships and most latterly as SVP Platform and Planning.Â
Since October 2021, Michael joined Team17 Digital as CEO and has been fortunate to lead a fantastic team helping developers from all around the world to bring their games to market.
I’m Liz Prince and I’m the Business Manager of Amiqus, a multiple award-winning Recruitment Company specialising in the Video Games sector. We’ve been in business for 22 years and have a very experienced team based in the North West.
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I’ve been a recruiter for coming up on 30 years now, originally a Computer Science grad and I’ve worked in Games since 2005. I’m passionate about my job, business and industry. I believe in a transparent, friendly and professional recruitment service where both parties benefit.
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I’m deeply committed to diversity and inclusion across games, playing my part through our industry wide initiative called G Into Gaming which allows us a platform to educate and advise the sector in order to leave a lasting legacy of change. I’m also honoured to be an Ambassador for SpecialEffect, an amazing charity which uses video games and technology to enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities.
I’ve always loved to play and ever since my father bought me my first computer, a Spectrum 16k, I’ve loved playing video games. When I was 14, I took a career-based psychometric test, where my top result was Toy Designer at which point I realised people could make a living from playing and making.
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I have an eclectic background, and I have two degrees; one in Fine Art and one in Architecture. I’ve worked on the world's biggest gaming brands and produced for all the Hollywood studios; earlier in my career when I worked for Technicolor and Hasbro. I’m a published board game designer and successfully ran my own Interactive production company making VR, AR, Interactive and Immersive experiences for global visitor attractions for the 10 years up to 2020.Â
I joined Nequinox as Development Director in July 2020 to build a world-class games studio to create games the world loves. We’re building a diverse team that shares our passion for making games in the heart of the North West.
Lauren is Team17’s HR Director, and comes with over 16 years’ experience in HR across a variety of industries including publishing, media and tech. Since joining Team17 in March 2020, she has been focussed on supporting the company’s culture to progress and evolve through a period of continued growth and change. Her aim is for everyone at Team17 to enjoy their work, keep learning, and to have a real sense of purpose, belonging and community. She is also passionate about encouraging a broader spectrum and variety of people to engage a career in the games industry.