New vision for Gem as Croft joins team

Gem wants to move into new areas of games, and claim more business from its rivals in 2011.

And it’s hired former GAME man Alex Croft to help make that happen.

Croft, who left the retailer in the summer, strengthens the distributor’s exec team as group strategic development director. He plans to help the business improve relationships with publishers and retailers, and examine new opportunities in games.

I have long had a real respect for Alex – we can use his core competencies, including web and digital talents, as we look to grow our sphere of influence in games,” Gem MD Chris Peacock told MCV.

We already have strong relationships with the likes of Ubisoft, Take-Two, Codemasters and Microsoft.

But we don’t have the direct relationships with some that we should – Alex can help us secure that.

We want to get much closer to publishers and retailers.”
Croft’s most recent role saw him as MD of the online businesses at GAME, Gamestation and Gameplay.

For me, this is about bringing together what Gem offers already across divisions like Gem Creative and Gem Logistics. We will expand our business to reflect a growing market,” said Croft.

And, yes, that means Gem is stepping up to Centresoft.

We’re a credible alternative. Being independent, Southern-based and financially stable puts us in a position to secure a bigger chunk of the business than we currently have,” Peacock added.