{"id":4621,"date":"2025-07-21T14:12:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T13:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/?p=4621"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:43:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:43:00","slug":"board-game-retailer-zatu-games-denies-exploiting-low-paid-apprentices-toxic-work-culture-claims-after-wave-of-online-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/board-game-retailer-zatu-games-denies-exploiting-low-paid-apprentices-toxic-work-culture-claims-after-wave-of-online-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Board game retailer Zatu Games denies exploiting low-paid apprentices, ‘toxic’ work culture claims after wave of online criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the UK’s biggest board game retailers, Zatu Games<\/a>, has moved to fend off a wave of online criticism claiming it exploits low-paid apprentices and runs a toxic ‘hire-and-fire’ culture in its growing warehouse operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zatu has been hit with a spate of reviews over the past few months slamming the business on jobsite Indeed<\/a>, where it posts adverts for its warehouse roles, as well as on workplace review website Glassdoor<\/a> and via a series<\/a> of excoriating<\/a> Reddit posts<\/a>, which have since been deleted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those reviews allege a range of poor practices at the company, including abuse of the UK’s apprenticeship program, which allows companies to bring in staff on less than the regular minimum wage – as little as \u00a37.55 per hour – in order to provide training and support for their future employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple reviews and online posts claim Zatu runs an exploitative revolving-door operation with its apprentice staff, bringing them in on low wages and overworking them while providing little useful training, before letting them go in order to bring on new apprentices and begin the cycle again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those claims were emphatically denied by Zatu’s commercial director David Budd, who spoke at length to BoardGameWire about the stream of recent criticism in the company’s first public acknowledgement of the situation. That Q&A interview is presented in full below this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zatu Games commercial director David Budd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Budd, the brother of Zatu CEO and co-founder Simon Budd, said, “We take our apprenticeship programme seriously – it\u2019s one of the most important ways we offer people a genuine entry point into the tabletop and board game industry, which can otherwise be difficult to access, and we\u2019re proud to help bring fresh talent into the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“An apprenticeship is, by its very nature, a fixed-term programme. It provides a year to 18 months of hands-on experience alongside structured learning, mentoring, and regular feedback, but it doesn\u2019t automatically guarantee a permanent role at the end. That\u2019s true across most businesses who offer apprenticeships.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, “We adhere strictly to the rules of the scheme, and if apprentices weren\u2019t receiving the desired training and development from our programmes, we would be struck off from the scheme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Many apprentices are kept after the scheme, but this isn\u2019t a requirement of it. We would welcome any apprentices who feel they\u2019ve been let down by their experience at Zatu to contact us – we genuinely want to do right by those who trust us with their future and their career. These schemes are strictly governed, with apprentices meeting their training provider on a monthly basis.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budd told BoardGameWire that about 9% of its 76 employees are currently on apprenticeships, and added that its apprentices “are, and always have been, paid above the minimum wage set by the government, and there are opportunities to increase this throughout their apprenticeship as they gain more skills”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar criticism has been levelled at Zatu from former workers claiming it also runs a ‘hire-and-fire’ strategy for its other warehouse staff, as well as making unrealistic demands for how many orders employees can pick within an hour. A string of other recent complaints have accused Zatu of bringing in temporary staff for busy periods such as Christmas under the pretence they were being hired for longer-term roles – again, something Budd and Zatu forcefully denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budd told BoardGameWire that although seasonal temp workers skew Zatu’s turnover figures, 69% of its staff from June last year remained employed by the company 12 months later – above the 58.4% average for retail and wholesale reported by HR-focused professional standards organisation the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, which uses data from the UK’s Office of National Statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that its seasonal roles are “clearly labelled as a casual contract, not a permanent one”, but added: “However, we understand that some applicants may have felt that the job advert was unclear, and we appreciate the reviews that highlighted this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We apologise to anyone who felt let down – and we\u2019re genuinely grateful for the feedback. We don\u2019t see it as an indictment of our practices, but rather as an opportunity to improve them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budd continued, “Like all retailers, we bring in a significant number of seasonal workers during the Christmas season. All seasonal workers take part in a paid operational interview where they are fully health and safety trained, taught how to do the job, and trial it for three days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the end of that trial, those that like the job and are a great fit with the team are offered the role. Obviously, some opt not to continue with the role (retail warehouse work isn\u2019t for everyone). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the end of the Christmas period, we unfortunately need to reduce warehouse staff numbers back to normal levels, so lose a proportion of these new colleagues – but we try where we can to find roles for those that want to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“From the last Christmas cohort, we hired 12 of the 40 temporary warehouse staff into permanent roles, including three based in the office.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, “It\u2019s regretful that often at the end of the season we have to let go of great people who we\u2019ve loved having as part of the  team, and understandably those staff are often frustrated by this – and as a consequence, it can lead to negative reviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019ve done this nine times in our company lifecycle, and each year we iterate on our staffing and processes. Seasonal expectations are consistently one of the biggest challenges that retail companies face, and whilst we freely admit that we still don\u2019t get everything right, we improve on this every year and we look forward to taking the feedback from last time round and doing it better next time round.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budd confirmed that the claim made online that Zatu warehouse staff are expected to pick 120 units per hour was accurate, but said the figure was not outside of industry standards for e-commerce warehouse work, and that the company’s warehouse management software was “built to make this a very achievable target”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Warehouse staff at Zatu Games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He said, “Pickers follow optimised routes with no backtracking. Popular items are stored in multiple locations to allow for the shortest picking routes based on the proximity of other items in the same orders. The software also prioritises accessible items, manages travel distances and routes,  and reduces the need to reach high shelves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That\u2019s why many of our pickers can exceed 200 units per hour – for example, one pickwave might simply involve placing 50 copies of a game into a cage to be packed. That could take five minutes and would give an effective picking speed of 600 units per hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Clearly, not all pickwaves are this efficient, but experienced pickers can regularly achieve 200 units per hour, with the target for most staff being a very achievable 120.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added ,”Outside of the initial trial shift, where being able to meet this picking target is part of demonstrating good team fit, no member of the warehouse team has been dismissed for failing to meet 120 units per hour in at least the last two years.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budd acknowledged to BoardGameWire that in addition to the recent spate of negative employee reviews, other online criticism from former workers stretches back several years – something he ascribed to the company’s faster-than-expected growth and unexpected challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reviews mean Zatu is currently rated 3.3 out of 5 on Glassdoor, and 3.8 out of 5 on Indeed. The Glassdoor data shows that 53% of Zatu employees who have contributed to the site would recommend the company to a friend, while only 49% approve of CEO Simon Budd, who co-founded the business with his wife Treena in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Budd told BoardGameWire, “Much of our nine-year history coincided with the Covid pandemic, which brought rapid and unpredictable growth across the whole industry. That period naturally put pressure on our warehouse team, and we\u2019ve learned a lot from it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Zatu has grown incredibly quickly – from a small startup that was born because our founder was frustrated that he couldn\u2019t source a particular game in the UK, to becoming the largest independent board games company in the UK in less than a decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As is common with a fast-growing business, sometimes the speed of expansion outpaced our short-term resourcing capacity, so we all had to roll our sleeves up to get things done.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, “We fully acknowledge that reviews on sites like Indeed and Glassdoor have included criticism. While we don\u2019t always agree with everything that\u2019s said, we\u2019re always disappointed if someone finishes their time at Zatu feeling negatively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A spate of recent negative reviews of Zatu from job website Indeed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“We know that not every review will be five stars – but we also think it\u2019s important to benchmark ourselves against similar retail and logistics companies. On that basis, we\u2019re proud that Zatu consistently ranks higher on Indeed (our more active review site) than many of our peers,  both in the board games sector and in the wider retail space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Much of the online criticism focuses on the Covid era. That was an extraordinarily challenging and uncertain time, and while we may not have got everything right, we stand by the efforts we made to keep our staff safe and our business alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019re proud that we were able to retain everyone who wanted to stay, only furloughing team members who volunteered. We never had a major outbreak, nor did we have to shut down our warehouse – and that\u2019s a testament to the efforts of the team who worked together through a difficult period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Since then, we\u2019ve benefited from more stable growth and deeper historical data, which has helped us improve capacity planning and put stronger support structures in place. For every negative post online, there are many long-serving team members at Zatu who have been with us for years and take genuine pride in their work.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent criticism levelled at Zatu online comes amid the Norwich, UK company’s continued expansion from its hobby retailer roots into fulfilment and distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zatu began exploring fulfilment as long ago as 2019, with David Budd telling BoardGameWire, “We quickly realised\u00a0we could offer more than just storage and shipping – our retail knowledge meant we could\u00a0help identify sales opportunities, move stock fluidly between fulfilment and retail, and support\u00a0 successful launches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019ve seen particularly rapid growth in this area over the last two years, with the creation of a dedicated fulfilment team to meet rising demand.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, “It was through this work that distribution became the natural next step. Our fulfilment  partners often asked if we could also help distribute their titles, and we recognised a gap in the market for a UK-focused, retailer-friendly distributor that truly understood the games and the audience.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zatu has been growing its distribution business since early 2024, and recently expanded into a 32,000 sq ft warehouse to help manage its increasing operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has so far secured distribution rights to games including Wonderbow Games’ Kelp: Shark vs Octopus<\/a>, and titles from publisher Incredible Dream, including the Kinfire series and A Gentle Rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zatu says it is already working with “a large number of game stores”, as well as major British bookseller Waterstones, which has become known in recent years for also stocking a wide range of modern hobby board games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Trounce, who joined Zatu as trade marketing manager in June after 18 months as Hachette UK’s head of marketing, said, “Because we\u2019ve spent nearly a decade helping gamers discover the right titles, we know what works. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zatu Games’ distribution team: commercial director David Budd, left, marketing manager Rob Trounce, centre, and head of distribution Rory Kelly, right<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Zatu Distribution is about giving retailers the confidence to stock future hits, and giving publishers the platform to succeed in the UK.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Budd added, “If our founding ambition was to bring a wider variety of games to the UK market, then\u00a0 everything we\u2019ve done since – from retail, to fulfilment, to now distribution – is an\u00a0 extension of that mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019re always looking for ways to support the full breadth of the  games industry and help great titles reach the players who\u2019ll love them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Full Q&A with Zatu Games commercial director David Budd<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BoardGameWire: Does Zatu recognise the negative warehouse work culture and operational procedures talked about in these Indeed and Glassdoor employee reviews? Were any of these working conditions ever the case, and are they the case now? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Budd: No, we wouldn\u2019t say that\u2019s reflective of people\u2019s experience at Zatu – but we appreciate that, like all companies, a small proportion of ex-staff have left negative reviews. Much of our\u00a0nine-year history coincided with the COVID pandemic, which brought rapid and\u00a0unpredictable growth across the whole industry. That period naturally put pressure on our\u00a0warehouse team, and we\u2019ve learned a lot from it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zatu has grown incredibly quickly – from a small startup that was born because our founder was frustrated that he couldn\u2019t source a particular game in the UK, to becoming the largest independent board games company in the UK in less than a decade. As is common with a fast-growing business, sometimes the speed of expansion outpaced our short-term resourcing capacity, so we all had to roll our sleeves up to get things done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, during busy periods like the Christmas rush and Black Friday, some normally office-based team members were helping in warehouse roles on a temporary basis. This is no longer a common practice in the company – unless you\u2019re a staff member who volunteers to go to UKGE – everyone stacks shelves at UKGE! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We appreciate everyone who gave their time and effort in those periods. We want to make sure every team member feels supported and valued – whether they\u2019re in a warehouse, an office, or working remotely – and whilst the many who have been with us for several years of their career would attest to that being the case, we are sorry to those who felt let down by their experiences here. We have built additional internal communication channels to ensure all voices can be better heard and listened to. This feedback helps us to become a better company for both staff and customers. For example, based on staff feedback we implemented paid duvet days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Zatu has a core permanent warehouse team that has a low turnover. Most warehouse staff have been with the company for many years. Like all retailers, we bring in a significant number of seasonal workers during the Christmas season. All seasonal workers take part in a paid operational interview where they are fully health and safety trained, taught how to do the job, and trial it for three days. At the end of that trial, those that like the job and are a great fit with the team are offered the role. Obviously, some opt not to continue with the role (retail warehouse work isn\u2019t for everyone). At the end of the Christmas period, we unfortunately need to reduce warehouse staff numbers back to normal levels, so lose a  proportion of these new colleagues – but we try where we can to find roles for those that want to stay. From the last Christmas cohort, we hired 12 of the 40 temporary warehouse staff into permanent roles, including three based in the office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an ISO 9001 certified company, we are rigorously assessed by external auditors\u00a0annually. A key requirement is competency – ensuring all staff are able to do their jobs well,\u00a0and if they don\u2019t have the right skills or qualifications, then we are required to provide them under the certification. Health and safety has always been a top priority, and we are\u00a0incredibly proud that in a decade of operation we have only ever lost one day of work for an employee who was injured on our premises (they trapped their hand while carrying a desk).\u00a0 This isn\u2019t to say we rest on our laurels – and this year, we have hired a dedicated, qualified\u00a0health and safety trainer as a permanent member of the warehouse team. Similarly, ISO 9001 requires that our top-level management demonstrates commitments to the wellbeing of\u00a0staff – something we always did informally, but this gave us the opportunity to formalise that process.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We take all the feedback we receive on Glassdoor, Indeed, and elsewhere seriously. Even though our average employee feedback scores on these platforms are actually considerably better <\/em>than other companies in our industry and other companies that run large warehouses, that\u2019s not an excuse to stand still. Our goal is to be a truly great place to work – we have a core team that is very stable and do all we can to make Zatu a fun and engaging environment to work in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just over three years ago, we moved into our new home, in which we\u2019ve been able to put an increased focus on staff morale and happiness. The environment our staff work in is purpose-built by Zatu to be comfortable, open plan, and to create a fun work environment. Equally, the warehouses have been designed to mirror that approach, with breakout areas, games rooms, and staff kitchens. We don\u2019t believe anyone would claim we\u2019ve not provided a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable working environment – and we would welcome anyone who wants to take a look for themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll continue to listen, improve, and grow responsibly to ensure that\u2019s always the case going forward too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Zatu doesn’t recognise the reality of the comments being made, can it speak to why it believes there have been so many, over such a significant amount of time? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes – we do acknowledge that negative reviews have been posted over time, and many reflect challenges we faced during rapid periods of growth and COVID. A number of those reviews, including some that have been discussed on forums like Reddit, date back to 2020\u20132021, before we had moved location. Furthermore, COVID led to unexpected changes in how we could run the company. We did our best at a time when every industry was having to be agile and work within shifting government guidelines and market expectations, whilst also ensuring our employees\u2019 safety took precedence. There was no guidebook or blueprint, and we got some of our foresight wrong and made mistakes – speaking frankly, we expected the company to slow down, and instead it experienced a doubling in order volumes.  Nonetheless, many of the staff who were with us during this trying time are still with us and reflect on that time as when we all came together as a team to overcome massive obstacles. We are forever grateful to them all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, as we have referenced above, the Christmas cohort of temporary workers we take on each year are often unable to stay on come January. It\u2019s regretful that often at the end of the season we have to let go of great people who we\u2019ve loved having as part of the  team, and understandably those staff are often frustrated by this – and as a consequence, it can lead to negative reviews. We\u2019ve done this nine times in our company lifecycle, and each year we iterate on our staffing and processes. Seasonal expectations are consistently one of the biggest challenges that retail companies face, and whilst we freely admit that we still don\u2019t get everything right, we improve on this every year and we look forward to taking the feedback from last time round and doing it better next time round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We would encourage anyone who\u2019s interested to come and see our warehouse and office operations as they are today. We\u2019ll be happy to have a cuppa in one of our staff kitchens, have a game of pool or ping pong in a breakout area, or enjoy some quiet reflection time in our prayer room. If it\u2019s a hot day, then don\u2019t worry – we have air-conditioning, and if needs be, you can charge your car for free like the rest of our staff. We can even grab some lunch from one of the food trucks that drop by each day! Transparency is important to us, and we believe seeing the day-to-day reality will give a fairer, more up-to-date picture of who we are and how we work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You mention the nature of Christmas temp work as being behind some of the complaints. Several poor Indeed and Glassdoor reviews from the most recent Christmas claim Zatu advertised and took staff on before Christmas in full-time roles, but then quickly let them go as those roles were only ever intended as seasonal Christmas work. Are those reports accurate, and if so, why did that take place?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role is clearly labelled as a casual contract, not a permanent position. However, we understand that some applicants may have felt that the job advert was unclear, and we appreciate the reviews that highlighted this. We apologise to anyone who felt let down – and we\u2019re genuinely grateful for the feedback. We don\u2019t see it as an indictment of our practices, but rather as an opportunity to improve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the point of offering a trial shift, we make it clear that there\u2019s no guarantee of a long-term role. That said, our team also works hard to motivate people – highlighting that if they\u2019re a great fit, there\u2019s often a chance to stay on. We don\u2019t call these \u201cChristmas temp\u201d roles specifically because they aren\u2019t just about covering the festive period – they\u2019re about identifying strong team members for longer-term opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past Christmas, for instance, 12 people were offered ongoing roles afterwards (three in the office, nine in the warehouse) – that constitutes around half of those who stayed through the season, and when asked wanted to say on in a full-time role. In many other cases, people weren\u2019t seeking long-term work to begin with – such as students returning to university in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve also made changes to improve clarity for future applicants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n