Who we are... and how we try to be different
We're an Employee-owned company - which means the people who work here own the business and there are no external shareholders.
We believe we can be successful and treat our customers well. We aim to send out all orders the day we receive them (or the next day if you phone after the post's been picked up). The phones are answered by actual human beings (mainly Jade or Shanice - or one of the rest of us if it's busy!), not machines. And we don't pass on your details to other companies for them to contact you.
All in all, we try to live up to our name and be helpful.
Laura Laura’s been here since the very early days - 2006. She took over as Managing Director from the previous owner Tim Wakeling when the company became Employee Owned in October 2019, so she has to make the big decisions which means she gets to be involved in all aspects of the company. |
Claire
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Jade
Jade is another of our customer service team, she’s busy making sure all our customers are happy whilst answering the phone, dealing with post and so on. She also is the main person keeping track of stock to make sure we don’t run out of any particular book... unless we get caught out by a sudden unexpected rush for a particular title! |
Jess
Jess started in customer services and still helps out when it’s busy or someone wants a holiday. But she has several different roles now - she keeps our accounts, works on the Tech Inner Circle and when she has time free from all that helps the other editors with getting books done. (She’s also a trained dance teacher - but we haven’t yet written “Dance One Step at a Time” even though it’s a great title...) |
Ellen
Ellen's got lots of experience in publishing but is also a top-notch photographer and when she’s not working for us (producing our books and courses) she has her own business producing location guidebooks called “The Photographers Guide to...” here’s her range of photography guides if you’d like to take a look. |
DianeDiane is Laura’s Mam. She is our cleaner (so she still gets to tidy up after Laura) and keeps everything ship shape in the warehouse and offices. There’s never a dull moment when she’s around. |
Mike
Mike joined us, stayed a while, then left... and a few months later came back (hurrah!) This time we’ll try to hold onto him! He is our main techie - he works on the Tech Inner Circle and also helps when things need sorting in the office. Oh, and in between all that he also likes to help out with packing orders to go in the post. |
Kathryn
Kathryn is one of our editors, spending most of her time writing books and recording online courses. She's also a dedicated member of our Tech Inner Circle team, answering technical questions and writing articles. And when she's not ferreting away in the office, she can usually be found with her nose in a good book, lindy-hopping around with her dancing shoes on... or climbing up big rocks.
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ShaniceShanice joined our team as a packing assistant in April 2021, and she's doing a grand job. She likes to be kept busy, and although she started out in packing, Shanice is now also trained in customer services - so that she can help out when we have a busy spell. So you might get to speak to her over the phone when you place an order. |