About Us

A working mothers frustration at not being able to find a tradesman to do small jobs around the house back in 1999 led Sheila Hogan to launch Handy Buddies® providing reliable Property Maintenance. “We needed some odd jobs doing and had difficulty finding reliable tradesmen who were interested, so we saw a niche for a business offering a dependable service to get all those odd jobs sorted” said Sheila.

Handy Buddies® was a complete departure for Sheila coming from a background as an independent Consultant specialising in project managing IT & business process improvements for large financial institutions.

Handy Buddies® was launched by Sheila and her husband Phil to help with the hassles and stress of basic property maintenance with emphasis on providing a quality and trustworthy service for customers who had odd jobs building up, the irritating ones that are always on a list to get done but never quite completed and the sort of work that traditionally tradesmen are not interested in. Sheila set out to target the Edinburgh area and the company now operates within a 30-mile radius of central Edinburgh.

The ethos behind the business is all about providing property maintenance support but ‘with morals’. The ‘Buddie’ code of ethics, which all staff have to adhere to includes: providing exceptional service levels; dispelling the industry myths of unreliable tradesmen; ensuring complete respect for the home / business environment and a guarantee that all work undertaken is covered for 6 months.

The company has grown since those early days. When Handy Buddies® was first launched, Sheila took care of all the administrative tasks from home and Phil carried out all the handiwork. Now they employ a team of ‘Buddies’, Office staff, and Cleaners and have moved into offices premises at Musselburgh Business Park they were also proud to be awarded the coveted title of ‘Most Enterprising New Business in Scotland’ for 2003-2004 from the Association of Scottish Businesswomen.

“The increase in working hours for busy professionals, longer commuting times and the growth in single-person households has made it more difficult for many people to deal with minor tasks around the house. Coupled with this is a higher level of disposable income, which makes employing someone to do the work a realistic prospect” said Sheila.

Handy Buddies® pledges to help out with anything so long as it is “legal and moral” and Sheila says that it is not just wealthy professionals who are accessing their services.

“Ordinary families just don’t find they have the time to keep on top of things and they would rather spend their weekends having fun than catching up with maintenance around the home. What would once have been seen as an extravagance is now just common sense. We offer an affordable, reliable and trustworthy service and providing estimates – one call can sort it all.”

Handy Buddies® now has its fair share of competitors but Sheila considers the company to be the original and the best. She believes in total respect for customers and their properties by ensuring that the ‘Buddies’ abide by the full code of ‘Buddie Ethics’ - arrive at an agreed time, carry out the work quickly and professionally and clean up after themselves - to name a few.

It’s not just the domestic property market that Handy Buddies® caters for. They also provide commercial property maintenance for outlets such as offices, shops, restaurants, surgeries and nurseries - any business that involves the use of a Property. All general maintenance work is taken care of allowing companies to concentrate on their core business - from changing lightbulbs and hanging Shelves through to full office refurbishments. This service is available on an ad-hoc basis or by a regular weekly / monthly arrangement.

The company also offers a full property maintenance service for Private Landlords, Letting / Property Management Agents, Local Councils and Housing Associations by providing a general maintenance and repairs service with jobs ranging from minor household repairs such as bath seals, changing washers on taps and garden maintenance through to decorating, tiling and complete new Bathrooms. In addition Handy Buddies® aims to take the hassle out of tenant changeovers by looking after all aspects of the changeover including a digital recording of the condition of the property on exit / entry and a detailed inspection report. The Handy Buddies® property management service has been tried and tested by over 15 leading Property Management Companies in the Edinburgh / Lothian area.

Moreover Handy Buddies® range of experience now also covers larger property improvement projects such as new bathrooms, showers, kitchens and office refurbishments and their new brand identity and website put their professionalism, service levels and ethics at the forefront of the business. They now even package their services as a gift known as ‘Buddie Bear’ which is an ideal practical present for anyone from Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries to moving house.

Handy Buddies® provides estimates, competitive rates, there is no call out fee and all work is guaranteed - to quote Sheila ‘Now that Spring is finally here take advantage of that added bounce and energy and arrange to get all those odd jobs in the home and business sorted once and for all! Visit each room in your Property making a list of all those irritating odd jobs that you never seem to get time for. When we arrive we will review and prioritise your list with you to complete as many jobs as possible within the time booked and then estimate anything that’s left over for your future convenience – it couldn’t be simpler!’

You can contact their friendly Service Team today for further information on 0131 273 4359, email them at info@handybuddies.com.