MASTERTRONIC BUYS REDBACK
Mastertronic Group - London - February 2007 - Mastertronic has announced that specialist sales agency, Redback Sales has been acquired by the Group.
James Cato will head up the sales team in the newly created role of Group Sales Director, responsible for sales of all of the games publishing labels namely Sold Out, PC Gamer Presents, MAD, Just Flight and Blast. Andy Hoskin will join the sales team as Key Account Manager.
James started his games industry career in 1990 at Commodore then enjoyed successful periods at Gametek (now known as Take 2), Eidos and GT Interactive working on brands such as Tomb Raider, Championship Manager, Duke Nukem and Driver. James then established Redback Sales Limited in 2001 with Jeremy Wigmore. Redback specialises in worldwide sales, licensing and distribution agreements and works for a number of third party publishers and developers.
Andy Hoskin started out at The Producers in 1996, now part of the Mastertronic Group, being responsible for manufacturing, procurement and distribution on behalf of a number of games publishers. After some life affirming travelling and a managerial position with a large nationwide company, Hoskin returned to the industry and joined Redback Sales in 2005.
Andy Payne Mastertronic Group's MD commented, "We're very pleased to add an established and successful sales agency to our portfolio. We already have a mix of products and services and a reputation forged on the principle that our customers come first. This move will be the foundation stone upon which we will expand ours and our customers' sales further overseas and also allow us the bandwidth to support multiple formats. "
James Cato added, "I have known Andy for a number of years, and Redback has been working with Just Flight for three years and recently with Blast. I am really looking forward to leading the sales team from the front. Mastertronic have impressed me with their strategic plans and it was an offer I simply could not refuse. I think that the extra resources and infrastructure that the Group provide will boost the existing Redback customers' product sales and that can only be good news for us and them."
Payne summed up, "Mark Watkins, Harley Homewood and Paul Hyslop all know James and Andy, and I am really pleased to say that we have a sales team of five which has all the attributes to maximise the potential of our products. We have the right mix in place now not only to consolidate our position as leaders in the value market, but to offer sales services to third party publishers, affiliates and developers."
www.mastertronic.com
For press information contact:
Kirsty Payne - PR and Communications
Email - kirsty.payne@mastertronic.com
Tel - 0845 234 4242
Mob - 07941 694930
About the Mastertronic Group Limited - Mastertronic is one of the best known electronic entertainment brands in Europe. It pioneered the European console market with its launch of the Sega Master System, invented the budget retail sector and built an international development and publishing operation under the Virgin Mastertronic label. The brand was subsequently relaunched as The Mastertronic Group Limited in 2003 by founder Frank Herman, together with Andy Payne and Garry Williams. The Group now leads the European value publishing sector through its retail brands M.A.D. (Mastertronic Added Dimension), Sold Out (the UK's largest-selling budget operation, acquired by the Group in 2004) and PC Gamer Presents, a unique quality-assured brand in association with the leading games magazine publisher Future Publishing.The Group also offers, through its wholly owned subsidiary The Producers Limited (also acquired in 2004) a 'cradle to grave' total turnkey service for physical product, from marketing through packaging and warehousing to retail and digital distribution. In addition, MAD 4 Games, a wireless channel for content delivery to mobile phones was established first quarter 2005.