New CEO appointed at GW

[40kGamer]

Official Announcement:

Appointment of CEO
NOVEMBER 11, 2014

The Board of Games Workshop is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Rountree as Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 January 2015.

Tom Kirby, Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer, will take up the position of Non-Executive Chairman with effect from that date.

Kevin, 45, joined Games Workshop in 1998. He is currently Chief Operating Officer of the Company.

Commenting on the appointment, Tom Kirby said: “The Board undertook a thorough process in selecting our new CEO, receiving a significant number of applications for the position, both internal and external. Kevin was the outstanding candidate.

The board congratulates Kevin on his appointment and wishes him every success in his new role.”

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So how does everyone feel about this latest announcement? To me it signals that the company will continue on the same path it has been following for the foreseeable future. I'm still digesting the news and debating the pros and cons.... Ah well, C'est la vie.

[Wolfshade]

It does seem to be a case of more of the same. One would hope being the former COO then he will actually understand how the company operates and put into place strategies based from evidence rather than what he feels is the best.

[Caitsidhe]

It depends. I think it was clear from the crazy talk of Kirby that he was looking for a specific type of person. If they already had that type of person in house, I don't think we would have gotten that particular type of silly statement. That means it is quite possible this guy is NOT Kirby's boy. This means it is possible that this new guy, promoted from within, is the candidate being put forward due to other Board Member pressure. We will have to see. I think there is definitely a chance that this guy understands the problems and is willing and able to change direction. It will only take a few months to find out. I'm crossing my fingers because although it would cause me to lose some bets, I would rather see Games Workshop turn back around.

[40kGamer]

It does seem to be a case of more of the same. One would hope being the former COO then he will actually understand how the company operates and put into place strategies based from evidence rather than what he feels is the best.

There are several pros to it... as you mentioned he should understand the company very well at this point so no learning curve is nice. There are several things that the company has started that I really want to see continue. I love the narrative campaigns (so excited Leviathan is coming!) and I'm a huge fan of the new model release mechanism where they drop the model + rules outside of the normal codex revamps. If there is one thing I would like to see them offer it would be more one off games like Space Hulk and Dreadfleet... both of which are brilliant little games. For now I'm happy to set back and just offer the chap best wishes and congratulations on landing the holy grail role of miniature gaming companies.

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That means it is quite possible this guy is NOT Kirby's boy. This means it is possible that this new guy, promoted from within, is the candidate being put forward due to other Board Member pressure. We will have to see. I think there is definitely a chance that this guy understands the problems and is willing and able to change direction.

Normally the executive team is pretty acclimated to their particular corporate culture. There is the off chance that this fella is a closet maverick who has been waiting for the opportunity to spread his wings. One thing we can safely forecast is where GW is concerned there are always interesting times ahead!