Nintendo's UK branch, based in Windsor, handling sales, marketing, finance and commercial work for Nintendo's consoles and games.
Nintendo UK is the British branch of Nintendo of Europe, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd. It looks after Nintendo's operations in the UK, including console and game launches, retail relationships and marketing.
We did not find a mission statement for the UK branch. What an office design article shows is the intended feel: management wanted a business feel rather than a "kid's playground", while keeping an entertainment identity.
The branch is based in Windsor. The office sits on the ground floor of The Quadrant, a commercial building behind Windsor Castle, after moving from Slough in 2006. Nintendo has been tied to the UK market since the early 1980s, when Game & Watch handhelds were sold by Computer Games Limited. Mattel UK launched the NES in 1987, and other firms distributed Nintendo products until 2001, when Nintendo took distribution back. Nintendo UK became a branch of Nintendo of Europe GmbH in 2001.
The fit-out article says about 36 people worked there across sales, marketing, finance and commercial teams, which was the figure at the time of that article. The space uses lime green as a main colour, has a media lab with the latest consoles, a brainstorming room with whiteboard walls and a forest mural, and a central canteen that staff say improved communication between the European and UK teams. Unreleased products are kept in secure cabinets in a product preview room.
So jobs here are on the business side, such as sales, marketing, finance and commercial roles, rather than game development. Named people in the history include Mike Hayes, who was Nintendo UK's marketing director from 1989. In 2012 Nintendo named Simon Kemp general manager of its UK operation, replacing David Yarnton, who had held the post for almost a decade. Kemp came from outside games, having started as a graduate trainee at Unilever and later worked in marketing at GlaxoSmithKline. Three senior staff reported to him: a marketing and PR director, a sales director and a finance director. That shows the branch has leaders from retail and consumer brands, not only gaming. That information is from 2012, so check who leads the UK now. Earlier UK homes for Nintendo's distribution included Eastleigh and Fareham in Hampshire, and Coventry. The Windsor fit-out by the firm Area2 added a product preview room and a boardroom with a retractable blind to keep unreleased products private.
Website: www.nintendo.co.uk
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