Michael has the blueprint for success

Michael graduated from Northumbria University’s School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences (CEIS) with a BSc (Hons) Computer Games Software Engineering in 2007 and has gone on to start fledgling company, Gospelware, with fellow games professional Ryan Davies.  The pair can be confident of their business success, having been entered as finalists into Blueprint: The North East Universities Business Planning Competition.  

After being made redundant from a large games company that suffered the effects of the recession, Michael found it difficult to find another job within the competitive games industry.  Instead, he went on to complete some freelance projects with Ryan and consulted Northumbria University’s Enterprise Campus team.  

Michael and Ryan received support from Enterprise Campus’ Graham Baty, who advised them on creating their business plan.  Each of the region’s five universities hold their own business plan competitions and Gospelware won the Design category and was runner up in the Business Viability category at Northumbria University’s awards.  The winners from each university’s competition became the finalists in the Blueprint Competition.

Michael said: “I was totally amazed and delighted that we won our category and came runner up in the other.  We put a lot of hard work into our plan, but as I don’t have a business background I thought our plan might have been outshone by others.  We really enjoyed the awards and it gives us confidence to know that people like what we do.”      

The next key dates for the Blueprint Competition are a Meet the Finalists Evening on 16th September and the Grand Final Competition and Grand Final Awards Ceremony, which will be held on 21st October.  Michael is looking forward to the event and the effect it will have on Gospelware: “If we win it would be fantastic.  Having seen the quality of the other finalists I know we’ve got real competition, but we’ll give it a good go. Winning or coming runner up would give us added exposure and solidify the fact that we have a great business idea.”

Regardless of the outcome, the company has ambitious plans for the future.  Currently, they are focusing on the Google Android platform, but later plan to offer the development of games and applications for iPhone and iPad.  To facilitate their planned expansion, Michael and Ryan have recently moved to a new office within Gateshead International Business Centre.  Michael said: “This would not have been possible without the continued support from Northumbria University’s Enterprise Campus, specifically Graham Baty and Gateshead Council.  Our aim is to firmly establish ourselves as the ‘go-to’ company for application and game development for smartphone devices.”

For more information about Gospelware, please visit www.gospelware.co.uk and for more information about the Blueprint Competition, please visit www.blueprintcompetition.co.uk