Back in 2016, Assisted started life as a search-focused agency. Fast forward to 2026 and we’re now a 22-person digital marketing team delivering SEO, PPC, content, paid and organic social, digital PR and website development for clients across the UK and beyond. A lot has happened along the way. We’ve welcomed new team members, launched new services, made acquisitions, moved offices, held plenty of town halls and enjoyed more socials than we could possibly count. And, somewhere amongst all of that, we’ve survived a fair few Google updates too.
Digital marketing itself looks very different to the industry we started out in 10 years ago. Platforms have come and gone, algorithms have changed, AI has entered the conversation, and the way people search, discover and interact with brands continues to evolve. But while plenty has changed, many of the principles we built Assisted around in 2016 are still very much part of who we are today. So, before we look at where we are now, let’s rewind the clock.
Drake’s One Dance was spending 15 weeks at number one, Pokémon Go had people wandering the streets looking for Pikachu, Leicester City had just pulled off one of the biggest shocks in Premier League history…
…and Assisted was just getting started.
Before Assisted, Nick was COO at large local agency Creare, where he had built up extensive experience across both search marketing and agency operations. Following a trade sale and his exit from the business, the timing felt right to do something of his own. There wasn’t necessarily one grand plan to launch an agency. In fact, Assisted started much more organically than that. After leaving Creare, Nick began getting calls from previous contacts and businesses looking for his help. Initially, he was simply helping them find solutions. But as more opportunities came in, he realised there was a business there.
“I was being contacted by customers who needed my help. After building solutions for their businesses, I decided I could just deliver it for them too. That was really the very organic start of Assisted.”
The motivation was a mix of timing, circumstance, a little bit of luck and, importantly, the ambition to build a business he had full control over. Search was the obvious place to start. It was an area Nick already knew inside out, and he had no desire to reinvent the wheel simply for the sake of it.
“My mindset was: I don’t need to reinvent the wheel, I just need to do it better than the competition. I knew search, and I knew operations, so I was confident I could make an impact for customers while also running a smooth, organised agency.”
And where did the name ‘Assisted’ come from?
The story behind the name is perhaps less glamorous than you might expect. Nick wanted something short, memorable and practical. The domain Assisted.co.uk became available through a domain auction, and the name immediately made sense on a few different levels: Assisted conversions, assisting businesses, helping clients achieve more.
“I’m a pragmatic guy, and I suppose the name is a reflection of that.”
Assisted began in Lutterworth, with Nick sharing office space with another local agency while the business found its feet and built enough cash flow to move into a space of its own.
At the beginning, it was very much a one-man operation, with plenty of support behind the scenes from his now-wife, Lucy. And while a lot has changed over the last decade, one of the nicest links back to those early days is Assisted’s very first client.
INUI was the first business to sign up with Assisted – and 10 years later, they’re still a client.
Year one was about doing everything. New business in the morning. Client delivery throughout the day. Operations, admin and problem-solving squeezed in wherever they would fit. There weren’t separate departments or specialist teams, just the constant balance of winning work, doing great work and building a business at the same time.
It was a very different Assisted from the one we know today, but the foundations were already there: strong client relationships, doing things properly and building an agency designed to last.
A little piece of Assisted history
Even the Assisted ‘A’ sign in the office has its own story. It was built for Nick by his dad, Mick, right back in the early days of the business. It stood proudly in Assisted’s first office, and 10 years later, it still has pride of place in our current home, greeting everyone who walks through the door.
It’s a small reminder of just how much of a family affair those early days were. With Lucy supporting Nick from the start and Mick quite literally helping to build part of the office, Assisted had plenty of support behind it long before there was a team of 22. The offices may have changed over the years, but the ‘A’ has travelled with us every step of the way.
Check it out – still going strong a decade later 👇
From its search-focused beginnings in 2016, Assisted has grown steadily over the past decade – through new hires, acquisitions, new services and plenty of memorable team moments along the way.
The early years saw the business begin to build out its team before a major milestone in 2020 with the acquisition of Auburn and the first Assisted Town Hall. That growth continued with the acquisition of My Mustard in 2022, helping broaden both the team and the agency’s capabilities.
Alongside the business milestones, Assisted has always made time for the people behind it too. Town Halls became a regular fixture, alongside hikes, bowling, laser tag, Easter egg hunts and plenty of other team socials.
Fast forward to 2026, and Assisted is celebrating 10 years in business with a team of 22 and a much broader digital offering. A lot has changed since 2016, but the journey has always been about the same thing: building a strong team, doing great work for clients and continuing to evolve with the industry.
When we look back at the last 10 years, the biggest part of Assisted’s story is the people. From our very first hire, the team has grown steadily over the years, and some people have now been with us for a huge part of the journey. Sam Austin, our first employee, joined in 2017, and there are plenty of others who have grown with the business, taken on new roles and helped shape Assisted into what it is today. Our longest-serving employees include Grace, Lucy and Sofie.
Grace has 14 years’ combined service, having spent eight years with Auburn before joining Assisted following the acquisition six years ago. Lucy also joined Assisted through the Auburn acquisition, having spent three years with Auburn followed by six years at Assisted, giving her nine years’ combined service.
Sofie is Assisted’s longest-serving employee in terms of continuous time with the company, having been with Assisted for eight years. As the agency has grown, so has the mix of skills in the team. What started as a search-focused business is now made up of specialists across SEO, PPC, content, paid and organic social, digital PR and website development. A lot of that growth has happened from within too, with people learning new skills, stepping into different roles and developing their careers alongside the business.
But Assisted has never just been about the work.
Our Town Halls have become a big part of agency life, giving everyone the chance to come together, catch up on what’s happening across the business and spend some proper time as a team. Then there are the socials – hikes, bowling, laser tag, puppy yoga, Easter egg hunts and plenty of others that have given us some brilliant memories over the years.
Training and development have always mattered too. Whether it’s formal learning, sharing knowledge across teams or simply giving people the opportunity to take on something new, we’ve always wanted Assisted to be somewhere people can keep growing. And of course, a lot of life has happened in between.
Over the years, we’ve celebrated engagements, weddings, babies, new homes, amazing holidays and plenty of personal goals and milestones. For many in the team, Assisted has been part of a really important chapter in their lives, just as they’ve been a huge part of ours. Ten years is a long time in business, but it’s also a long time to share so many moments together. Assisted wouldn’t be what it is today without the people who’ve been part of the journey – past and present.
What’s your favourite Assisted memory? Definitely the Town Hall we had in 2023 in the Cotswolds! It was my first town hall and I honestly enjoyed every minute. I got to know the team so well during that trip and we did so many fun classic fair ground games like laser clay pigeon shooting, coconut shy and the water obstacle course at the local aqua park.
What’s the most “Assisted” thing about working here? Definitely giving the team the option of anything for lunch for our monthly day in the office, and Subway being the fan favourite every time
Where would you like to see Assisted in another 10 years? Gosh, I mean the last 3 years I have been at Assisted have absolutely flown by, and so much has changed in the industry in such a short space of time! I’d love to see Assisted continue to grow, working with even more multi-channel clients. I’d also love to see Digital PR continue to grow as a bigger part of what we do, as it’s been really exciting to see that side of the agency develop (a bit bias but its true!). Most importantly, though, I’d love for it to still have the same close-knit, fun culture that makes it such a great place to work now.
What’s your favourite Assisted memory? ‘Milk Gate’ if you know…you know. You had to be there; it was one of the funniest moments I’ve witnessed live. I’m laughing as I’m writing this.
What’s the most “Assisted” thing about working here? Being part of this team you really feel supported and whenever you need something a member of the team always has your back, even in the most hectic of times, feels like one person can always help.
Where would you like to see Assisted in another 10 years? I would like to see us continuing to grow into other niche sectors and dominating, continuing putting the team first and just have fun with it, see where it can go!
What’s your favourite Assisted memory? Favourite Assisted Memory is probably the time we did a townhall after the Auburn acquisition. It was then I felt like we have a proper business, team and sustainability
If you could… what bit of advice would you give yourself at the start of your Assisted journey? One bit of advice, probably should have put my personal brand out there more to help Assisted. It’s just not me, but I think it would have helped.
What are you most looking forward to? I’m excited to see Assisted evolve with the leadership team making more decisions and evolve the business alongside new developments with AI.
And that brings us to 2026. Taylor Swift has already clocked up three number-one hits this year, there have been plenty of big sporting moments, and, of course, a personal highlight has to be the Assisted football match at our latest Town Hall – not competitive at all… 🤣 And somewhere amongst all of that, Assisted officially turned 10.
A lot can happen in a decade, so it does make us wonder what we’ll be looking back on when 2036 rolls around. For Assisted, the next 10 years aren’t necessarily about becoming the biggest agency possible. They’re about continuing to evolve, doing great work, embracing opportunities like AI, developing the right areas of the business and, most importantly, maintaining the quality of both our team and the work we deliver.
Digital marketing will undoubtedly look very different again by then. New platforms will emerge, services will evolve, and the way people search, discover, buy and interact with brands will continue to change.
But hopefully, some things will stay the same: the relationships we build with our clients, the culture within the team, our willingness to keep learning and improving, and the fact that we genuinely enjoy building Assisted together. What will Assisted look like in 2036? We’ll have to wait and see.
Thank you
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who has been part of the Assisted story over the last 10 years. To our team, past and present. To the clients who have trusted us with their businesses. To our partners and suppliers. And to everyone who has worked with us, supported us or played a part in the journey along the way – thank you. Ten years wouldn’t have been possible without you.
Here’s to the next ten!
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