Allen Betchley
Co-founder, Otter Labs | Creative Director
Allen Betchley is the co-founder of Otter Labs, a UK digital marketing agency that helps ambitious businesses grow through brand strategy, creative direction, and visual identity. With over 25 years leading design agencies and working with brands including Caffé Nero, Nike, Savills and British Land, he brings the creative and strategic foundation that ensures every brand Otter Labs works with is built to perform.
Background
Allen has worked in the design industry for over 30 years. His journey began at Epsom Art College with his foundation studies, before completing a BA Hons degree at Leeds Metropolitan University in Graphic Design.
After university he worked with Quarton Baldwin as a Junior Designer, before joining Land Design Studios where he worked on permanent exhibitions for Kew, Reading and Science Museums.
Moving on to join start-up Progression Design, Allen spent the next 20 years helping to grow the agency to a £1m+ turnover agency, working with clients including Caffé Nero, Savills, Nike, British Land, and many more. When Progression finally disbanded Allen had worked his way up to Managing Director, managing a team of 15+ people across 2 Surrey sites.
After a short spell he met Phill and together they decided to start Otter Labs.
Otter Labs
In 2023, Allen co-founded Otter Labs alongside Phill Maddick. The agency was built around a simple belief: to craft good things for good people.
At Otter Labs, Allen leads all brand strategy, creative direction, and design. That means visual identity systems, brand positioning, website design, and making sure every client touchpoint is consistent, credible, and commercially driven. His approach is rooted in the same principle that built Progression Design into a long-standing agency: understand the client’s business first, then create work that serves it.
Otter Labs specialises in Branding, Visibility and Sales. As a Google Partner, the agency combines traditional search expertise with a forward looking approach to generative AI, helping clients appear not just in search results but inside AI generated answers.
Education and Community
Beyond client work, Allen is a Student Mentor with MCR Pathways, supporting young people across the UK who face barriers to achieving their potential. It is a cause he is passionate about, and one that reflects a core value at Otter Labs: that opportunity should not depend on circumstance.
He regularly shares insights on LinkedIn and contributes to conversations around brand strategy, creative direction, and the role of design in driving business growth.
Beyond the Screen
When he is not working on brand development or design, Allen is a keen Pilates practitioner who’s training to teach Classical Pilates. He’s a mentor to a young person via the MCR Pathways programme and training to be an on-call Fire Fighter with Godalming Fire Service. He’s a keen Arsenal fan, and loves nothing more than a good (red) wine and film with his wife.