355:, Nottingham in 2007. By 2017 it was turning over millions of pounds each year and employed 91 staff. It is now based in Lenton and is probably the second largest wargames company in the UK. Stallard has said of the lead belt: "Americans in particular are astonished that all the toy soldier companies come from Nottinghamshire". The lead belt is a popular destination for wargames tourists from across the world, one Canadian company runs regular tours of the manufacturers in the region. Priestley remained at Games Workshop until 2010 and has since joined Warlord as a consultant. He has said that "practically every single toy soldier company based in the East Midlands is run by people, or substantially run by people, who used to work at Games Workshop".
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332:. These companies account for 90% of the British wargames miniature market. Associated companies such as mouldmakers, games publishers and magazine publishers are also based in the region. Because miniatures tend to be cast to order rather than held in stock, manufacturers have not found it economic to outsource abroad, helping to keep the focus on the East Midlands. Many of these companies employ former Games Workshop staff, the company forming a pool of talent for the local area.
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Games
Workshop produces only fantasy and science fiction miniatures. Some of its designers have interests in historical miniatures and have set up their own businesses to produce these, in their kitchens or garden sheds. As a result, the East Midlands, has become a focus of the wargames miniature
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in 1979. Many former Games
Workshop staff have gone on to found other manufacturers in the area and the 8—10 companies in the lead belt account for 90% of the British wargames miniature market. Because of the concentration of wargaming businesses the lead belt is the subject of organised tours for
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in 1997. It has since expanded to a global company and the biggest in the industry; by 2015 Games
Workshop had an annual turnover of £119m, employed 1,650 staff and operated 400 shops. The expanded further in 2020 with the construction of a new 177,500 square feet (16,490 m) warehouse at the
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they decided not to and instead moved Games
Workshop to Nottinghamshire. Ansell's workforce grew from 13 to 200 quickly. He incorporated Citadel as a brand within Games Workshop and moved to a larger site at
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in 1983 to produce historical miniatures, it was taken over by Bryan Ansell in 2000 and is currently based at a converted stable in his home at
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industry. It has become known as the "lead belt" because early miniatures were made from lead alloys; modern miniatures are often of
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Ansell considered moving his family and business to Games
Workshop's base in London but after viewing the company's premises in
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Map showing the "lead belt" of
Nottinghamshire – click on the link above to see the locations mentioned in the article.
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118:. It proved popular, driving sales of Citadel's fantasy range, and Ansell led a management buyout of Games Workshop.
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to take advantage of
Nottingham-based experts. Others include Theme 17, Miniature Figurines (in
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in 2008, and Perry
Miniatures founded by Citadel and Games Workshop sculptors (until 2014)
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382:) and The Assault Group (in Broxtowe). Associated companies include magazine publisher
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Around 8–10 manufacturing companies are based in the lead belt as well as a number of
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One-hour
Wargames: Practical Tabletop Battles for those with Limited Time and Space
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or plastic (Games
Workshop miniatures have not contained lead since the 1990s).
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106:. Citadel originally made mainly historical miniatures but a fantasy game,
510:"Why Games Workshop is worth more than Marks & Spencer and Centrica"
374:. New Zealand-based company Battlefront Miniatures has a large base in
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manufacturer in the world. Games Workshop was brought to Nottingham by
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567:
As Told in the Great Hall: The Wargamer's Guide to Dark Age Britain
428:"How Nottingham became the centre of miniature wargaming industry"
20:
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Raise the Clans: The Wargamer's Guide to the Jacobite Britain
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by the mid 1980s. The company also rented four warehouses at
485:"Work on new Games Workshop distribution facility completed"
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manufacturers based there. A key factor is the location of
539:"Dungeons & Dragons: The revival of a 'geeky' pastime"
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Grand Battery: A Guide and Rules for Napoleonic Wargames
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in 1975 as a distributor of American-made games such as
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SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway in nearby
362:, formed by former Games Workshop managing director
595:Sutherland, Jon; Canwell, Diane (1 January 2011).
57:in the early 1980s. Ansell had previously founded
25:Games Workshop headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham
459:"Larger than life figures from Games Workshop"
388:in Beeston and game publisher and distributor
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82:, a wargames miniature manufacturer run by
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134:and opened design studios in Nottingham
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70:Origins with Citadel and Games Workshop
33:is a name given to part of the English
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358:Other companies in the region include
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564:Hackett, Martin (15 October 2013).
457:Walsh, Dominic (8 December 2020).
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657:Thomas, Neil (3 September 2014).
335:Ansell's father Clifford founded
16:Part of the English East Midlands
626:Hackett, Martin (15 June 2014).
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94:. Livingstone and Jackson, with
483:Johnson, Robin (22 July 2020).
426:Robinson, Dan (26 March 2017).
66:wargamers from North America.
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41:, because of the number of
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705:Economy of Nottinghamshire
351:from his kitchen table at
128:Eastwood, Nottinghamshire
76:Newark, Nottinghamshire
63:Newark, Nottinghamshire
49:, the biggest wargames
368:Alan and Michael Perry
104:Dungeons & Dragons
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385:Wargames Illustrated
700:Business in England
665:Pen and Sword Books
634:Amberley Publishing
603:Casemate Publishers
572:Amberley Publishing
159:Other manufacturers
140:Lenton, Nottingham
80:Citadel Miniatures
59:Citadel Miniatures
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674:978-1-4738-2290-0
643:978-1-4456-2145-6
612:978-1-84415-941-3
581:978-1-4456-2146-3
116:Richard Halliwell
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710:Miniatures games
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438:on 26 March 2017
434:. Archived from
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112:Rick Priestley
100:Games Workshop
98:, had founded
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545:. 25 May 2018
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516:. 2 July 2020
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35:East Midlands
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547:. Retrieved
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518:. Retrieved
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466:. Retrieved
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440:. Retrieved
436:the original
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360:Mantic Games
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330:sole traders
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84:Bryan Ansell
73:
55:Bryan Ansell
37:, including
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28:
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262:East Stoke
136:Lace Market
123:Hammersmith
689:Categories
396:References
372:Bilborough
341:East Stoke
298:Nottingham
238:Bilborough
96:John Peake
74:From 1979
39:Nottingham
549:24 August
520:25 August
468:25 August
463:The Times
442:24 August
380:Newthorpe
214:Newthorpe
132:Giltbrook
108:Warhammer
51:miniature
31:lead belt
543:BBC News
353:Ropewalk
202:Broxtowe
43:wargames
376:Beeston
226:Beeston
671:
640:
609:
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286:Newark
250:Lenton
190:6miles
153:pewter
669:ISBN
638:ISBN
607:ISBN
576:ISBN
551:2021
522:2021
470:2021
444:2021
188:10km
114:and
90:and
29:The
370:in
61:at
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
