Leading gaming and entertainment company, Gamesys, was named as the UK’s fastest-growing private technology company in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 which was published on Sunday the 24th of September 2006.
The Tech Track 100 is compiled by Fast Track and ranks Britain’s fastest growing unquoted technology firms by sales. Gamesys’ transition from a small online operator to one of the giants in online gaming is largely due to the success of its “soft gaming” website, Jackpotjoy.com, which specialises in bingo, instant-win and casino games.
The huge public interest in internet gaming has transformed the success of Gamesys since the launch of Jackpotjoy.com in March 2002. The site is now the market leader in online bingo and, with over 950,000 members (the vast majority of which are from the UK), Jackpotjoy.com also forms one of the largest online chat communities in the world.
The UK based company, which was founded by Robin Tombs, Andrew Dixon and Managing Director, Noel Hayden, in 2001, also operates gaming websites in partnership with well-known consumer brands, such as Orange, GMTV, Big Brother, and Tiscali. One example is GMTV Instant Win Games, where players can win anything from a chocolate fountain to free cinema tickets for a year.
The most recent of these innovative partnerships is Jackpotjoy’s Deal or No Deal game where users have the chance to challenge the banker to win up to £250,000. The site, which was only launched two weeks ago, has just paid out the second biggest ‘Deal or No Deal’ jackpot in UK history (including payouts on the television show) of £104,281. The current ‘Deal or No Deal’ jackpot is over £200,000 and still climbing.
As a result, sales for Gamesys have rocketed 301% a year from £587,000 in 2003 to £9.5m in 2005. Currently Jackpotjoy.com regularly pays out more than £1.5m in prize money daily and handles around nine cash bets every second, a daily volume close to the number of transactions processed by the London Stock Exchange.
Noel Hayden, Managing Director of Gamesys, commented:
“Since Gamesys was established almost six years ago, the company has gone from strength to strength. We are extremely proud to be recognised for this success by being named in the No.1 spot for the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 and for our continued success with current revenues nearing triple the rate of early 2005. I’m extremely confident that we can continue to deliver industry-leading success over the forthcoming months and years. The No. 1 spot is a great achievement for the company and with the great team and array of exciting projects in front of us, the figures continue to climb.”
Despite its current market position, Gamesys continues to aim high – it launched an international expansion plan earlier this year and is currently developing new gaming software for mobile phones and interactive television.
Topping the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 list is the latest accolade to be bestowed on Gamesys, which has also won a number of awards for its soft gaming website, Jackpotjoy.com – these include NMA’s ‘UK Entertainment Site of the Year’ in 2005 and most recently a Hitwise #1 Award in June 2006.
Click here to see this year’s Tech Track 100 list
