BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Debbie Bestwick is an industry leader with over 30 years in the games industry and is one of the founding members of Team17. Initially leading Team17’s Sales and Marketing department, Debbie went on to become responsible for all of the commercial and legal aspects of the business, working globally with top tier games distributors, publishers, developers, and licence partners. Debbie became joint CEO in 2009 and sole CEO in 2010, leading the company through its 2011 management buy-out and subsequent sale of a minority stake to LDC in 2016. Debbie was awarded an MBE for services to the video games industry in 2016, joint winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year UK Disruptor category in 2017 and was awarded the inaugural Outstanding Contribution to the UK Games Industry at the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards. Previously Debbie has been honoured with the Hall of Fame award at the European Women in Games Conference 2015 and MCV Person of the Year award in 2015.

Mark was appointed Chief Financial Officer in April 2020, having initially joined as Interim CFO in November 2019. Mark has over 30 years’ experience with a decade at Executive and Board level and is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant. He joined Team17 from TravelUp, a privately-owned online travel business, where he was Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Mark was Chief Financial Officer of TP Group plc, an AIM-listed specialist technology, energy and defence business, and prior to that held a number of positions with large corporates, including Glaxo Pharmaceuticals, PepsiCo Restaurants, Gondola Restaurants and more recently Kingfisher plc, supporting their major pan-European supply chain and logistics transformation programme.

Steve was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in September 2023. Steve joined Team17 from Iris Worldwide Holdings Limited (“Iris”), a global integrated marketing agency specialising in brand and digital marketing strategy. Steve amassed extensive digital marketing expertise at Iris, having held numerous senior leadership roles since co-founding Iris in 1999, including the role of Global Group Chief Executive since 2021. Steve managed over 1000 employees in 14 offices around the world, and oversaw Iris’ work with some of the biggest, most creatively driven and technologically advanced global brands and was instrumental in developing and delivering Iris’ commercial and M&A strategies. Prior to co-founding Iris, Steve worked for the advertising and retail agency Arc Worldwide, spending over five years working across a number of high-profile integrated accounts. Steve sits on Team17’s Nomination Committee.

Chris joined the Board of Directors in 2018, prior to Team17’s IPO. Chris has a wealth of executive and board level experience across the gaming, retail and technology sectors. He currently serves as Non-Executive Chair of AIM-listed OnTheMarket plc, having overseen the company’s IPO in 2018 and now sits on its Remuneration, Audit and Nomination committees. Chris has been a Non-Executive Director of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises since 2016, and as of February 2022, has been Chair of Codere Group SA, a Spanish-based LATAM-focused gambling business, for which he also sits on key governance committees. After holding senior marketing positions at Allied Lyons plc, Chris joined Ladbroke Group plc in 1991, becoming Managing Director of its Racing Division in 1995. In 2000, he became Chief Executive of Ladbrokes Worldwide and joined the board of Hilton Group plc. Following the sale of the Hilton International Hotel Division, Chris served as Chief Executive of Ladbrokes plc until 2010. Chris has also held Non-Executive Director positions at Spirit Pub Company plc (2011 to 2015), Gaming Realms plc (2017 to 2018), served as a Senior Independent Director at Quintain Estates and Development plc (2010 to 2015) and Rank Group plc (2015 to 2021), alongside a number of other plc board positions.

Frank is an experienced executive and entrepreneur with a successful track record in the video games industry. He brings over 25 years of gaming sector experience to the Board, having held roles in plc, private equity, and senior positions at Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Acclaim Entertainment, Double Fusion, and Funcom. In 2014, Frank was appointed CEO of Codemasters. During his tenure he led the transformation and restructuring of the business, building one of the most iconic racing games development studios and publishers of the F1 racing brand, before leading the company’s successful IPO in 2018. Codemasters was later acquired by EA in 2021 (NASDAQ: EA), in a deal worth $1.2bn. Frank is currently serving as non-executive Chairman for video game developers nDreams and Steel City Interactive.

Penny joined the Team17 Board in 2018 in advance of the successful IPO on AIM. Penny has over 30 years’ experience in Compliance, Regulation, Corporate Finance and Audit. Penny is currently a Non-Executive Director of AIM-listed LendInvest, Alpha Financial Markets Consulting plc and TruFin plc and serves as Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of both latter companies. She was previously Non-Executive Chair of FTSE250 listed Plus500. Penny was, until June 2016, a Managing Director and EMEA Head of Compliance at Nomura International plc, a position she held for three years. Prior to this, Penny worked at UBS Investment Bank for nine years and held the position of Managing Director, EMEA Head of Compliance. Penny also acted as Head of Equity Markets at the London Stock Exchange and qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Peter was appointed Non-Executive Director in August 2023, and is Chair of Team17’s Remuneration Committee. Peter is a highly experienced NED, having spent over ten years in several non-executive roles across a wide range of boards. Beginning his career as an equity research analyst at Panmure Gordon, Peter later moved to UBS where he specialised in UK Technology, Engineering and Automotive sectors, before going on to become Chief Operating Officer of UBS European Equity Research. Since leaving UBS in 2011, Peter has served on a variety of boards, including FDM Group plc, Aptitude Software plc, and Keystone Law plc, and has occupied all of the major non-executive board roles.