Love2hire's Blog
Following our adventures in the hiring worldTake it, go on its yours.
We live in a world where everything is at risk of being snatched away and as a result we have gone insurance mad, our love to insure everything and anything from our homes to our pet dog has made us feel safer. However we always forget to insure the most obvious and sometimes very expensive item that never leaves our side, our handbag! Our beloved vunerable bag might as well carry a neon sign flashing “I’m an easy catch, take me away”
A handbag to any women is quite simply like an extra arm or leg, loose it and you’re lost. A real Aladdins cave we throw all bits and pieces into our bag, designer purse, iphone, make-up, camera and the odd bit of fluff and tissue. When you sit back and calculate the cost of each item sitting snuggly in your bag it amounts to a pretty sum and if its stolen that’s it, lost forever! On average each person has £851 worth of gadgets on them daily and even more for Londoners at £1034 which is madness when you consider that London has a huge crime rate for handbag theft and pick pockets.
Handbag Cover was developed to solve this problem and to save the tears. At just £49.99 per year not only is your handbag and all its contents replaced with 48 hours you also get access to the “helpme” phone line. This dedicated service arranges for transportation if you can’t get home, calls a friend, helps you to cancel all your cards and blocks your phone and even arranges for a locksmith.
Amazing, so ladies the moral of the story is “insure your handbag or there could be lots of tears”
Visit Handbag cover at www.handbagguard.com
Soft Play Hire could save us from going bonkers!
I wish when my friend had got married a few years ago she has hired some soft play for the little ones, it would have certainly kept them happy and occupied whilst the grown-ups enjoyed a glass of champagne and a few nibbles in peace. Instead time was spent chasing them out from under the table and out of the kitchen!
Tiny Tots Play is a fantastic new concept and ideal for weddings or any other events. Even for a toddlers birthday party you are guaranteed hours of fun.
Tiny Tots Play was founded by Emma and covers Devon and the South West. From £99 for 2 hours you get a massive selection of fun toys from ball pools to slides and tunnels, rocking ponies, crocodiles and much much more. Emma will bring all the soft play equipment to your chosen venue and then let the fun begin.
All the equipment has gained the seal of approval by Emma’s children so you know that your kids will have a great time! Emma may have only recently created her business but she has had fantastic feedback and is growing from strength to strength.
You can find Emma and her soft play equipment under the Kids and Family section on Love2hire and we wish her every success in the future!
Swap your house? Is this really the latest trend to hit the UK?
You’ll be surprised to hear that house-swapping is a growing new trend and its not just reserved for the holidays.
Across the UK hundreds of homeowners are looking at this as a way of selling their homes, getting themselves out of the rut that the recession has created. The housing market is pretty tough going at the moment, you don’t need reminding but home-swapping could offer a fabulous solution!
The concept is easy, imagine you have the Browns living in Manchester who are looking to move to Brighton because they want a change of lifestyle. Their kids have grown up and flown the nest and now its just the two of them. Something smaller perhaps than their 4 bed semi. The Smiths living in Brighton need to move to Manchester because of a change in jobs. They have a 2 bed appartment with sea views and need something a bit bigger as Mrs Smith is expecting twins. Both have a lot of trouble selling in this tough market. Easy solution, just swap!
The UK is gradually changing the way it thinks and the way in which we source what we need and what we desire. Not so long ago we felt that it was necessary to own everything outright, it had to be ours and we were proud to own it even if it meant breaking the bank or taking loans to fund our latest want. Now we are gradually revising the things we need and the things we want. Hiring our dreams, allowing us to change as often as we like and follow the latest trends in fashion or technology looks as being the best option. Most importantly it allows us to do so at a fraction of the cost!
Hiring has always been viewed as a very popular american way of life, just like house swapping but this could open a new market, one that could slowly push things back to normality. It doesn’t just stop at house-swapping, it could be leasing your next car, hiring a tent for that weekend away or hiring out some extra garden furniture for that family BBQ. Go on, give it a go!
Lease your next car instead of buying
There comes a point when enough is enough and its time to change cars. Enough of spending endless amounts of money trying to fix the things that are starting to wear out, things that are falling off. This time its the suspension, 6 months ago it was the brake pads and that left me £600 lighter.
Choosing a new car is a moment of excitement also filled with dread as you juggle between finding a car to suit your needs and budget but also one that you will enjoy driving, damm it we all want a touch of luxury. So that rules out the skoda but could i stretch to an Audi 4 x 4 or even a Range Rover?
I felt that buying wasn’t an option, if i wanted something with enough space for me, the kids, husband and the kitchen sink together with a touch of class and sophistication buying was certainly not an option. That’s where hiring comes in and i can’t rave about it enough.
If it was up to me i’d have an Audi R8 but i can’t really justify £1,300 per month unless i change jobs that would involve working at night! Seriously luxury car hire doesn’t have to be expensive and an Audi Q5 which normally retails at £35,000 upwards would only set you back £400 a month, road tax and all services included. How great is that, a brand new car with all the gadgets under the sun at a fraction of its cost.
Even other types of cars like peugeots or Volkswagens can start at £99 a month. Its a great way of enjoying something that would normally be out of our reach if we had to buy. Why settle for less when hiring lets you enjoy more.
Going away? Send your ferret on holiday too.
I came across a lovely site last week that made me giggle, a sort of holiday home for ferrets, somewhere fun and relaxing for them to enjoy while you jet off to a paradise island.
Annette runs ferret boarding a company based in Southend-on-sea. This lady is a true ferret lover having 9 of her own so you can be confident that your little fuzzy one will really enjoy his time away and probably get up to mischief with his new friends.
Annette charges £2 a day for each ferret so it would be a real shame to deny your furry friend some TLC of his own!
To contact Annette and her gang of ferrets call her on 01702 293500 .
Hire a cluck clucking chicken
For weeks I have heard “chicken this” and “chicken that” as my husband is trying to convince me that having chickens is a great idea, I’ve even started to warm to the idea recently and decided to call them Boris and Pearl.
I must admit that the idea itself sounds lovely, collecting the warm eggs in the morning, eating your own produce and having chickens roaming free in the garden but then conjure up images of foxes and chicken poop and the idea gets less attractive.
The Australians however have got it figured and seemed to have taken an ever-growing trend and looked at how to be innovative. They have devised a great concept, hiring a chook, or chicken to you and me.
This amazing idea allows you to try and test your chickens before you buy them so you get to see whether chickens are for you or not before having to make any real commitment.
Why this hasn’t been developed over here is anyone’s guess, as usual we are lagging behind anything vaguely exciting and this would have certainly gone some way in keeping my husband happy.
A try-before-you-buy option, you buy the coop, eco-friendly of course together with 2 hens, a feeder, waterer, food and straw. From then you have 6 weeks to decide if keeping chickens is the life for you. What a fabulous idea, where do i sign?
Knitting mad grannies to hire
One of our favourite tasks at Love2hire is sourcing new and exciting things to hire, it could be anything from adding a touch of originality on your wedding day or a hint of excitement to a boring office environment.
So everytime we come across something that we love we share it with you and our first great find is the “hire a granny” concept…..
Mice and cheese go as well together as grannies and knitting and at Love2hire we have discovered that excessive demand for the grannies woolly creations has led to the birth of www.granniesinc.co.uk
The concept is simple, a good business idea mixed in with some knitting mad grannies blended with customers ordering exactly what they want and you’re onto a winner!
Founded by Katie Mowat, 27, the knitting phenomenon has hit the UK.
Time-rich grannies across the country produce made-to-order, hand-knitted beanies for the younger generation that simply don’t have the time or patience to do this themselves.
Prices range from £20 – £29 depending on customisation and orders can be turned around in 10 days.
We love the idea and wish Katie every success in the future.
You can find the army of grannies within the people category on Love2hire.
Love2hire’s official launch date
Its been a while since our last post and we’ve been slapping wrists but we have been very busy getting things ready for our official launch on the 29th April 2010.
We are getting very excited about Love2hire and the possibilities that it can offer the good people of the UK. We want to share what we do with as many people as possible and get as many people hiring as possible.
Whether as a business or an individual everyone can get in on the act. It could be a pushchair that’s stored in the garage, a tent hidden away in the attic or a bike dying to get out and about.
For a limited time only we are offering you the chance to try us for free, we don’t have any listing fees, commission fees or any other nonsense charges.
Don’t let the nation down, someone out there needs what you have tucked away under your bed 
Can we beat the credit crunch pinch? Yes, by hiring out our household items at love2hire.com
www.love2hire.com
The concept is pretty simple and darn quick and comes in the form of a new UK based company called Love2hire.
Love2hire is quite simply an online hire community that brings together individuals and businesses with items, places and services to hire out.
List your items on the website and you’ll be notified when someone’s interested, the rest is as simple as meeting up all on your terms and conditions which are laid out in a contract.
Its an easy way of making some extra cash especially needed at the moment and with your own things that are lying around the house.
We don’t necessarily want to sell our objects just to make a few pounds as we may need them again, we’ll just end up buying them again a few months down the line. So why not hire them out to people right on your door step for a day, a week or longer.
If you think about it do you really use your camera every day of the year, that tool box, the mountain bike or the ladder?
What about the baby car seat, your laptop or your Wii console?
And what if you should need something for the holidays like a sleeping bag or a travel cot. Why splash out for new or even second hand when you can hire it just for the time you need it and for a few pounds.
The site is easy to navigate, easy to find items and easy to hire out.
Give it a go and lets beat this credit crunch, or at least make life a little easier.
