Roger began his career with the company in 1990 when he joined Deith Leisure as financial controller. Deith Leisure was subsequently taken over by Sega when the Corton Beach Group went into administration. Under the reign and guidance of Bob Deith the Sega Group in the UK grew to over £100m turnover and 250 employees.
Sega rationalised the company in 1999, following a decline in demand for amusement machines. Parts of the company were sold off leaving just the distribution company and 11 employees. Roger was an integral part of that restructure.
Over the next 20 years Roger worked alongside CEO Paul Williams to grow the company again. “It has been an enjoyable 20+ years working with Paul and building a new team which has become a second family. We have seen our own game development grow and no longer rely solely on Sega Japan for games. Rebranding the company to Sega Amusements International Ltd (SAI) a few years ago and focusing on becoming an international company selling machines all over the world to major operators and distributors. SAI has truly become a global company which not only manufactures and develops games but also distributes 3rd party product and operates games,” commented Roger.
The company would like to extend a special thanks to all the accounting staff that have worked for Roger over the 31 years, especially to Siraj Elkhawad, who has now taken over the role of finance director for SAI.
In recent years Roger has been overseeing the expansion of SAI’s Operations division. Working closely with Dave Barnham the division has grown significantly with several thousand machines out on sites in the UK and Europe and are now able to service machines all over the UK and Eire. The Operations division is well managed with Dave Barnham and his team working closely with customers to offer them a package that suits their business.
Paul Williams commented: “Roger has been by my side for the past 20+ year through the good times and the bad times brought about by the ups and downs of this industry that we all love and enjoy. He has been an integral part of the company throughout. I want to personally thank him for all his hard work. I and everyone at SEGA will miss him.”