Who are we?

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, 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.

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    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.

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    Jade

    Jade is our Operations Manager. She 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!

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    Claire

    Claire aka the “Tea Drinker in Chief” joined back in 2007 and has helped with producing books ever since. She has over 20 years' experience in editing. Claire also helps out with our marketing, making the ads and booking them into magazines and newspapers.

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    Jess

    Jess 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).

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    Mike

    Mike 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.

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    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 the newsletter.

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    Shanice

    Shanice spends half her time in customer service and the other as the chief packer in the warehouse. So you might get to speak to her over the phone when you place an order.
    Shanice has two children, both keen cricketers - so when she's not at work you can usually find her standing at the side of a field cheering them on.

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    Emma

    Emma is another of our excellent customer service team, she’s busy making sure all our customers are happy whilst answering the phone.

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    Emily

    Emily joined us in 2023 as an editor and product developer. So far, she's mainly been kept busy updating books and editing videos for our online courses.

  • Shannon

    Another of our excellent customer service team, she’s busy making sure all our customers are happy whilst answering the phone.

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    Russ

    Russ is our picker and packer, brew maker and website designer. When he's not at Helpful Books he's busy producing books for self-publishers.

  • Diane

    Diane 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.

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    Ben

    Ben joined the Tech Inner Circle team in March 2024! He recently graduated from university in Liverpool with a degree in computer science, and previously ran a small business selling and repairing tech. He's an avid story writer and loves gaming. He says feel free to rack his brains about any questions or issues you may have with any device, gadget or doohickey you’d like.