Adelaide Burton is the Office Manager at Mark 1 and has been working part time for the company for 3 years (on July 4th) and has recently celebrated her 40th birthday. She is due to go on maternity leave on the 8th of July and so we thought we’d grab her for a quick ‘interview’ before she gets really busy with a new baby!
One of Adelaide’s main duties is to assist Mark with the account management and as a customer you are most likely to have been in contact with her when she sends you an invoice or a statement. Adelaide, however, is involved in quite a lot of the other background work that keeps the company running smoothly. Amongst other tasks she produces and collates much of our marketing content, from blogs and newsletters to case studies and animations, which are published on our website and across social media channels.
Out of work Adelaide enjoys hiking, gardening, photography and various other creative projects; having studied Fine Art at University Adelaide keeps up with this interest and in her spare time undertakes some private artwork commissions (including some large-scale murals).
What did you do prior to joining Mark 1?
When I first left university, I worked as an independent artist before seeking a steadier income and starting a job as an Archivist and Accounts Assistant at one of the North West’s leading independent law firms. After a few years I moved jobs to become PA to the MD for an international design and build company who undertook complex engineering projects involving critically controlled environments such as clean rooms, data centres, renewable energy centres and power plants.
Why did you join Mark 1?
I was looking to re-introduce a little more of my ‘creative side’ into my life and had enrolled for a Postgraduate Diploma in Interior Design at Salford University. I was looking for a part-time role to fit in around my studies and the job at Mark 1 seemed ideal!
What are the best bits of your job?
As we are a small company, I get to be involved in multiple aspects to do with running the business and the tasks and projects tend to vary from day to day which keeps it interesting. It is also a genuinely great, friendly team to work with.
What are the worst bits of your job?
Having previously worked for two fairly large companies, it took a bit of adjusting to work with a much smaller workforce and I sometimes miss the variety of social interaction that was previously available. However, having a smaller team certainly has its benefits; previously I found that organising Christmas do’s for 100s of people can be a little stressful (especially when they can’t decide what they want to eat!!).
What have you learned? What courses/training have you undertaken whilst at Mark 1?
I’ve attended numerous marketing workshops and seminars of varying sorts many of which were held at Google’s Digital Garage which had been conveniently located very close to our offices in Manchester city centre when it was up and running. I’ve also completed certificates in Google Analytics for Beginners and The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing online. I’ve learnt a lot on the job too, from being able to take full advantage of the suite of Microsoft Office 365 Apps to navigating around a WordPress site. Of course, I’ve also learnt a great deal about the in and outs of ISO certification and what that entails.
How have you found the last year (pandemic)?
I was furloughed initially but fortunately this wasn’t for too long and although working from home was initially a little distracting, I was soon able to get into the swing of it. I’m fortunate enough to have been able to set up a proper home office in a room that rarely used for anything else, so this helps. Mark made sure that the team identified and obtained any DSE equipment necessary and probably one of the best ‘lockdown’ additions to my household was (boringly) a really decent office chair! This has been particularly essential during my pregnancy, and I’ve not had any major back problems throughout the last eight months! I’ve missed the routine of going into work, seeing people and having a change of scenery, but as a company we have actively encouraged the team to get out in the fresh air every day and I’ve enjoyed a lunchtime walk, pretty much every day since the pandemic began.
