Shoreditch seems to be becoming a magnet for top UK-based esports organisations – Fnatic moved there in 2017, Excel in 2021, and now Guild Esports will be opening an office there.
Today Guild Esports – the org backed by David Beckham – has announced it has signed a 10-year property lease for the creation of its global esports Guild Academy and corporate headquarters in London’s Shoreditch area.
The almost 10,000 sq ft facility is located in London’s technology hub and will open in the second quarter of 2022, between April and June. It will provide a ‘state-of-the-art’ physical space for the Guild Academy to complement and support its online training portal for budding esports stars and players.
The premises will also act as a head office for Guild and a central hub for its global operations, and Guild is already speaking with potential sponsors in terms of naming rights deals for the headquarters.
The news comes a few days after Guild Esports announced its biggest ever sponsorship deal worth £4.5m with Bitstamp.
Modelled partly on the football academies set up by leading Premier League clubs, the Guild Academy will include esports training rooms, equipment, and gaming spaces. There will also be a specialist fitness training physio and psyche room to support the mental and physical wellbeing of Guild’s pro and upcoming players.
The HQ will house a content and editing suite, plus streaming rooms. There will also be a partner activation area and a Guild merchandise shop at high street level.
Endpoint is another UK org with links in Shoreditch. Its partners CeX is opening a new HQ in Shoreditch and Endpoint will have a dedicated space there also, alongside Endpoint’s main HQ in Sheffield.
Other related businesses in the area include the Red Bull Gaming Sphere, gaming bar Platform, marketing agency Kairos Media. Shoreditch has a tech cluster, and other successful organisations have opened offices there in the past, such as Moshi Monsters firm Mind Candy.
“I am really excited by the new global headquarters for Guild, which also sees the creation of a new home for the Guild Academy. This marks the next important stage in building Guild’s position as one of the world’s top esports organisations and it will be a focal point for our players, creators and our many global fans.”
David Beckham, Guild Esports
Located at 2 Chance Street, London E1 6JT, the Guild premises are being leased from Truman Estates Ltd and comprises three floors including a large roof terrace which will be used for hosting Guild events and sponsor-led campaigns.
Refit of the site, which was previously used as offices and a workshop, is underway. The lease terms include a 26-month rent-free period and a tenant-only break clause after five years.
Additionally, Guild’s full year financial results will be announced on January 31st 2022.
Kal Hourd, chief executive of Guild Esports, said: “The creation of an iconic location for our Guild Academy and headquarters in London’s hottest technology hub will serve as a beacon and inspiration to our global fanbase, content creators, sponsors and other stakeholders.
“In addition to nurturing new talent and providing state of the art training grounds for our pro teams, we also expand upon brand recognition and unlock a range of commercialisation opportunities, which we look forward to realising in due course.”
David Beckham, co-owner of Guild and inspiration behind the Guild Academy, said: “I am really excited by the new global headquarters for Guild, which also sees the creation of a new home for the Guild Academy. This marks the next important stage in building Guild’s position as one of the world’s top esports organisations and it will be a focal point for our players, creators and our many global fans.”
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.
