Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee’s creatives inspired Chancellor’s tax break concession

Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney and George Osborne at the Commonwealth Games Business Conference in Glasgow.
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney and George Osborne at the Commonwealth Games Business Conference in Glasgow.

Tayside’s top video games industry was one of the inspirations behind a massive tax break for creative industries, George Osborne has revealed.

The Chancellor said he had been urged not to intervene directly in the creative sector but had been convinced into action by what he had seen in Dundee.

He described the City of Discovery as a very good example” of how creative industries can operate, adding it made the “most compelling” case for the tax break for the computer games industry.

The break, recently approved by the EU Commission, is believed to support in excess of 10,000 jobs and be worth hundreds of millions of pounds to the UK gaming sector alone.

Mr Osborne told the Commonwealth Games Business Conference in Glasgow: “People have said I shouldn’t have intervened in this way.

“But I did step in to create specific tax breaks, not just for the film industry but also for animation, video game production and high-end television and special effects.

“And the result of that has been a massive increase in production in all of these sectors.

“When it came to video games, it was the case made from Dundee that was the most compelling it was a very good example that.”

However, Mr Osborne said the boost from the new tax breaks had spawned a new problem for the industry in the form of an emerging skills gap which had to be filled in the future.

His comments were welcomed by economic and video games industry leaders in Tayside.

Chairwoman of the Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce Sandra Burke said: “It’s absolutely right that our world-class games industry should be able to compete more fairly on the global stage.

“This city is a hotbed of digital creativity that supports thousands of highly-skilled jobs and we‘re not at all surprised to hear the Chancellor say it was Dundee’s case for this valuable tax break that was the most compelling.

“I feel sure it will stimulate investment and growth in the sector for years to come.”

Paul Durrant, director of business development at Abertay University, said: “Tax breaks are an important step for games companies of all sizes. And they’re one part of what these companies need to reach their full potential and to help Dundee grow and grow as a hub for the games industry.”