Esports tournament operator ESL UK has announced that UK staff members whose roles were at risk have taken voluntary redundancy.
ESL says this move has been taken ‘to align with ESL’s global restructuring plans to streamline operations’, and that it is ‘in no way a reflection of ESL UK’s operational performance or the current UK esports industry, both of which has been growing year-on-year’.
The confirmation of staff redundancies comes after ESL said in a leaked memo earlier this month that ESL UK staff jobs were ‘at risk’ as part of a company restructure.
UK operations at ESL will be supported by centralised teams in Poland and Germany.
As previously reported by Esports UK, ESL UK business will carry on as usual, meaning tournaments like the ESL Premiership will continue to take place, as will the esports viewing R&D initiative, the Weavr project.
ESL UK CEO James Dean said:
“The ESL UK mission has always been to grow UK esports and we remain 100% committed to that cause.”
James Dean, ESL UK
“We therefore look forward to returning on January 2nd after the Christmas break when the office will reopen and we will continue to contribute to the burgeoning UK esports scene.
“I am incredibly proud of the achievements the UK entity has had over the past eight years. We have organised hugely successful events such as the ESL Premiership and ESL One events that both players and fans love.”
ESL added that its UK office has worked carefully with ESL Germany to put in place ‘stringent plans’ to support ongoing projects in the UK.
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.
