Rose Allerston is head of sales and marketing at Smoking Gun, the Manchester PR agency founded in 2010.

Smoking Gun, which works with clients including Munchkin, Old J Spiced Rum and Pennine Care NHS Trust Foundation, has now moved to a hybrid model of working from home and its office on Bridge Street in Manchester.

Allerston joined Smoking Gun in 2016 as a senior account manager and previously held roles at Mason Williams and Fido PR. She lives in the Derbyshire countryside

We took a look at its work-from-home setup.

Where do you work in the house?

At the start of the pandemic, we turned our spare bedroom into an office, so that’s where I usually work, although sometimes I’m downgraded to the kitchen when my husband needs space too!

Paint us a picture of the view from your window.

I live in a small town called New Mills in the Derbyshire countryside so I’m lucky to have a view of the rolling countryside. The only problem is in the afternoon when the sun is beating down and I have to fully close the blinds and feel like I’m in a hole!

We also have the chatter of children playing at a nearby primary school’s recess, which is quite comforting.

If you have one, can you tell us about your daily work-from-home routine?

I get up early to get ready before my 1 year old wakes up around 7am and then have to rush to get him to daycare so I’m seated ready to work at 8am – or 9am on days I travel to Manchester.

I still love “Eat That Frog” (for anyone who’s read the book!) and take on my biggest challenge of the day first. So it could be talking to businesses about how we can help them grow through strategic communications, or writing a thought leadership paper to raise the agency’s profile or share best practices.

I always make sure to go out at least once during the work day. There are plenty of places to walk on my doorstep, and even half an hour in the fresh air makes me feel so much more focused – and happy – when I’m back at my desk.

What tools and technologies do you rely on when working from home?

We use Slack which is like an informal chat hub – it keeps agency chatter and quick thinking alive.

We also use Bonusly to reward everyone’s achievements, which has become even more important now that the team is no longer together every day. But there’s no such thing as phoning yourself or phoning clients, so video calls are still the most valuable tools.

I’m also increasingly using LinkedIn to reach business, marketing, and communications leaders who work from home.