Update: Newvu has now closed as of mid-2023.
The Newvu Gaming Centre opened in Stevenage a few months ago, featuring gaming areas, VR and space for esports events.
Now Newvu has partnered with Stevenage FC and North Hertfordshire College. Aside from this, its parent company also owns UK esports organisation Team 7am who compete in CSGO.
ENUK editor Dom Sacco spent five minutes with Newvu founder Andy Bishop and Team 7am director John Smith-Howell, who’s been involved in esports for two decades, to get to know them.
Please tell us about Newvu.
Newvu is the home of social gaming, our mission is to create an environment that is inclusive, safe, nurturing and educational.
We want to create a community that is for all levels of experience from the competitive to the casual and curious. Our ethos is to drive the grassroots and ecosystem of esports in the UK.
You have an online training programme and plans to provide an esports course for North Herts College. What does that entail?
Newvu Academy is our new training platform that allows gamers to learn anything from the basics to advanced skills in a number of games.
Our platform also covers topics like streaming and performance training which concentrates on tournament preparation, mental health and even how to work as part of a team.
We currently cover games such as Rocket League, CSGO, League of Legends, Valorant, Apex Legends, CoD and Fortnite. More games will become available soon too.
“UK esports for me is at its most exciting point, the industry is primed and ready for a huge leap in size, awareness and investment.”
Andy Bishop, Newvu
John, you have a background in esports. Please tell us about this and what you’ve done in esports in the past.
I started playing Counter-Strike in 1999 in my local LAN centre, I very quickly got involved in competitive play and joined a local team. In less than six months of playing CS I was playing in UK-wide competitions against other LAN centres.
Throughout my career I’ve played in a number of different regions from the UK, to Benelux, Scandinavia, Germany and even the US. I’ve competed in many tournaments and leagues from Clanbase, Enemydown, CSGN, SGL and ESL to CAL.
Over the years I’ve attended more than 70 LAN events through the UK, Europe and USA. These events I’ve covered multiple job roles from player, coach, manager and org owner.
Andy, what is your background, what should people know about you?
I’m the founder of Newvu.gg and handle business development – I have spent 20 years in commercial and development roles within advertising, entertainment and partnerships. I strongly believe that all sectors should have a very clear strategy of how to create a commercial model that allows growth and revenue generation but executed correctly with the integrity of the category at the heart of all processes.
‘I started playing Counter-Strike in 1999 in my local LAN centre, I very quickly got involved in competitive play and joined a local team. I’ve attended 70+ LANs since.’
John Smith-Howell, Team 7am
What are your views on UK esports right now?
UK esports for me is at its most exciting point, the industry is primed and ready for a huge leap in size, awareness and investment.
I love the entrepreneurial activity that is bubbling below the surface with such a large pool of incredibly talented people, teams and orgs that just need that extra support to grow the ecosystem and grassroots in the UK.
Our aim is to help find and fuel that talent and help create roles, educate and find the next superstars in the UK.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
We kicked off our exciting project with North Hertfordshire College to demonstrate the huge opportunities that are available in the esports sector. Our director of gaming John Smith-Howell spoke to 100 students in our first of three sessions.
Our aim is educate and help promote what roles and careers there are within this exciting sector beyond just being a gamer, the amount of transferable skills in all elements of any business are very much needed and these are there for young talented students taking their first steps into their work life journey.
Newvu has social gaming, education and growth in esports at the heart of its values. We are always looking for partners who share our desire so please do get in touch.
Visit Newvu.gg for more info
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
