Please take what GW Staffers tell you about the company with a serious pinch of salt!Just came from a local GW where I asked the same question to the manager. Her answered was a bit different. She said it was a combination of things, but it came down to HQ was opening up too many stores and so couldn't staff it, plus insurance laws made it so they couldn't run it with volunteers, AND Unions made it even less attractive by forbidding staff to do ANYTHING with setup and tear down.
If you ask me, all of these could be solved with, guess what, money. This also doesn't explain the lack of GD Germany/France/Italy etc...Oh well. While GW don't make my favorite minis by a long shot, they just paint so damn well....
GW's shares took such a hit that their shareholders (Mostly insurance and pensions investments) started screaming and demanding blood. GW had to drop a lot of "Loss Leaders" such as Golden Deamon's and European HQ's to please them.
Plus in the UK a lot of Shops have had to drop down to 1 staff member, meaning only open five days a week.
Now take a look at how much they are throwing out as new releases in this last year. There's more new stuff come out in the last 12 months than in the previous 24. Strikes me as "Panic Production" in order to increase revenue.
Oh and the Union excuse, nah doesn't fly mate, Games Day was part of the Terms and Conditions same with 'Organised tournaments' staff expected to carry out reasonable requests to support the business and it's promotion.