Game expands COO role

Game has given chief operating officer Terry Scicluna responsibility for the chain and its subsidiary chain Gamestation in the UK and Ireland. He has also been appointed to its board.

Scicluna, who joined from Boots last October and was previously managing director of chemist chain Unichem, will oversee brand strategy for the two brands as part of his role.

The marketing teams at the two brands will continue to report to the two UK and Ireland managing directors, Tricia Brennan at Game and Martyn Gibbs at Gamestation, who in turn will report to Scicluna.

The move comes as the group today (January 13) posted a 9.5% like-for-like sales increase in the UK and Ireland for the 50 weeks to January 10. The high-street chain now expects full year group gross profit to be ahead of market expectations at £122m – a 38% year-on-year jump.

Festive and New Year sales were up by 10% in the UK and Ireland compared to the six weeks to January 10 in 2008. However, the retailer says it is taking a “more cautious approach to expansion” and will be instilling “strong cost disciplines” in 2009 in the face of tough economic conditions.

However, it says “significant changes to the competitive landscape with some competitors having limited availability of stock or ceasing to trade” has boosted its sales. Two of its biggest competitors, Woolworths and Zavvi, collapsed at the end of last year.

Computer game sales have “remained strong” across in the face of almost uniformly plummeting sales in other non-food sectors, according to today’s British Retail Consortium third quarter report.