About us
The handbooks
Home Handbooks was founded by Peter Ward, a senior design journalist for 11 years with the Blackpool Gazette until July 2010.
The handbook is a once-a-year highly personalised directory, delivered through doors, which puts a human face on businesses operating in a particular area.
Peter devised the idea after having difficulty finding a roofer and a conversation with a self-employed friend who paid a lot of money for unsuccessful advertising.
Using the principle that faces sell papers, he believes householders prefer service providers they can see and know something about. Home Handbook carries a photograph and introduces the business person with an article about them and their services.
We aim to take the dithering out of doing.
The websites
Material in the handbooks is easily transferable to the web where much of the information about local businesses is minimal and impersonal.
Stephen Skelly (right) has a degree in Internet Computing from the University of Hull and has designed a number of websites in a freelance capacity. He has been working as a freelance web design/developer for the last 11 years and recently set up his own website design company. Stephen supplies the technical expertise to our design service.
Find out more about our web services
Franchising
Husband-and-wife team Alan and Sally Barnes were Home Handbooks' first franchisees. They launched the South Ribble Home Helper in 2012, followed by the Leyland Home Handbook and Chorley Villages East and West. All carry more than 80 businesses and each is completed in less than three months.
Alan and Sally are experienced senior national newspaper journalists from Preston and have spent their careers as journalists and designers on newspapers in Lancashire and further afield. They believe Home Handbook’s expertise and support got them off to a flying start.
For more about franchising opportunities, Click here
Other services
Home Handbooks' extensive journalistic background means we are able to offer copywriting for print and web and graphic design services.
We can also produce high quality newsletters which enable businesses to communicate in a professional and powerful way.