THIRTY looms large this year for Glasgow-based Ken Clark.

For he has just opened the 30th UK outlet for video games chain CHIPS just months after celebrating his 30th birthday.

For Ken becoming the latest franchisee for CHIPS means a whole change in lifestyle after working as a sales account manager for an IT company.

“It will be quite a change for me to be working in a store, meeting customers face-to-face,” said Ken, whose store at 312 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow West End, opens this week. (March 17)

CHIPS Glasgow West End is Ken’s first business venture and he chose franchising because he wanted the safety net and support of an established company with experience. And CHIPS, which this year celebrates 20 years in the video games industry, fitted the bill.

Each CHIPS store buys, sells and trades new and second-hand consoles, games, DVDs and accessories for all major platforms and retro.

“I had been looking to open my own business for sometime and looked at a number of franchises from sports cars to fast food,” said Ken. “CHIPS held my interest. I went to a whichfranchise.com seminar and spoke to someone who has seen CHIPS at a franchise exhibition and I just took it from there.”

Ken started playing games at the age of seven on a Spectrum 48 and he still has it. Games have been a passion throughout his life and he can’t wait to get his hands on all the new consoles and games as they are released.

“This is a really exciting time to open a video games store and CHIPS is a new challenge for me. It will be a different kind of lifestyle and will get me away from the electronic hardware side of things.”

Ken, who married IT support analyst Kimberley last October, intends to work in his CHIPS store seven days a week and until 8pm on a Thursday. He is currently on the look-out for knowledgeable staff to help out.

“There are lots of knowledgeable students around here and I am hoping to recruit some part-timers,” he said.

Ken added: “CHIPS stores are light, bright and airy and attract, not only hardened gamers, but families and youngsters. Some video games stores can be very off-putting particularly if you don’t play games yourself but at CHIPS we have the expert knowledge and the massive range of product so we have something for everyone.”

Ken, who lives five miles from his West End store on the south side of Glasgow, is CHIPS 20th franchisee and second to open in Scotland.

CHIPS Joint Managing Director Nik Agar said: “CHIPS Glasgow West End is our first store to open this year. It is our 30th outlet and our 20th franchise which is a great way to kick off our 20th anniversary celebrations.

“We are delighted to add another store to our chain and we know Ken will be a great success.”

CHIPS has nine company-owned stores in Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Darlington, Redcar, Northallerton, Bishop Auckland, Letchworth, Chorley and Hereford. There is also an award-winning e-commerce site www.chipsworld.co.uk.

There are 20 franchise stores in Stafford, Skipton, Norwich, Hartlepool, Arnold, Lytham St Annes, Yeovil, Consett, Chester Le Street, Guisborough, Edinburgh, Chorlton, Portslade, Orpington, Stockton, Otley, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Woodley, Ashford and now Glasgow West End. More stores are in the pipeline across the UK.