Emily Bagdades, Senior Marketing Manager

At Bonham & Brook, our people are what set us apart, and Emily’s story is a great example of why. She joined to build something from the ground up, and she has gone on to shape how the business looks, sounds and presents itself to the world.

Her Journey at Bonham & Brook

Emily’s path into marketing began in the creative world. She studied Arts and Sciences at UCL, and her first role was as a video creator and editor at an advertising agency in Cyprus. She then went on to complete a master’s in Strategic Marketing at Imperial College Business School, where she earned a top-of-class award in Marketing Analytics and a place on the Dean’s List.

Before Bonham & Brook, she spent three and a half years at Innovate UK, a large, highly matrixed organisation whose goal is to accelerate business innovation and boost national productivity by turning breakthrough ideas into commercial realities. Along the way, she helped launch a platform connecting entrepreneurs with innovation resources. It was a B2B and sector background that made her a strong fit for the role at Bonham & Brook.

She joined Bonham & Brok for more authority, more challenge and a clearer path for growth. Here, she has the freedom to make decisions and apply her expertise.

Achievements

Emily’s biggest project has been leading Bonham & Brook’s rebrand, reshaping how the business presents itself internally and externally. Alongside it, she has led the launch of the new website, a major milestone that is set to raise the company’s profile and support its growth.

Both projects started from a blank page, and building a marketing function from the ground up is something she counts as one of the most formative experiences of her career.

Since joining, a year and a half ago, Emily’s biggest project has been leading Bonham & Brook’s rebrand, reshaping how the business presents itself internally and externally. The rebrand has given the company a clearer identity and changed how it is perceived within and outside the business.

Alongside it, she has led the launch of the new website, a major milestone that is set to raise the company’s profile and support its growth.

Behind both projects sits something she counts as one of the most formative experiences of her career: building a marketing function from nothing. What began as a one-person effort has grown into a team, and she now has the chance to develop the people and the foundations that will shape how the business grows.

Challenges

Emily joined a business with no established marketing function, which meant building everything from scratch, from brand guidelines to the processes behind them. She was effectively the person responsible for change, working with a lot of independence and a great deal of room to experiment. Mentors within the business helped her get to grips with the company and its context quickly.

Her next step was learning to manage. Being used to working on her own, taking on a team member and learning how to delegate was an unexpectedly tricky hurdle. She describes the experience as a significant step in her own development, learning how to train, empower and support someone else’s growth without over-extending herself.

Culture

Emily describes Bonham & Brook as a collaborative place to work, with a relaxed, anti-corporate culture, where people are not pitted against each other. Having come from a large, fully remote organisation where she hardly knew her own department, she values how connected people here are. She encourages new starters to get involved in the social side of the business, even if it feels a little intimidating at first.

At its heart, it is a culture of learning by doing. People are encouraged to take ownership, try things and keep developing themselves, and colleagues constantly build and boost each other’s expertise along the way. Emily has experienced this first-hand, building the marketing function through experimentation, with the freedom to test ideas and learn as she went.

Her management style reflects this. She aims to give support without spoon-feeding, giving her team autonomy within clear boundaries, and building working relationships on care and respect. The goal is for everyone to keep growing and to learn from the people around them.

Looking Ahead and Personal Reflections

Emily’s ambition for Bonham & Brook is to build a strong, sustainable marketing function that grows alongside the rest of the company, helping support the business’ ambitious Commercial goals. The ultimate goal is for the company to grow without compromising on what makes Bonham & Brook different, through an equitable and consistent brand identity that people are proud to represent.

Her advice for anyone joining the business is to make full use of the resources around them, including mentors, HR and the new website. She also encourages new starters to understand what motivates the different people they work with, since that makes it easier to frame their work in a way that resonates. Her last tip is not to take things personally, because high expectations reflect how much the business values expertise.

Outside of work, Emily has been a makeup artist for more than ten years. She is also a painter, baker and keen cook, and she loves being in nature and practising yoga.

Interested in Joining Bonham & Brook?

At Bonham & Brook, we are proud to foster an environment where people like Emily can thrive, innovate, and lead. If you are looking to build your career in a company that values ownership, growth, and impact, we would love to hear from you.

To learn more, visit our Meet the Team page and explore exciting opportunities on our Careers page.