This year, Local Eyes is celebrating 20 years of helping local tradespeople and businesses get noticed by local people!
What started as a little business run from a spare room has grown into something much bigger than anyone could have imagined.
Here’s Louise’s story of how it all began, the journey along the way and what makes her most proud after 20 years.
In 2006, I made a decision that would completely change my life.
At the time, I was a mum to two very small children, aged one and four, and working silly hours as Finance Director for an IT company.
I had a career I’d worked hard for, but I also had that constant feeling of being torn in two.
I felt I had to keep proving that I was giving enough to my job, yet at the same time, I felt guilty that my children were in nursery five days a week.
It felt as though I couldn’t win…so, I resigned!
I decided to create something of my own – something that would allow me to use the skills I’d built throughout my career, satisfy my creative side and hopefully give me a little more control over my working life…and that was the beginning of Local Eyes.
Starting From The Spare Room
I set up a home office and quickly discovered that being your own boss meant having rather a lot of job titles!
I was the salesperson, designer, editor, credit controller, managing director… and tea girl!
I taught myself design skills, gave myself a crash course in marketing, established a relationship with a local printer and booked my monthly deliveries with Royal Mail and then I picked up the phone…and called…and called and called!
I contacted every local business I could find, trying to persuade them to advertise in something that, at that point, was really just an idea.
I didn’t have years of successful magazines, impressive statistics or testimonials.
I just had a concept, a lot of determination and the belief that I could make it work.
From 9,000 to 312,000 Homes
Eventually, that concept became something real.
The very first issue of Local Eyes was delivered through 9,000 letterboxes around Knottingley and the surrounding villages.
After the first year, I took another leap and launched a second book covering Pontefract. Around the same time, my mum joined me in the business.
For the next few years, we ran Local Eyes together from home, juggling the business with childcare and school runs.
In 2012, we moved into offices in Ferrybridge, started growing the team and continued launching magazines in new areas…ad then Covid hit!
Like businesses everywhere, we had to rethink how we worked. We closed the office, invested in our systems, became paperless and moved everything into the cloud..and we never went back!
Today, Local-Eyes has a team of five women, all mums, working from their own homes and meeting online each morning to plan the day and support one another and, quite often, put the world to rights!
In some ways, it feels as though Local Eyes has come full circle.
It began as a home-based business designed to fit around family life, and twenty years later we’ve built a team and a way of working that allows other women to do the same.
And today, our magazines are delivered into the heart of 312,000 homes across Yorkshire!
Twenty Years of Helping Local Businesses
Local Eyes itself has changed enormously too.
In those early years, we were much more of a directory of local businesses. Over time, we’ve developed into something that is as much about community as it is about advertising.
We’ve helped thousands of local businesses grow alongside us, spread the word about local events and charities and helped residents discover trusted trades and businesses in their local area.
Behind all of that sits something that can’t be created overnight – twenty years of marketing knowledge and know-how.
Of course, marketing has changed almost beyond recognition since 2006. When Local Eyes started, there was no Instagram, TikTok or WhatsApp! But rather than seeing technology as the enemy of print, we’ve found our place alongside it.
Seeing a business regularly in a trusted local publication helps build familiarity and trust. When the time comes that someone needs that particular service, they’ll often go online to find out more.
Print and digital don’t have to compete…they can make each other stronger and that’s something we’ve learned from twenty years of helping local businesses promote themselves.
Why I Really Started Local Eyes
If I’m completely truthful, the reason I started Local Eyes wasn’t because I had a grand ambition to build a publishing business reaching hundreds of thousands of homes. I started it because of my children.
I wanted a career, but I also wanted to be there for them. I wanted to challenge myself, but I didn’t want to constantly feel that succeeding at work meant I was somehow failing as a mum…so I tried to create another way.
Twenty years later, I’m proud of what we’ve built, but I’m equally proud of how we’ve built it.
A business centred around people, families and communities and that supports other local businesses and, in turn, is supported by them.
A Huge Thank You
Twenty years in business is never the achievement of just one person, and there are so many people who have played a part in the Local Eyes story along the way.
To every business that took a chance on us…particularly those brave enough to advertise in those very first issues when all I really had to sell was an idea…thank you.
To the thousands of businesses that have trusted us with their advertising since, many of whom have stayed with us for years, thank you for allowing us to be part of your own business journeys.
To our current team, who bring Local-eyes to life every day, thank you. I am incredibly proud of the business we have created together and of the way we support not only our customers, but each other.
I also want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of the employees who have been part of Local Eyes over the years. Whether you were with us for a short chapter or for many years, you contributed to the business we are today and became part of our story.
The same goes for the many consultants, freelancers, suppliers and other professionals whose knowledge and services we have called upon over the years. One of the lessons I’ve learned from running a small business is that you don’t have to know everything yourself…but it certainly helps to know some brilliant people who do!
Thank you to everyone who has shared their expertise, offered advice, solved problems and helped us move forward.
To my mum, who joined me when Local Eyes was still a little home-based business being run around nursery, childcare and school runs, and who helped me nurture it through those important early years…thank you.
A big thank you also goes to my husband, who not only supported my slightly crazy decision to leave a successful career and start a business from home, but also worked within Local Eyes for several years and has remained my resident IT guru ever since! For the advice, the technical expertise, the encouragement and, of course, for fixing things when they inevitably decided to break at the most inconvenient possible moment…usually just before a print deadline!
Finally, to the communities who have welcomed our magazines through their letterboxes month after month for the past twenty years,thank you for being part of the Local Eyes story.
When I look back at that first magazine going through 9,000 letterboxes in 2006 and compare it with the 312,000 homes we reach today, I feel incredibly proud and incredibly grateful.
It’s been an amazing twenty years…and we’re not finished yet!
We already have plans to bring Local Eyes to more communities and help even more local businesses spread the word about what they have to offer…here’s to the next chapter!
Could your business be part of our next chapter?
For twenty years, Local Eyes has been helping businesses get noticed by local people.
Today, our magazines are delivered by Royal Mail to 312,000 homes across Yorkshire, with advertising starting from just £22 + VAT per month.
If you’d like to find out how we could help your business reach more local customers, we’d love to hear from you.
Download our media pack or get in touch with our friendly team to discuss the options.
Recent Comments