Alex Willcocks

Why the glasses icon?

I've embraced being bespectacled from a young age, when I used to do a great Harry Potter impression... long before anyone knew who Harry Potter was. Since then my glasses have stuck with me through thick and thin, evolving with me over time and never being too far from my face in case of emergency.

A bit more about Alex

What do you enjoy most about your role?

Building something that actually matters to people. I love the moments where everything clicks. When the team’s flying, clients are seeing the impact of what we’ve delivered, and you can feel the momentum across the business. That’s hard to beat.

What challenges do you enjoy solving?

I love the challenge of alignment. Getting a group of smart, opinionated people all pulling in the same direction is harder than it sounds - but when you get it right, it’s incredibly powerful.

Which project at Engage are you proudest of, and why?

Becoming employee-owned, without a doubt. Not just because of what it is structurally, but because of what it represents. It was a big, irreversible decision. Handing over ownership of something you’ve built over years isn’t a small thing. But it’s already changed how we think, how we show up, and how we perform. When people genuinely feel like owners, the standard lifts. The care factor goes up. The ambition goes up. We’re still early in that journey - but what we’ve achieved in a short space of time makes me incredibly proud.

What sets Engage apart from other agencies?

We actually mean it when we talk about quality. “Attention to digital™” isn’t just a line - it’s how we operate. We sweat the details, we care about the craft, and we push work from "that’ll do" to "that’s genuinely excellent". Layer employee ownership on top of that and it becomes something quite powerful. You’ve got a team of people who care more, think longer-term, and take real pride in what they put their name to. It’s not magic. It’s just a group of people treating the business like it’s theirs - because it is.

What drew you to a career in digital?

The pace of it. Digital doesn’t sit still. It evolves constantly, which means you’re always learning, always adapting, always figuring things out. That suits me. I also love the blend of creativity and commercial impact. You can build something beautiful, but it also has to work. It has to deliver. That balance keeps things interesting.

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in your career?

Clarity beats everything. If people understand where you’re going, why it matters, and what’s expected of them - most of the hard stuff becomes easier. If they don’t, even simple things become painful. The other big one - culture isn’t what you say, it’s what you tolerate. The standards you walk past become the standards you accept. Get those two things right, and a lot of the rest tends to follow.