The North East Company of the Year has announced plan to create scores of new jobs by expanding its Malaysian base – while also mulling the creation of a second regional office.
Gaming studio powerhouse Double Eleven scooped four trophies at last week’s grand final of the North East Business Awards, topping a year of phenomenal growth.
The Middlesbrough firm – winner of the high growth and ambition and the innovation and technology awards, Teesside company of the year and North East company of the year – has worked on a number of bestselling titles, including Minecraft, Crackdown 3, Prison Architect, Lego Harry Potter and Goat Simulator, and its work rate has rocketed in the last year.
Two years ago the company had around 80 people, a large number of whom came from Teesside University, having signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to work together to create more opportunities for graduates.
The last year’s growth, however, has led to it hiring its 200th employee in the summer and the opening of an office in Malaysia.
The company chose to open its second base in Kuala Lumpur for its access to high-calibre talent and great ecosystem between governments, universities and businesses.
The move has also helped to catapult Double Eleven into becoming an international publishing powerhouse, working across multiple time zones while accessing new Asian markets and partnerships.
Nine months on, the company has announced it is expanding into a new, bigger base in Kuala Lumpur and launching a fresh recruitment drive.
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The firm will invest around £1m in the new 12,000sqft office, giving it ample room for more than 100 staff.
Double Eleven founder Lee Hutchinson said: “We opened the office just before the pandemic lockdowns in Feb 2020, and are now up to 25 staff.
“We started in a private office with 1,000sqft in a co-working space but soon outgrew it. We have just recently secured 12,500sqft in the Mid Valley Mega Mall Towers in Kuala Lumpur and it is undergoing a renovation of what will end up close to £1m. That office should fit 110 people and should be good for the next two to three years..
“Right now we are building the KL team. Its predominantly more junior staff members working together with our teams to gain experience, so they can eventually take on their own titles independently, however that may take three to five years or potentially more.
“Clients-wise there is no difference between the 海角视频 office and KL – we work together like a global team. We are not interested in the outsourcing method used by a lot of western companies in Asia, where segmented work is funnelled back and forth to be completed. We want that team getting experience in all areas of game development and having access to all our 海角视频 staff for support.
“We want to build something that is as Malaysian as it can be. Although we have access to pretty much unlimited skilled work visas to ship people over there, we would rather build a structure of mainly Malaysian employees and give them the opportunities of promotion.”
Mr Hutchinson – who was named Teesside Business Executive of the Year in 2019 – revealed the company is also on the move on Teesside, with a second North East base also in the making.
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The size of the office it is searching for would give Double Eleven room to grow to 500 employees, and he stressed it was important the firm maintains its roots in the North East.
He added: “In the 海角视频 we are currently in discussions about a new headquarters and are looking for over 50k sqft, I cant say much more than that right now.”
He added: “The North East is where our roots are and we are considering opening another office in the North East of England rather than going to other gaming hubs such as Leamington Spa or Guildford.
“I think we pay pretty competitively and are able to stand side-by-side salary wise with some of the games industry 海角视频 Plcs, when you add this to the cheaper cost of living in the North East, I think it gives our employees a better quality of life.”
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