The Nottingham-based company told employees this morning of the decision, which appears to have been with immediate effect.

Monumental’s chief operating officer, Paul Mayze, told How-Do that it came following a restructure of the Group:

“Ultimately, it will lead to efficiency gains for the company as a whole, but it has, unfortunately, led to some redundancies. It is not a decision that we have taken lightly.”

Mayze wouldn’t say how many staff were likely to lose their jobs as he said discussions were ongoing - the final decision regarding the office was only made on Tuesday.

Just over a year ago the company was awarded a £140k grant from the NWDA to secure the future of the Salford base, which it opened in November 2009 when it bought Swordfish Studios.

At the time 23 people worked there.

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Comments (12)

5  By Nick Rhind , on 06-04-2010 10:33 I do find it interesting that these opportunities for growth, employing people and investing in new prototypes is not made available to companies already in the Northwest.     Hey i could be wrong and its just that i don’t know the right people but im sure theres a number of companies who could have benefited from grants to develop their business.    I agree the NWDA should be looked into and explain or backup their decision. 140k is a lot and for it only to have been awarded less than a year ago thats a lot of wasteage. If it had ran for 2 years then i don’t think it would have to be backed up as much to why they were awarded.    if the NWDA could be more transparent or involve the community they would most likely get support. The only stories i read are very negative with failings. Where are the positives?    If you compare it to creative credits that was a successful campaign for many digital agencies that brough in growth, healthy competition and awareness. Very transparent to whos on the lsit who got awarded and for what. They should be doing more campaigns like this in my opinion.    Im interested in seeing what else people think as this is from my experiences and from speaking with other agencies. Report

7  By Matthew Hill , on 06-04-2010 18:30 I'm not going to comment on quangos etc. However It's worth clarifying that this grant was dependant on Monumental growing their studio headcount to 22. As this did not happen I'm assuming no grant was ever paid.    (Source Gamesindustry.biz - I can't post a link as you need to register with the site)    The North West Games Industry has taken a lot of blows recently with cuts at Sony and Juice (THQ) to name a few. Nevertheless Monumental are certainly one of the stronger companies operating in a very tough and challenging market.     Also I don't work for Monumental and they aren't even a client of mine ! Report

11  By Simon Wharton , on 07-04-2010 13:50 I think credit is due to NWDA for actually noticing this and making a reasoned response. To say it should have been quicker is splitting hairs. Not many other quangoish bodies are even thinking about this form of media management so a big thumbs up from me to Erica Report