Recently, I was interviewed by Propel Finance, who visited our offices at the Glass House, the old AstraZeneca campus just outside Macclesfield. It's a beautiful location with a real campus feel: you drive in through stunning grounds with walking trails everywhere. It's the kind of place I thought, you know, I would actually want to come to work.
The Airship Journey
I started the company after working for architectural firms in London, advertising agencies, automotive advertising, and films. I got my feet wet with a lot of different industries.
What I found was that games was a huge challenge. I was an artist, and I really enjoyed solving challenges for different clients and making graphics as realistic as they can possibly be. Graphics are getting better and better, new experiences, new technology all the time. You could really dive into that, and I did.
What We Do
There are great people out there who've got ideas for games and funding, they come up with the concept. What we do is come in and do all of the artwork. Whether it's characters, weapons, vehicles, environments, full-scale vegetation, or stylised characters, we come in and do all of that.
We've worked on Fortnite, Call of Duty, FIFA, and PGA Tour 2025, digitising golf courses like St Andrews and creating all the vegetation you see on the courses.
There are games that people go home and play, and then they come here and work on those very games.
A Global Team
We've got about 60 people in the UK and artists scattered across Europe, Nigeria, Asia, America, and Latin America. We need that global reach because 90% of our clients aren't in the UK.
We're focused on establishing ourselves as a go-to partner for full-scale art and game production, working with UK companies to take advantage of Video Games Expenditure Credits. It can be really cost-effective to use a UK-based partner rather than going abroad.
Looking After Our People
Looking after employees is so important, wherever they're located. At Airship, they're part of the team, whether freelance or fully employed. We've got one of the best freelance network programs in the industry.
I care about the people we employ because I was there as well, I was one of those at some point. We're always trying to find new initiatives to help grow people professionally and personally.
Why "Airship"?
Airship was this symbol for me, a symbol of freedom, of a romanticised era of development and industry and creativity. The fact that you're just free in the air to go your own path with no one stopping you or putting you in a certain trajectory. As a business owner and an artist, I wanted to be completely free.
The Barclays Award
Winning the Barclays Scale-Up Award was shocking. I was completely happy just being there, seeing all the great companies that were part of it. It was a time to stop, reflect, and just be happy and proud of what we built, a little bit of recognition for all the hard work everyone puts in.
