Environmental, Social and Governance

Talent Development Strategy

At everyplay group plc., we are committed to a comprehensive and forward-thinking Talent Development Strategy that ensures we meet the evolving needs of our businesses in an ever-changing industry. By proactively identifying, attracting, and nurturing talent across our companies, we aim to cultivate a sustainable, diverse, and dynamic workforce at every level of the organization.

Our approach includes data-driven workforce planning, where we use analytics to anticipate talent gaps, project future hiring needs, and develop targeted recruitment strategies aligned with business growth and market trends. Each company within the Group also supports talent attraction initiatives, including the creation of interactive careers maps by Team17, as well as the launch of the Team17 Careers Discord Page, which fosters networking and communication between existing and future talent.

We partner with colleges and educational bodies to nurture early careers, offering internships, graduate programs, and apprenticeships. For instance, Team17 collaborates with a third-party to train IT apprentices, while astragon and StoryToys participate in graduate traineeship programs, ensuring an influx of new talent. These initiatives are complemented by structured “buddy systems”, pairing new hires with experienced team members to aid integration and foster a supportive work environment.

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is a core part of our strategy. We actively engage in initiatives like Games Careers Week in collaboration with our She17 affinity group, and we support three community groups — LGBT17, She17, and Disability17 — to ensure safe spaces and representation for all employees. StoryToys is also actively working to increase female representation in technical roles, demonstrating our focus on diversity across all functions. Additionally, we host events such as career evenings, providing opportunities for young people from underrepresented communities to learn about careers in the gaming industry.

DEI Committee

We have created a new cross-Group team to accelerate our work on DEI – looking to follow through on specific topics and inform Group priorities in partnership with the ESG Committee.

Training & Development

Our endeavours in human capital development means ensuring the continuous professional and personal growth of our diverse workforce. By nurturing a culture of learning and development, we empower our team members to reach their full potential in a self-directed and supported way. We have set up a number of programmes across our Group companies to prepare our workforce with the skills they need and to open up new opportunities for progression.

everplay recognises the importance of learning, in work and in life! Our employees are given dedicated time and space to invest in their learning; whether it’s through dedicated paid time off to learn (6 days a year in Team17), financial assistance for certification programs, job-specific training programs or access to learning platforms so individuals can learn and access learning content at their own pace. We extend our learning support to all categories of employees including trainees, apprentices, part-time staff members, fixed-term and permanent staff members.

As part of the human capital development approach, individual businesses within the Group have made decisions to actively partner with third level institutions to shape educational curricula and support graduate traineeship and apprenticeship programs as part of our talent pipelining.

Employee Voice

We integrate employee voice into our practices, frequently engaging with our employee groups to help influence the direction in which our businesses are going. We carry out an annual engagement survey (since 2023) to seek feedback from our employees on what matters to them during their employment lifecycle and act on what needs to be introduced or enhanced. In 2024, we conducted a combined Group engagement survey rather than individual company surveys, covering similar themes to the 2023 survey. This survey spanned five companies, with 271 participants and a total response rate of 78% (over 80% in 2023).

Performance conversations and feedback mechanisms are another important part of fostering employee voice within everplay as they provide a structured platform for individuals to express their thoughts, concerns, and ideas related to their work. We encourage regular 1:1s to not only allow employees to share their perspectives on their performance, but also contribute to a culture of open communication and trust. By actively involving our people in performance conversations, we strive to empower them, enhance their engagement, and create a collaborative environment that values and integrates the diverse voices within our workforce.

In 2024, StoryToys was recognized for its employee-centric approach, earning the accolade of one of the Best Places to Work, further showcasing our commitment to creating positive, inclusive working environments. To ensure our working environment remains as open and transparent as possible, we conduct regular feedback sessions with our employees through focus groups, gathering feedback from our community groups — such as Green17, LGBT+17, AllTogetherNow and She17 — as well as Q&A sessions during our townhalls and All Hands meetings, and our annual engagement survey.