He's a real enthusiast for the great outdoors.

Alexis Bradbury, a director at creative agency Browndog Design in Huddersfield, is a dedicated hill walker and also enjoys running and cycling.

And he’s embarked on a particular challenge with a few of his mates – to complete each of the 214 walks featured in the guides written by fell walker and author Alfred Wainwright.

“I’ve completed 150 so far,” says Alexis.”It’s difficult juggling work commitments and the demands of two teenage children, but I’d like to complete all 214.I spent three years in the Lake District between school and university working at a remote hotel and spent a lot of time exploring.

“I also did a bit of travelling further afield. I bought a Land Rover and went to Katmandu – which is where I got interested in photography.”

Alexis, who grew up in Golcar, attended Colne Valley High School and Batley Grammar School. “I was always good at English and languages,” he says. “I took A-levels in English, French and German.”

Alexis studied photography at Nottingham University School of Art and Design before his love of outdoor pursuits provided an opening into the world of work. “I got a kit sponsorship from a sports company and they gave me a job in the marketing department when I graduated,” he says.

“That introduced me to the varied nature of communications – how to pull together words and pictures to create a compelling marketing proposition.”

Alexis worked in the firm’s Nottingham office before moving back to Yorkshire. He worked for a small agency in Elland before joining one of the biggest names in the world of advertising and PR, Brahms, in Leeds. He set up his own consultancy in 2002, working for a time at the Media Centre in Huddersfield and later in Mirfield, where he lives with wife Vikki and teenage children Luke and Megan.

“A lot of my work was with new businesses and full service accounts providing integrated marketing strategies,” says Alexis. At that time, he often collaborated with Browndog Design, which had been established in 1999. “I liked the work they were doing,” he says. “We  complemented each other because my consultancy provided strategic thinking and Browndog would carry out the implementation.”

Alexis came on board as a director of the Bradley-based agency about five years ago, while still running his consultancy as a limited company.

Says Alexis: “I’m in charge of client services and strategic thinking at Browndog, working with business owners or senior managers, helping them to understand their businesses and objectives.There are lots of great businesses out there, but they don’t always tap into marketing to its full potential. There are misconceptions about marketing. I hear people say ‘I have tried that and it doesn’t work’ But marketing isn’t something you can turn on and off like a tap.”

He also has a message for firms that shy away from the spotlight. “It isn’t possible for firms NOT to do PR.” he says. “You can try to shape people’s opinions of you – or not. But they will form an opinion of you and your business regardless. Any right-thinking business owner would want to have something to say.

“The modern business world tends to favour transparency and openness because these days the customer is far more sophisticated and can find things out!”

Alexis says new technology has turned marketing into a “two-way street”. He explains: “Marketing and advertising used to be about pushing out the message you wanted to promote. Now it is also a chance to get feedback from stakeholders. Some companies are scared about what people will say about them – but they have to learn to take criticism positively.”

Browndog recently carried out a research project for one client which contacted 50 of its top clients. “Through that research, the company got to understand their relationship with their customers, says Alexis. “The information that came out of that was gold dust. The beauty of the digital age is that so much of the information we get is measurable. We can show companies what their customers are responding to – and what the company should be doing.”

Browndog’s clients include many in manufacturing, distribution and the public sector. While most are in West Yorkshire, the agency also works for businesses as far afield as Coventry, Essex and Bedfordshire.

Says Alexis: “Manufacturing firms are sometimes seen as not very forward-thinking. But the ones we have helped during the recession have been innovative and we have some real success stories among our clients who have grown turnover and profit and bought other businesses.”

The recession has been “good” for Browndog, too. The agency has doubled its numbers from five to 10 in the past five years and has seen the volume of digital work rise from between 25% and 30% of the total to 70%.

But Alexis stresses: “From the communications perspective, all the messages have to ‘join up’. You have to make sure the print, advertising and exhibition materials link up and use digital tools to measure the results. Any manufacturing firm still needs to demonstrate to prospective customers why it is different.”

Alexis detects “a real positivity” among firms in the region.”I think that has generally been the case for some time and there is a real sense of frustration when people talk things down,” he says. “It is more about attitude and confidence.

“There is a feeling that whatever the economic situation, you have two choices – either to wither away and die complaining or do something about it.”

Alexis also recognises that the future of his own industry depends on new blood and new ideas. He gives lectures and seminars several times a year to students at Huddersfield University’s graduate start-up support unit while Browndog has recruited several graduates and provides work experience and work placements for young people.

Says Alexis: “The aim is to show them the difference between the course and what it’s like in the business world – the commercial reality of being able to produce good work within tight time constraints. The aim is to create a pool of talent. This is a young person’s industry. It’s good to have experienced people, but we need to be challenged and exposed to fresh thinking,”

Thinking time is something Alexis values – and he often finds it away from the office. “Most of my world is sports and outdoors-related,” he says. “I’m a member of Dewsbury Roadrunners. I have done the London Marathon for the past couple of years and several half-marathons. I’d love to do some marathons overseas and I’d quite like to do one of those ultra-marathons. I run about four or five times a week, clocking up maybe 30 miles. It’s a great way to release stress. I tend to go running as soon as I get home from work. It’s good thinking time.”