Meet our head of communications, Ruth Harrison-Davies

If our employees are the heart and soul of our brand, then our head of communications Ruth is the voice... writing most of the words you see ‘out there’ in the world. So, now that she’s firmly part of the in-house team, we thought it was time we put her in the hotseat.

Hello Ruth! Firstly, tell us what inspired you to join the Agilité team?

I had worked with Agilité for five years, providing services through a communications agency, before making the move in-house in January 2025. Since the first time I met the Agilité team, I’ve been in awe of the incredible projects we work on, the calibre of our client-base, and the culture we work hard to uphold – joining as a full-time employee was a real ‘pinch me’ moment.

Can you share a little bit about what you do, and the role you play in the delivery of Agilité's projects?

I’m the person behind the screen, writing the majority of Agilité’s internal and external communications, as well as leading the wider PR and marketing strategy throughout Europe – getting to grips with what our local teams need, to support the wider business goals — and working closely with our operational excellence director, Kirsty. While I don’t physically deliver projects, I strive to build connections with our clients, consultants, and partners, to understand their experience of working with us and what we can do to keep improving.

How would you describe our organisation and the work we do to someone who had never heard of Agilité before?

We breathe new life into spaces for world-leading brands. It may be our tagline, but that’s exactly what we do – take existing spaces and make them fit-for-purpose for those people who are going to live and breathe them every single day.

What has been your favourite Agilité project to work on, to-date?

I genuinely love everything I do at Agilité, and it’s hard to pick one thing, but at a push I’d say delivering a roundtable alongside our UK country head, Daniel Hunt, last summer. It was incredibly rewarding to have a bunch of thought-leaders in a room and get their take on a pertinent topic. We took the discussion and created a whitepaper which condensed all the musings into a downloadable piece, too.

In your opinion, what makes Agilité stand out from the crowd? And how do you put your own stamp on that distinction?

I’d have to say our commitment to being a responsible business, evidenced through our B Corp certification. It’s not simply a policy, but a mindset that permeates all our actions and decision-making, which is quite humbling when you stop and consider the (positive) impact we have as a result. Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to each of our European offices, speak to our clients, and attend conferences hosted by two of our charitable partners, and seeing our purpose and principles come to life has reaffirmed the fact that I made the right choice in joining the team.

Describe a defining moment in your career, and how it has shaped the work you do at Agilité?

I would have to credit this to my dad. He’s an architect specialising in the design of healthcare buildings – having worked on schemes for Derby and Pinderfields hospitals, as well as our local doctors’ surgery. Growing up, I would tag along to site visits with him, and he would explain the rationale behind some of the design decisions he made – with a real focus on mental health and making hospitals a less stressful place to be, when you’re already likely feeling uncomfortable just being there. While I didn’t have the creative vision to be an architect and take over his practice (my creativity is firmly in the world of words), it clearly gave me a latent interest in architecture which bubbled back up to the surface the moment I started working with Agilité and another former client of mine, Reid Brewin Architects.

If a dream client were to call, who would it be and why?

Neom Wellbeing. Based not far from me in Harrogate and a fellow B Corp, I’m a huge Neom fan and have one of its wellbeing pods on constantly when I’m at home. The brand does so much community engagement too, and I’d love for us to work on an exciting store or pop-up shop.

What one piece of advice would you give to a client looking to expand into a new country, drawing from your experiences and expertise?

Speak to one of our experts. My colleagues are incredible at what they do, and I’m lucky enough to interview lots of our clients post-project, to gather their feedback from an objective point of view. The level of positive comments I hear about our teams’ attitude and approach to everything – from value engineering to problem-solving – is superb, and with that, I know you’ll be in safe hands.

What excites you most about the future of Agilité? How do you see your role contributing to this vision?

Our growth. The company has expanded massively since I first met Kirsty and Neil in 2020, and we have big plans for the year(s) ahead too. I’ve joined at a time where I can support the evolution of the brand as we continue to explore new countries and welcome new colleagues. Now that I’m here, I can help to make sure we don’t lose sight of what our brand represents – beyond the colour palette and tone of voice – when it comes to internal and external communication with all stakeholders.

In what ways do you envision Agilité continuing to lead the way in sustainable practices within the construction industry? How do you personally align with Agilité's sustainability values?

Being a B Corp means we have access to a huge pool of like-minded organisations and people to help us continue to push the envelope. Only yesterday I joined a B Hive UK event around employee engagement and left brimming with ideas. I think one thing that made me nervous about switching from a communications agency to an in-house role was the thought that I’d have less people around me to bounce ideas around, but the reality is quite the opposite – I now have the space to collaborate with inspiring brands and people, without worrying about using too much of the client’s retainer time.

What industry changes or trends do you think will have the biggest impact on our sector over the coming year?

It’s been said before, but absolutely it’s all-things-AI. We’ve established a working group internally at Agilité, to define best-practice and agree what tools we should be moving forward with – not just for our own benefit, but in line with our ISO certifications too. I’m looking forward to attending my first meeting and getting stuck in. And no, this blog wasn’t written by Chat GPT!

Finally, when you’re not at work, where are we most likely to find you?

Blasting around the Yorkshire countryside on a sunny summer evening in our Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth or Mitsubishi Evo VI. You can take the girl out of motorsport, but you can’t take motorsport out of the girl...