Square in the Air Review
7.7/10The full-service lane's incumbent: EGR B2B PR Firm of the Year in 2025 and 2026, back-to-back on the organizer's own pages with the 2026 judges citing record turnover and over 150 clients globally, a 20-year Companies House entity with zero officer resignations, a 50-person in-house team, and a client wall headlined by 888sport, William Hill, OpenBet, Pragmatic Play, and Light & Wonder, though the site publishes logos rather than metric case pages and every engagement is priced on request.
Our read
A 19-name wall plus a six-name US wall, agency-published as a set, with the strongest rows coming from the organizer side (the EGR 2026 judges' citation of over 150 clients and record turnover), PR Week's named US launch clients, and a 2015 wire roster with OpenBet and SIS still on the 2026 wall, held down because the site publishes no written case with a number in it.
Sport, betting, and online gaming only since 2006, the category's default name in UK betting PR.
The widest stack in the PR-led cohort, spanning PR, social and influencers, ambassadors and sponsorship, design and branding, video and content, and affiliate content, with the October 2025 creative division adding brand strategy and advertising on a fully in-house production stack.
A 50-person team with 46+ staff individually named, a six-person C-suite, a 20-year entity with zero officer resignations at Companies House, and a founder succession already executed.
Back-to-back EGR B2B PR Firm of the Year wins in 2025 and 2026 on the organizer's pages, an SBC Awards 2017 win, two earlier EGR wins in 2014 and 2015, and PR Week coverage of the 2022 US entry.
Clean filings, a fully named team, and public headcount, docked because no pricing, retainer, or minimum is published anywhere on the site and the company number does not appear on it either (2026-07-16).
Methodology. Our own score, a weighted average of six dimensions, tilted toward case evidence and gaming specialization. Weighted on the full-service agency scale, where case evidence leads at 0.20, gaming specialization and service depth carry 0.18 each, team and track record 0.16, and market presence and transparency 0.14 each, which is why four organizer-side award wins and the widest service stack in the lane sit on top of a score capped by logo-wall evidence and on-request pricing. Read the full methodology
- Back-to-back EGR B2B PR Firm of the Year wins in 2025 and 2026 on the organizer's own pages, with the 2026 judges citing record turnover and over 150 clients globally, on top of an SBC Awards 2017 win and two earlier EGR wins in 2014 and 2015.
- Twenty years of continuous trading under one entity (Companies House 05812777, incorporated 2006-05-10) with zero officer resignations, current filings, and a founder succession already executed to a named six-person C-suite.
- The widest service stack in the PR-led cohort: PR, social and influencers, ambassadors and sponsorship, design and branding, video and content, and affiliate content, with the October 2025 creative division adding brand strategy and advertising on a fully in-house production stack of 46+ named staff.
- A client wall with real retention depth: 888sport, William Hill, OpenBet, Pragmatic Play, and Light & Wonder headline the 2026 wall, and OpenBet and SIS trace back to a wire-published 2015 roster, decade-long relationships in an industry that churns agencies.
- A working US arm with a third-party trail: the 2022 Chalk + Dog joint venture with Boston consultancy CTP was covered by PR Week with launch clients named, and Tally is still on the 2026 US wall.
- No self-published metric cases: the site carries client logos and no written case pages, so the proof of what the work delivers rides the EGR judges' citations, with no numbers a buyer can read before a call.
- Pricing is on request: no retainers, minimums, or rate pages anywhere on the site (2026-07-16), so budgeting starts only after a brief and a proposal.
- The client wall is agency-published as a set: OpenBet, SIS, and the US launch clients carry third-party trails, while most of the 25 wall names rest on the agency's own pages.
- The creative and advertising division is months old: it launched in October 2025 around two senior hires whose campaign portfolio was built at their previous agency, so the shop's own record in full-scale brand campaigns is short.
Betting and gaming operators and suppliers that want the most decorated PR and creative shop in the lane for a UK or European launch, a rebrand, or a sustained media-relations retainer with the full production stack in-house.
Buyers who need published rates or written case studies with numbers before the first call, or teams shopping for performance media buying rather than PR, brand, and content.
Markets & licensing
Nothing in this category is licensable, so what a buyer checks is the strength of the record rather than a register, and Square in the Air has the strongest one in the full-service lane. The Companies House row (05812777) shows one continuous entity since 2006-05-10 with accounts filed to 2025-05-31, a confirmation statement dated 2026-07-14, and zero officer resignations in 20 years. The organizer's own pages at awards.egr.global list it as PR Firm of the Year winner in both 2025 and 2026, and the 2026 judges' citation puts numbers on the scale: record turnover and over 150 clients globally. Third-party client trails exist too. PR Week named Tally Technology and Huddle Tech as the US venture's launch clients in 2022, and a 2015 wire release carries a dated roster with OpenBet and SIS still on the 2026 wall. What is missing is a case-study layer, since the site publishes client logos, never written cases with numbers.
Square in the Air entered the US in July 2022 through Chalk + Dog Communications, a 50/50 joint venture with Boston consultancy CTP led by Ben Cleminson and CTP SVP Todd Graff, covered by PR Week with Tally Technology and Huddle Tech named as launch clients. The 2026 site fronts the work as Square in the Air US, a dedicated offering spanning strategic communications, investor and product showcase events, design, social, video, and sponsorship activation, with a six-name US client wall that still includes Tally.
London is the trading base and the UK is the core book, with a client wall running from 888sport, William Hill, and Grosvenor Sport to OpenBet, Pragmatic Play, Light & Wonder, and Yggdrasil. Twenty years of UK betting PR plus back-to-back EGR wins make it the default shortlist name for a UK launch. The registered office sits in Hampshire as the directors' correspondence address, and the agency operates from London.
- Companies House 05812777United Kingdom
- Square in the Air Communications Ltd, active, private limited, incorporated 2006-05-10, SIC 70210 public relations and communications activities, zero officer resignations since incorporation · Accounts filed to 2025-05-31, confirmation statement 2026-07-14 (2026-07-16)
- EGR B2B PR Firm of the Year 2026Organizer-published (awards.egr.global)
- Winner, ceremony 2026-06-03 at City Central at the HAC, London, with the judges citing record turnover and over 150 clients globally plus expanded video production and affiliate and streamer growth · Organizer's 2026 winners page, 2026-07-16
- EGR B2B PR Firm of the Year 2025Organizer-published (awards.egr.global)
- Winner, the first of the back-to-back pair · Organizer's 2025 winners page, 2026-07-16
- Client-side trailsThird-party press
- PR Week named Tally Technology and Huddle Tech as the 2022 US launch clients, and a wire-published 2015 roster includes OpenBet and SIS, both still on the 2026 wall · PR Week 2022-07, PRNewswire 2015-06-17
Licensing tier: An agency, so nothing to license. The buy decision rests on a 20-year registry row, organizer-published award wins, and third-party client trails, and all three are present and dated here.
The scale number comes from the 2026 judges' citation: record turnover and over 150 clients globally.
No restricted-market posture applies. The client base is regulated-market operators and suppliers across the UK, Europe, and the US, and that is the book it works with (2026-07-16).
Clients, partners & engagement
Agencies are judged on the accounts they already run and the platforms and registries they work through. The delivery model shows how the team is staffed day to day.
Everything is delivered by in-house units rather than subcontractors: split B2B and B2C account teams, a design and development unit with its own web developers, a video and production unit, and a social media unit, with the October 2025 creative division layering brand strategy and advertising over that stack. The US book runs as Square in the Air US, built on the 2022 Chalk + Dog joint venture with Boston consultancy CTP.
An engagement starts from a brief and a proposal rather than a rate card, and no onboarding timeline is published (2026-07-16).
Services & capabilities
A PR-led full-service stack delivered by in-house units: media relations at the core since 2006, social media and influencer programs, ambassador and sponsorship activation, design and branding with its own web developers, video and content production, affiliate content, and, since October 2025, a creative division running full-scale brand strategy, advertising, and marketing campaigns under two dedicated C-level hires.
PR & Media Relations
The historical core of the shop: earned coverage and media relations for betting and gaming operators, suppliers, and affiliates across the gambling trade press and consumer media, run by split B2B and B2C account teams and the discipline the EGR PR Firm of the Year wins in 2025 and 2026 recognize.
- Registered at Companies House under SIC 70210, public relations and communications activities, since 2006
- Split B2B and B2C account teams, 12 and 10 staff named on the team page (2026-07-16)
- PR Firm of the Year at the EGR B2B Awards in 2025 and 2026, organizer-published
- Client wall spanning operators (888sport, William Hill, Grosvenor Sport) and suppliers (OpenBet, Pragmatic Play, Light & Wonder, Yggdrasil)
- Leadership doubles as trade-press voice, with Cleminson and Hutchison commentary running back to 2017
Creative & Brand Campaigns
The strategic expansion beyond PR, launched October 2025: full-scale brand strategy, advertising, and marketing campaigns led by two C-level hires, Hugh Johnson as Chief Client Officer and Nick Withersby as Chief Creative Officer, working with the in-house copy, design, and video teams.
- Launched 2025-10-14, covered the same day across the trade press plus the agency's own announcement
- Two C-level hires lead it: Hugh Johnson (Chief Client Officer) and Nick Withersby (Chief Creative Officer), both since October 2025
- Brand strategy, advertising, and marketing campaigns rather than earned media only
- Runs on the existing in-house copy, design, and video teams instead of subcontractors
- Both hires carry LinkedIn profiles plus dated hire coverage across five outlets
The history
Sales decks get rewritten for every deal. A dated record doesn't.
Bill Esdaile founded Square in the Air in 2006 as a PR shop for sport, betting, and gaming, and the same Companies House entity (05812777, incorporated 2006-05-10) has traded through every cycle since, with zero officer resignations in 20 years. The arc runs from EGR Marketing and PR Provider of the Year wins in 2014 and 2015 through SBC's Marketing Agency of the Year in 2017, a July 2022 US entry via the Chalk + Dog joint venture with Boston consultancy CTP, and a founder succession that moved Esdaile to chairman with Ben Cleminson, a director since 2012, as CEO. Then came the run that defines the current standing: PR Firm of the Year at the EGR B2B Awards in 2025, the October 2025 creative-division build-out with C-level hires Hugh Johnson and Nick Withersby brought in to lead brand strategy, advertising, and marketing campaigns, and a second consecutive EGR win on 2026-06-03, where the judges cited record turnover and over 150 clients globally.
Brands & clients on the platform
Corporate
Leadership
Milestones
- 2006
Bill Esdaile founds Square in the Air as a PR shop for sport, betting, and gaming, incorporated at Companies House on 2006-05-10 under SIC 70210.
- 2012
Ben Cleminson joins the board (director from 2012-01-01), later taking the CEO seat in the founder succession that moved Esdaile to chairman.
- 2014
EGR B2B Marketing and PR Provider of the Year, won again in 2015 for the second year in a row per the wire release quoting EGR's then-editor.
- 2017
SBC Awards Marketing Agency of the Year, written up in SBC's own editorial feature quoting Robin Hutchison on the win (2017-12-18).
- 2022
Chalk + Dog Communications launches in July, a 50/50 US joint venture with Boston consultancy CTP led by Ben Cleminson and CTP SVP Todd Graff, covered by PR Week with Tally Technology and Huddle Tech as launch clients.
- 2025
PR Firm of the Year at the EGR B2B Awards, then the October creative-division build-out with Hugh Johnson (Chief Client Officer) and Nick Withersby (Chief Creative Officer) hired to lead brand strategy, advertising, and marketing campaigns.
- 2026
A second consecutive EGR B2B PR Firm of the Year win (ceremony 2026-06-03), with the judges citing record turnover, over 150 clients globally, expanded video production, and affiliate and streamer growth.
Where they're pushing next
- The US, where the 2022 joint venture with CTP now fronts as Square in the Air US
- Creative and advertising work beyond PR, the October 2025 division build-out
- Affiliate and streamer content plus expanded video production, the growth areas the EGR 2026 judges cited
Awards & recognition
Longevity and ownership
Switching vendors is expensive, which makes the company's staying power part of the purchase. What the contract says about your data decides how expensive an exit gets.
Square in the Air vs alternatives
No two vendors describe themselves the same way, which makes their own claims hard to line up. Every name here answers the same fields, so you can see where this one sits against the closest alternatives.
| Attribute | Square in the Air | GameOn | Press Box PR | PRace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 | 2007 | 2018 | 2024 |
| Team | 50+ | 20+ | 47+ | 15+ |
| Pricing | On request | On request | On request | On request |
| Market posture | Licensed only | Licensed only | Mixed | — |
| Minimum engagement | None published | None published | On request | None published |
The take: GameOn is the other long-tenured full-service shop, with publisher-side recognition rather than organizer-side award rows, where Square in the Air holds four EGR wins. Press Box PR sat on the same 2026 EGR shortlist without taking the trophy and is the closer pick for a pure earned-media brief. PRace is the newest name on that shortlist, founded by an ex-Square in the Air account director, a young boutique against the incumbent's depth. Pick Square in the Air when award-backed standing, service breadth, and a 20-year entity matter more than reading metric cases up front.
Pricing & terms
Square in the Air quotes pricing per project. Here's how the model and the terms are structured.
The engagement
The engagement model is retained agency work across PR, social, and creative plus project campaigns, with no rev-share signals. No retainers, minimums, or pricing pages exist anywhere on the site (2026-07-16), which is the norm in the PR lane rather than an outlier posture. Budget conversations start from a brief and a proposal, and the split B2B and B2C account structure means the team you scope depends on which side of the market you sit on.
Support & account management
You can't demo service before you sign, so what a vendor puts in writing is the only floor you can hold it to.
Frequently asked
The things operators actually ask before signing.
What does Square in the Air do?+
It is a London full-service marketing agency for sport, betting, and online gaming, trading since 2006 with PR and media relations as the historical core. The current stack spans PR, social media and influencers, ambassadors and sponsorship, design and branding with in-house web developers, video and content production, and affiliate content. In October 2025 it added a creative division for full-scale brand strategy, advertising, and marketing campaigns, led by two new C-level hires and staffed by the existing in-house copy, design, and video teams.
Which clients does Square in the Air work with?+
The 2026 client wall names 19 UK and international brands, including 888sport, William Hill, Grosvenor Sport, OpenBet, Pragmatic Play, Light & Wonder, Yggdrasil, Relax Gaming, GiG, White Hat Gaming, and HKJC, plus a six-name US wall with Better Collective, BetMakers, and Tally. The wall is agency-published as a set, and the strongest names carry third-party trails: OpenBet and SIS appear on a wire-published 2015 roster and are still on the wall a decade later, and PR Week named Tally Technology and Huddle Tech as the US venture's 2022 launch clients. The EGR 2026 judges cited over 150 clients globally.
What awards has Square in the Air won?+
PR Firm of the Year at the EGR B2B Awards in both 2025 and 2026, back-to-back wins listed on the organizer's own pages, with the 2026 judges citing record turnover and over 150 clients globally. Earlier wins are EGR B2B Marketing and PR Provider of the Year in 2014 and 2015 and SBC Awards Marketing Agency of the Year in 2017. The 2026 EGR shortlist put it alongside Press Box PR and PRace, and it took the trophy.
How much does Square in the Air cost?+
Pricing is on request. No retainers, minimums, or rate pages appear anywhere on the site (2026-07-16), which is the norm in the PR lane. The engagement model is retained agency work across PR, social, and creative plus project campaigns, so budgeting starts from a brief and a proposal rather than a published tier.
Does Square in the Air work with US companies?+
Yes. It entered the US in July 2022 through Chalk + Dog Communications, a 50/50 joint venture with Boston consultancy CTP led by CEO Ben Cleminson and CTP SVP Todd Graff, covered by PR Week with Tally Technology and Huddle Tech named as launch clients. The 2026 site fronts the work as Square in the Air US, offering strategic communications, investor and product showcase events, design, social, video, and sponsorship activation, and the US client wall includes Better Collective, BetMakers, Clearstake, Codere, Simplebet, and Tally.
Who owns and runs Square in the Air, and how stable is it?+
It is founder-owned, with Bill and Emma Esdaile on the Companies House row since incorporation in 2006 and no outside-investment trail. The entity (05812777) is active with accounts filed to 2025-05-31 and zero officer resignations in 20 years. The founder succession is done: Bill Esdaile is chairman, Ben Cleminson (a director since 2012) is CEO, and the C-suite runs six named seats including COO Ollie Drew, Chief Commercial Officer Robin Hutchison, and the two October 2025 hires, Hugh Johnson and Nick Withersby. The team page names 46+ of the 50 staff.