By Morgan Sheppard

It’s March 2021 and I can’t believe we’re still in lockdown.

Despite the drawbacks that numerous people will look back upon, I think I can vouch for most employees at The Bespoke Group (TBG) when I say from a work perspective, we have been extremely lucky. Of course, I mean this in the best possible way, and as the saying goes; you make your own luck.

I started at TBG in January 2020, graduating from a sports journalism course at university with little to no experience in the field of public relations. I began to rent in Sutton, near London, here in the UK, to kick-start my career and move closer to the workplace, only to find myself moving back home in March last year when coronavirus hit. Yet, in a world full of uncertainty and emptiness (sorry for the depressing tone), I couldn’t be more comfortable in the job I’m doing.

The timing of the UK’s first national lockdown meant that I was able to get to grips with the role during my time in the office, meeting every friendly face in the process before heading back down to the South Coast. I accept that, had this not been the case, my outlook on the situation may have been different.

Working from home would have certainly been a massive question mark for most businesses prior to COVID-19, but partly through lack of choice, trust was given to employees to prove that teams can work remotely and still function very effectively.

For example, despite the ‘new normal’ way in which we’re currently working, we recently launched a company to market, with the team organising some high-profile interviews across mainstream media (including Bloomberg and BBC), as well as key trade publications. The ability to secure such a variety of written, visual and audio media coverage shows the value of good connections and relationships, with further evidence that working from home can still meet primary objectives for clients. Ultimately, if the story is strong and you know how to pitch it, it doesn’t matter where you’re calling from.

Despite the hassle that is setting up a home office, the lack of procrastination somewhat surprised me. Instead, my overall application and concentration levels were the exact replica of my work ethic in the main office and I still feel as connected now to those who I would usually work two metres from. Our morning team Zoom calls have no doubt helped that, with everyone convening at the start of each day on to see who actually showered before work!

We are of course all well connected through an internal messaging service and often have regular calls to check-in on each other for both business and personal purposes. Training has continued to go ahead as normal, with the meeting room replaced by sessions on Zoom. We also continue to enjoy a drink (or five) at the end of each week, but it’s now done during what’s become a new weekly tradition, a company quiz.

It’s a situation where team morale has made everything, in the simplest of terms, better. To be able to pull in new business during such a period is undoubtedly impressive, as well as continuing to work with our amazing clients across many industries. The end of COVID-19 is edging ever closer and I know myself and a few other colleagues are waiting to visit a ‘physical’ trade show for the first time. Who would have thought I would still be saying that over a year into my job!?

Unfortunately, that’s the way of the world right now, but with the vaccination program hitting successful targets, all of us here at TBG are hoping it’s only a matter of time before things are back to normal again. Until then, relish Netflix, continue walking around the block and if you’d like to find out more about us and what we can do for you as a business, you can do so by contacting ben@thebespoke-group.com or visiting www.thebespoke-group.com