A mother from Milton Keynes who decided to rent out her handyman husband to other women for £40 an hour revealed their business is thriving. Laura Young, 38 was inspired by a podcast about a man who makes a living by putting together flatback furniture for other people.
She decided to bring the idea into her own life and put the many skills of her hubby, James Young, to good use. And Laura has revealed that her partner is fully booked for weeks on end, Wales Online reports.
She first advertised her spouse's services, 'Rent My Handy Husband' in June on Facebook and the Nextdoor app. She stated that her multi-skilled husband could carry out a variety of tasks including general DIY, decorating, painting, tiling and carpet laying skills.
Expecting to receive a few laughs from her business proposal, James received his first client within 24 hours and was soon working away six days a week from 9am to 8pm. The 42-year-old who gave up his job to be a full time carer, alongside Laura, for their autistic children is now so busy that he has been forced to turn away jobs and is fully booked until mid-November.
His services span from helping with putting up televisions or curtains to rebuilding a wall and he is available for both men and women to hire that require his services. While James carries out the practical laborious side of things, Laura does her part by running the social media accounts and website and their business has been more successful than either of them could have ever imagined.
The couple have introduced a new service for the festive period, offering installations of Christmas lights both inside and outside of homes. Laura said: ''I never expected it to take off as much as it has. We've only been going four months and it got to a point where there was so much work coming in that James was working six days a week.
''We've had to start turning jobs down and reduce our hours, so now we do Monday to Friday 9am-5pm. We had our own building plans that we've not even started as we've just been so busy. We booked our first job for January too."
James had to give up his work in a warehouse to be a full time carer, along with Laura, to help look after their three kids, two of whom have autism. James, who is also autistic, received his diagnosis four years ago and has always had a great attention span when it comes to building and construction.
Laura said: "He's really good at building things and doesn’t bother with the instructions. So I thought this would be something he could do. James doesn’t come from a trade background but his grandad was a nuclear engineer, and they think he was also on the spectrum. He's got a very methodical mind and can think outside the box. He sees things differently."
Within days of posting about her handyman hubby, Laura's Facebook messages were full of people enquiring about his handiwork, with some requests over 150 miles away. Laura said: "The first customer needed a door frame replacing and then from there I just had people enquiring on the Facebook page.
''It went from regular flatpack to so much more, like laying a carpet and rebuilding a wall. We even had requests as far as Manchester, to which we told them it may be more practical to find someone closer due to the extra costs, but of course we would have done it!"
He doesn't do any electrical and plumbing services. They don't charge per job, instead they work by the hour at a rate of £40, or a day-rate of £250. They also offer discounts to those working in the NHS and emergency services, as well as over-65’s, disabled people, carers and people on universal credit.
Laura said: "We know what it's like to be parents of children with special needs and we've known what it's like to struggle for money or have to save."
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