Debbie Bestwick

Deborah Jayne Bestwick was born on 7 March 1970.[1][2] She attended Holgate School in Hucknall.[2] Bestwick gained a significant interest in video games at the age of twelve, when she played Football Manager on her brother's ZX Spectrum.[3] As she approached her A-level examinations aged sixteen, Bestwick sought for a job to fund her summer vacation, and eventually found two open positions in Nottingham that caught her interest, one at a grocery store and one at a video game store, of which she chose to apply for the latter.[3] Bestwick described the idea of working with video games as "heaven".[3] She never returned to finish her exams.[3] A short time into her part-time job, the store's owner stepped down and offered Bestwick to take over the business, to which she agreed.[3] Subsequently, Bestwick managed the store for twelve months before negotiating its sale to entrepreneur Michael Robinson and its integration into Microbyte, Robinson's UK-wide computer retail chain headquartered in Wakefield.[3] At Microbyte, Bestwick was promoted time and time again, eventually becoming promotions manager[3] and later sales manager.[4]

In 1990, co-worker Martyn Brown conceived the idea of converting 17-Bit Software, a video game publisher also owned by Robinson, into a venture that acted as both publisher and developer, using a Swedish three-man team from Olofström, Sweden, known as Team 7, as internal developers and Brown as project manager.[4] Team 7 was previously formed the same year through interaction between Brown and Swedish programmer Andreas Tadic, and at the time consisted of Tadic, Rico Holmes and Peter Tuleby.[4] After Robinson agreed, Brown became, as intended, project manager, while Bestwick was given the role of "commercial support" for 17-Bit Software.[4] The two studios soon agreed to formally merge and created Team17 on 7 December 1990.[3][4][5] Day-to-day business was run by Bestwick and Brown,[3] however, following her management buyout of both Brown and Robinson in 2010, Bestwick became the sole manager of Team17 as chief executive officer.[3] In May 2018, Bestwick and Chris Bell, who she hired as Team17's chairman, created an initial public offering for Team17; the company was listed the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market and Bestwick received around GB£50 million in windfall gain for the sale of 50% of her shares.[6][7]

Bestwick is single with two children and resides in the countryside north of Nottingham.[2]

In April 2015, at the 2015 MCV Awards, video game magazine MCV named Bestwick "Person of the Year".[8] At the first Women in Games conference in September 2015, also organised by MCV, Bestwick was honoured with the "Hall of Fame" award.[9] At the second iteration of that conference, held in May 2016, Bestwick won the "Businesswoman of the Year" award.[10] At the 2016 Birthday Honours Bestwick was pronounced a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services in the video game industry.[11] At the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards, Bestwick was awarded in the category for "Outstanding Contribution to the UK Games Industry".[12]