Darren Bailes, VCCP

“Why does Daz deserve to be Creative Person of the Year?”

It’s a big question. So I outsourced it to the creative department at VCCP.

I went round all 60 of them, from placement teams to Deputy ECDs, and asked them what they thought of their boss, Darren Bailes.

Some of them had only recently started working with him, others have known him since he joined in 2008. Others even before that.

And sure, I got a lot of answers about how energising it is to be on a project with him.

But there was one word that kept cropping up.

And I don’t mean it came up once or twice - I mean every single person said it in some form or another.

“He’s really approachable”.

Whether you need feedback on a piece of work, someone to stay late on a pitch, a bit of personal advice or just lunch at the local curry house - he will be there.

It’s what makes the Creative Department at VCCP such a brilliant place to work.

It’s what got us through the shitstorm of 2020.

So while we will go through your checklist and all the formal reasons why he deserves to be Creative Person of the Year, I think the answer to your question is much less tangible.

It’s his self-effacing personality and the culture he engenders at VCCP that has made 2020 not just manageable, but enjoyable - and that’s why this year in particular he deserves to take home the title.