Sixteen months ago, Nathan Edmonds hit play on his entrepreneurial journey, launching Get In, a creative marketing agency rooted in gaming and esports. What began as a London-based solo venture has since grown into a small, distributed team of staff across the UK, with Nathan now based right here in Sheffield. He describes joining Sheffield Digital as a strategic move to help make the city “a serious player” in the UK gaming/esports industry. We’re excited!
Looking back on his journey so far, Nathan describes that first year as challenging, but incredibly rewarding.
“We got our first FT employee last October, so a whole year ago now, and that was pretty exciting. Doing that was a whole different challenge for me though, the HR side of things, the paperwork, employment law… It wasn’t really the fun part!
“Hitting the first year milestone earlier this spring was a good time to stop and reflect and I thought ‘fair play, we’ve just had a really, really successful year’. When you’re in the middle of it, you’re just thriving in the chaos.”
And as a first-time founder, when he came across inevitable bumps in the road, Nathan just ploughed on through, explaining: “When you’re doing it on your own, you actually don’t have the time to stop and think ‘I don’t know how to do this’ – you’ve just got to do it.”
From esports competitor to agency founder
At just 25, Nathan has already built an impressive career in digital marketing. His story began in his teens, when he created an esports team at the age of 15, through which he travelled the world competing against internationally renowned teams.
Whilst, by his own admission, Nathan’s team wasn’t the best, their social media content was getting them noticed. “This got the cogs turning for me; we were going for a ‘make a penny look like a pound’ vibe – we didn’t have much resource, or the best teams but we had eyeballs on us and that started capturing the attention of other organisations and teams.”
Coinciding with this, Nathan completed a Digital Marketing apprenticeship, giving him theory and practical experience. Combining this with his industry insight, he went on to land a number of roles, including at a top UK esports team and a specialist gaming marketing agency.
Armed with deep grassroots experience and agency know-how, Nathan decided to go solo in 2024.
A thoughtful, nuanced approach to clients and growth
A key part of Get In’s philosophy is building long-term, meaningful relationships with clients, rather than chasing short-term gains. Nathan is determined to grow the business in a careful, sustainable way, with financial security and staff wellbeing at the forefront.
A browse of the Get In website shows this approach is paying off. The brands of famous sports stars sit alongside international gaming festivals and huge corporate supporters of esports and gaming, including Red Bull and Santander.
Leaning on his agency experience, Nathan’s identified how to do things differently, and better, resulting in longer term, trusting client relationships.
“A lot of agencies are focused on short-term cash grabs: it’s all about revenue, revenue, revenue,” he reflects. “Of course, it’s important – you’ve got to pay your bills, and your staff, right? But, I think we’re able to take a step back and take a nuanced approach.
“So, you see clients like Red Bull on our website and, yeah that’s impressive, but our deal with them has always been ‘How do we work together, make this mutually beneficial and long-term?’ We don’t need to squeeze as much cash out of them as possible in three months, we want to build a positive fruitful relationship, where they like us, trust us, and keep sending work our way.”
“And maybe this means we don’t grow so quickly,” Nathan points out, “but this careful approach means we have a financial buffer, and I can look after the people who work here. We’re stable and sustainable, which in turn means we all do better work for our clients.”
Moving to Sheffield
Five months ago, Nathan made the decision to relocate from London to Sheffield, seeking a lifestyle that better suited him. After three years in the capital, he wanted to be closer to his brother and nephew and enjoy a greener city, with more outdoor space for him and his dog.
“I realised I didn’t need to be in London every day. Sheffield is a tiny city in comparison, but it has everything I need – it’s greener, the people are nice, and now I’m around for uncle duties!”
Since arriving, Nathan has wasted no time integrating into the local digital community. He has delivered workshops with Sheffield United Community Foundation, joined Game Republic, and is even planning activities with local nursing homes, which his local MP has expressed an interest in attending.
Everything Nathan is doing is designed to raise awareness and capture interest in the esports industry. “We built a really cool ecosystem in London and when I announced the move to Sheffield, a lot of people were like: ‘You’ve got to do the same up here’“, he says, adding: “It takes time, but there’s an appetite there so it’s just finding the right things and we’ll get there. It’s been amazing so far, I’ve loved it.”
He has also shared his expertise with students on Sheffield Hallam’s esports and video games programme. For Nathan, engaging with education and helping young people understand the variety of routes into the industry is essential.
“A degree is great, so are apprenticeships, but there’s more opportunities out there, more ways of getting into this industry and I think it’s important we encourage young people to be proactive, confident, and willing to carve their own route.”
That philosophy also influences his approach to hiring. Nathan admits recruitment can be tough, especially when sifting through large numbers of entry-level applications. But what he’s really looking for is curiosity, initiative and confidence, qualities that can’t easily be taught.
“I look for curiosity above all else – like, are you going to go out there and do things, discover things, without me asking you to? You can teach most things, but you can’t teach that. I’d rather someone show me personality and individuality in their CV than just copy a template, especially when they’re applying to work in video games, in such a creative area.”
At 25, Nathan is a young founder and employer himself but sees this as a big advantage. “I need my team to be proactive learners, they know this industry is so fast-paced, I can’t hold their hands through every single thing. But the thing I love is that I’m on the journey with them, I’m learning with them too, and everything I’m passing on is real, relevant and current.”
Ambitions for Get In, and ambitions for Sheffield
Looking to the future, Nathan sees Sheffield as the perfect base for growth. He hopes to establish a physical office in the city, not only for his own well-being but also to provide a hub for employees that they can visit when needed. Beyond that, his ambitions stretch to putting Sheffield on the map as a centre for esports.
“Long-term, I’d love to bring a large-scale event to Sheffield – that would be huge for the city. There’s a lot going on in Newcastle, Sunderland, Manchester and London of course but Sheffield has the potential to be in that mix too.
“There’s already a lot here – two big developers and the National Videogame Museum, which is amazing. Building a proper gaming ecosystem takes time, collaboration and influencing. It won’t happen fast, so it’s just a case of screaming and shouting about it and getting more eyeballs on what we’re doing.”
Above all, Nathan is most proud of the culture that he and his team have built. Respect, flexibility and trust are central values, and he believes they are more powerful than any formalised strategy.
“We’re all nice people, and we’re pretty relaxed. That works better than any complicated culture strategy. If you create an environment where people feel respected and have flexibility, they’re happier and more productive.”
Nathan first discovered Sheffield Digital through connections at local networking events, and he has already found the Slack community to be a useful way of staying plugged into the city’s digital scene. He plans to get along to more of the Geek Brekkies in future, and is excited to see how the ecosystem continues to grow.
We’re thrilled to welcome Nathan to Sheffield Digital and we can’t wait to see where his experience, energy and ideas take him and Get In – and the impact he’ll undoubtedly deliver in the city! Find out more about Get In on the website: www.getinagency.co.uk and follow the company on Instagram, X and LinkedIn.