THE FOUNDER of a Basingstoke-based marketing agency says more bosses in the industry should give employees the ability to work more flexibly, as the 'work from home' advice comes to an end next week.

The government recommendation that everyone should work from home where possible will end as the final Covid restrictions are relaxed on July 19.

But now, the founder of one Basingstoke marketing agency says that employers in the marketing and communications industry should be willing to allow their staff to work flexibly.

Kaia Vincent founded Brevity Marketing in 2010, and says she sees "no reason why PR, or marketing, has to be a full-time office-based profession".

Statistics from the Office of National Statistics published last month showed that 36 per cent of those currently working from home during the pandemic would spend the majority or all of their time their in the future.

A further 25 per cent said they would be splitting their time evenly between the office and home.

However, and analysis by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said that the country is at risk of becoming a two-tier workforce as not all regions have access to flexible working.

Kaia said: “Every member of my team works flexibly in some way, whether that’s part-time hours, remote working, or just ad-hoc small amends when they need it. In January 2020, before the pandemic arrived, we started a four-day week, in recognition of the time people need to rest properly and come to work re-charged and ready to focus.

“We ensure someone is in every weekday, and we’ve communicated our way of working with our clients. It’s not put them off, despite what many in our industry fear.

“Our PR managers work part-time and while we are careful about which clients we take on, I see no reason why PR, or marketing, has to be a full-time office-based profession.”