MCV Awards 2015: Games Centre’s Craig Kennedy named Store Manager of the Year

The winner of the new Store Manager of the Year prize at this year’s MCV Awards was Games Centre Irvine’s Craig Kennedy.

In a video shown on the night, staff from the Scottish retailer praised Kennedy for his store’s performance, and for his method of going directly to prospective customers on platforms like Gumtree.

"It’s very easy to get caught up in his energy and excitement," area manager Craig MacFarlane said.

"He was looking to drive more custom into store, and was trying new methods that people were maybe afraid to try before. He very proactively started looking at Facebook, Gumtree and Ebay – loads of local e-commerce channels. His branch ended up strolling ahead."

Store Manager of the Year was one of three new awards this year. The other two new nods were Unsung Hero and Person of the Year, which were taken away by Nintendo UK’s James Honeywell and Team 17 boss Debbie Bestwick respectively.

Find out why Kennedy was named Store Manager of the Year in the video below:

Over 71 companies from across the entire games industry competed closely for recognition in 22 different categories.??

Three brand new special accolades were also up for grabs, going to outstanding individuals recognised as Unsung Hero, Person of the Year and Store Manager of the Year, as well as three inaugural company award categories: Media Team, Agency Team and Independent Games Publisher.??

The partners of this year’s event were IGN, Gamescom, Curse, PDP, IGN, Green Man Gaming, Playwire, Respondez, OP, Scanavo, Click Entertainment, A4T and Novobox.?Here is the list of winners in full:??

GAMES RETAILER: GAME?

?INDIE RETAILER: Games Centre

??NEW GAMES BRAND: Destiny (Bungie/Activision)??

SALES TRIUMPH: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (WB Games UK)??

PERIPHERALS AND ACCESSORIES BRAND: Turtle Beach??

BUYING TEAM: GAME Digital??

MARKETING TEAM: PlayStation UK??

DIGITAL MARKETING TEAM: Electronic Arts??

TRADE MARKETING TEAM: PlayStation UK??

PR TEAM: WB Games UK

AGENCY TEAM: Indigo Pearl??

COMMUNITY TEAM: GAME??

DISTRIBUTION TEAM: CentreSoft??

EXPORT TEAM: Ubisoft??

MEDIA TEAM: Twitch??

SALES TEAM: Xbox UK??

INDIE GAMES LABEL: 505 Games??

GAME CAMPAIGN: Destiny (Bungie/Activision)??

GAMES PUBLISHER: WB Games UK??

PERSON OF THE YEAR: Debbie Bestwick, Team 17??

UNSUNG HERO: James Honeywell, Nintendo UK??

STORE MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Craig Kennedy, Games Centre