Manchester-based esports organisation Diabolus Esports have secured new investment.
They have partnered with entrepreneur Les Kerr (pictured centre), who has invested a ‘significant sum’ and has known Diabolus directors Ash Boycott (left) and Nick Uttley (right) for several years already.
Diabolus CEO Nick Uttley said: “I am delighted to announce our partnership with Les. We have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to finalise the investment, alongside all of the other exciting news we have to share as an esports organisation and as a business. This gives us a solid foundation to build upon both short and long term.”
Diabolus were established last year and announced plans to create world-class org and open a training centre. They originally partnered with Gamebyte, however that deal has come to an end.
Diabolus are focused on CSGO and League of Legends right now and plan to move into other games in the future.
Les Kerr added: “Esports is a very exciting space to be operating within. It can be an amazing gateway through which many businesses can connect with a very active intelligent audience at many levels.”
Directors Ash Boycott and Nick Uttley said the future is bright for Diabolus Esports.
It’s been a rollercoaster few days for the organisation, as this news came just before Diabolus’ former CSGO players complained about the state of their gaming house.
‘We are excited for the future of UK esports’ – Nick speaks to ENUK
Nick Uttley told Esports News UK he is currently working on sorting the training centre location.
“There will be plans unveiled in the next week or so regarding the training centre, including showing off the plans and attracting sponsors,” he said.
“Les has invested a significant sum and now sits as part of our board of directors. Not only that but he also brings with him opportunity, contacts, experience and mentorship that is invaluable.
“Both myself and Ash are excited for the future and the plans we now have on our roadmap. We’re also excited for the future of UK esports as it’s clearly growing and hopefully that will attract more investment in to the scene as a whole, from school esports and education to competition, which has had little investment over the years domestically.”
Nick added on Twitter: “It just shows the UK is ready to move up to the level of other regions. It’s a very exciting time and we have alot more to follow on from this announcement.”
Who is the new investor?
Les Kerr first entered the Manchester business community back in 1988 when he established his own office supplies business called ZenOffice. From humble beginnings Les built a small empire by knocking on doors and doing his own deliveries.
ZenOffice became the largest independent operator in the North West and by the time the business was acquired earlier this year, it was one of the UK’s fastest growing Xerox Gold Concessionaire dealers that had won the Gold Concessionaire Partner of the Year on two consecutive occasions.
Kerr’s business portfolio includes a specialist IT services provider and a business interior design and fit out operation.
He said: “Without any doubt the route to market, as we have already seen with many successful ‘reach’ operations, is via businesses like Diabolus, who have a significant number of connections through which numerous products and services can be introduced.”
Investment is slowly starting to trickle into the UK esports scene. Last month exceL Esports announced new majority shareholders and more tournaments are taking place here, including the recently announced ePremier League.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
