It’s a dream come true for the 25-year-old Kings Heath resident, who has reached the pinnacle of the sport 20 years on after first catching the bowls bug from his grandad.
And despite the countless hours of practice and hard graft representing his two county teams - Warwickshire & Worcestershire and West Midlands - Nathan pointed to his day job as having a huge influence on his bowls success.
He said: “Bowls is a very tactical sport where you’re always thinking about how your next move will play out and the knock-on effect it could have, so you’re always thinking one step ahead.
“The same approach applies at work, where I am leading a team of five people who are picking and packing a wide range of made-to-order copper tubes and fittings as efficiently as possible for our customers.
“Ultimately it’s all about teamwork and communicating with each other, and fact that I am practicing and honing these skills on a daily basis in the warehouse has definitely helped me sharpen up my bowls.
“Lawton Tubes have also been great in working around my bowls schedule. I have been able to switch to a Monday to Friday daytime role so that I can pursue meeting up with my local team mid-week and England during some weekends, whilst still being able to spend time with my family.”
Nathan’s European exploits come off the back of helping England to success in the British Bowls Championships for the first time in 20 years in Solihull last November, where they overcame Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Jersey and Guernsey.
Nathan added: “It’s been a memorable year on the bowls front, and my first thought after winning in Norway was ‘now we have to retain the title’.”
Jon Brealey, Operations Manager at Lawton Tubes in Coventry, spoke of the hero’s welcome Nathan had received.
He said: “Nathan has developed into a great leader within our team since he joined us two years ago. He is able to adapt, think on his feet, and has great attention to detail, so it does not surprise me to see him excelling in other disciplines.
“It’s safe to say he has been the talk of the shop floor, and we’re really proud of his achievements.”
