Happy Teams

Dave from Numiko admits the agency used to do what most digital agencies do: hire good people and hope they'd figure it out. "I think we were setting people up to fail," he says. Remote work made that approach impossible. So Numiko mapped out everything a new hire needs to know, layered across their first six months. The first week covers who does what. The second introduces playbooks. By three mo...

Ben from Geonetric ran a flat structure with no managers for over a decade. No hierarchy. Team-based accountability. A high degree of autonomy. On paper, it looked efficient. Every person was doing client work rather than managing other people. "For a period of time I think it worked well," Ben says. But the overhead showed up in other places. There was no playbook for performance management witho...

Nick from Territory describes himself as the restless pragmatist. His co-founder David is the visionary dreamer. That pairing has driven Territory from a seven-person studio to over 200 people across global locations. The dynamic works through respectful sparring. "I'll say, I love what you said. What does the first step look like?" Nick explains. "And then I'll catalyse and accelerate." The two h...

At AMI, Drew McLellan calls most agency founders "accidental business owners." They started as copywriters or art directors, got made redundant, picked up a client, and ten years later found themselves running a 50-person operation with no formal training in how to do it. Drew has worked with thousands of agencies and mapped the exact headcount points where things tend to fall apart: 12 to 15, 25...

Jenny from Magnetic walked away from pitching. Not because she couldn't win, but because the process had become a procurement exercise that rarely suited the work Magnetic does. "We sell solutions, but we don't always know what the solution's going to be" Jenny explains. "Sometimes we don't even know what the problem is." A client arrives with a brief and Magnetic tells them the problem is somewhe...

When Crystal joined Seer Interactive, there were five people. Now there are 220. Retention sits around 90%. One policy stands out from everything else they do. "We make people take that time off," Crystal says. "Their first week at Seer is paid time off. They don't show up. They don't log in. They can do whatever they want." The idea came in 2022. Crystal noticed new hires were ending one job on a...

CJ from Planes shares revenue, profitability, and the cash flow forecast with the entire team every two weeks. That level of openness runs through everything at Planes, from how they hire to how they handle a bad quarter.   "It all stems from the core premise: hire good people, treat them like adults, and get out of their way" CJ says.   When the first quarter of this year got difficult, nobody pa...

From our latest agency leadership podcast episode: Digital marketing agencies RocketMill and PMG reveal how their merger strengthened organisational culture and team retention, moving beyond traditional ESG principles and riding the Gartner Hype Cycle of acquisition excitement.   When RocketMill transitioned from an employee-owned trust to joining global agency PMG, they achieved something remarka...

Digital agency StrategIQ earned a spot on the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list. On Happy Teams, CEO Andy revealed their employee engagement strategy, drawing from business principles found in books like "Traction" from Gino Wickman and concepts like Maslow's hierarchy of needs.   "Every business has to have a strong training culture. Every business has to have a wellbeing culture. You have to...

On this week's business leadership podcast, David shares how digital consultancy Red Badger transformed their workplace culture when the pandemic forced remote work adaptation.   As a remote work case study, Red Badger's team had to reimagine their organisational culture. Here's what David learned about maintaining team engagement and company culture in a hybrid workplace model.   "Pre-pandemic, w...

On this week's agency management podcast: Ed shares how 7DOTS' workplace culture evolved from its two-person founding team to the thriving digital agency it is today. When Ed co-founded digital agency 7DOTS, their team culture strategy was straightforward: "Day one, we started the business. There were two of us. We were the company culture. And as we grew, as we brought more people on board, it's...

When Sam and Alana founded digital agency Thought Quarter in 2014, they started with "one major client that paid most of our bills, paid on time, and we had a small team of freelancers." By 2017, they knew this business model wasn't sustainable and decided to grow, but lacking agency management experience, they looked to bring in established talent.   "We thought what we really needed was a big sh...

During the pandemic lockdown, agency owner and digital marketing expert Nathan Lomax faced the challenge of virtual networking, conducting an overwhelming number of video calls. "At one stage, I was having 400 conversations a month. I had a super militant process of 20 calls a day, 30 minutes of time, 10 hours back to back," he recalls.   His business networking solution was simple: "The idea was...

Listen to this episode of Happy Teams to discover how Edinburgh-based Lane Media achieves exceptional employee retention and workplace satisfaction that exceed industry standards.    In this episode, Managing Director Barry shares the agency's strategies for maintaining 10+ year employee tenures, including radical transparency in business operations, flexible work arrangements, and innovative team...

On Happy Teams this week, Becky shares how Reflect Digital's career development conference is transforming local students into digital marketing agency talent.   "It's aimed at sixth form students currently, helping them to understand about the amazing digital careers that exist out there," says Becky. "All the things that are hidden behind this...that maybe as a 16, 17, 18 year old, you don't rea...

In the latest episode of Happy Teams, Leigh Gammons, CEO of digital product agency Tangent, shares what it takes to build a thriving, engaged remote-first team. With over 15 years of experience leading global businesses for top clients like HSBC, Ford, and Coca-Cola, Leigh brings a wealth of expertise to the table.   "There's two components of trust," Leigh explains. "There is how competent somebo...

As TRGT grew, the benefits of a remote model became clear – access to top talent, cost efficiency, and the ability to serve clients internationally. However, the founders soon realised the importance of intentionally shaping company culture.   "It was out of convenience," Patrick explains, "We just thought we'd give it a go and see what happened." In this episode of Happy Teams, Patrick Nancarrow,...

"The inspiration for doing it was multifaceted. We're working in an industry that, if you stand still, the tendency is you can become, increasingly, irrelevant." In the latest episode of Happy Teams, Chris Jones, CEO of Space & Time, shares his agency's journey during the pandemic.   Recognising the need to adapt to the changing digital landscape and client needs, Space & Time embarked on...

"The inspiration for doing this was not having a USP and not standing out as an agency anymore." Gareth Morgan, founder of Liberty Marketing, shares his agency's journey into specialisation in this episode of the Happy Teams podcast.   By launching Foundation for the beauty industry and Balance for financial services, Liberty discovered the power of having a clear USP in a crowded market. Speciali...

Paul, Head of Operations and Delivery at Hedgehog Lab, reveald the key ingredients to sustaining a high performing team culture following their merger with Netsells.  "Giving people a platform to work on good quality projects where they're understanding who the client is and what the background is and helping them see those things through to fruition gives them self-satisfaction," Paul explains, h...

Listen to Paddy Moogan, co-founder of SEO agency Aira, share his interesting journey from young florist to SEO agency leader.   Paddy is open about the challenges of balancing capacity with incoming work, sharing instances where Aira got it right – and where they stumbled.   He discussed the importance of prioritising quality over speed in hiring, even when the pressure is on.   "We wanted to hire...

Today, we're thrilled to welcome Rob from Graphite Digital, a specialist digital design agency working within healthcare and pharma. Rob is set to unravel a captivating tapestry of initiatives that are reshaping Graphite Digital into an exceptional workplace. Join us as we dive into Rob's world, where he unveils what truly sets Graphite Digital apart, going beyond the expected norms of benefits an...

Welcome to another episode of the Happy Teams podcast! Today we chat with Dan, from Wonderful, a dynamic digital creative agency nestled in the heart of the South West of England. Get ready to dive into the exciting world of strategies that are reshaping Wonderful into a workplace where brilliance thrives. In this episode, Dan unveils a captivating initiative that's truly unique: Get ready to be a...

Welcome back to the Happy Teams podcast, your ultimate destination for candid conversations with digital leaders who are mastering the art of attracting and retaining top-tier digital talent. Today we're in for an insightful journey with Anthony from The Distance, a mobile app development agency. Get ready to delve into the exciting world of initiatives that are transforming The Distance into a wo...

Welcome to Happy Teams! Our latest episode puts the spotlight on AgencyUK, a leading full service brand communications agency based in the South West of England. Join us as we chat with Sammy, where he unveils key initiatives that have turned the company into a great place to work, including: Their impactful B Corp status, driving positive change in both work and culture. The unique "Agency for Al...