History of this site:

I've spent time putting this page together because it helps you to know who I am and what I am doing. It goes back a bit, and I don't come back here and add more trivia any more. However we are really here and we make sure the stock availability and the product ranges are fully up to date.

In reverse order then...

Up to now. We are now just selling letterboxes and finger protectors. It works much better. I can be more efficient and its less work. I don't spend too much on advertising, just people finding links. I keep more stock of the things I sell, but less overall.

Up to 2019. I have reduced to range, removing door handles, hinges, child safety, and door closers. These were good products, but they are heavy. That means the carriage charges make them a little expensive. The smaller product range is easier to manage and more profitable for me. Better to do a few things well than a lot of things badly.

Up to 2018. We are now comfortable with a solid well priced and well stocked range. Most of our sales are split between the Finger Protectors and the Letterboxes, with more or less all the remainder being for the Door Closers. As a result we have a solid established customer base for these ranges and good reliable suppliers. It works.

Up to March 2010. We have decided to add Door Guards to our security range. Door Guards are not the sort of thing you need often, but we got a deal on them so they're now available if you want one. Coming soon will be security locks.

Up to December 2009. We have had a new office built, with warehouse space included so we can keep everything together. We now have more space for the bigger range, more stock, and a new phone number. The new offices are really modern and plush. Wow.

Up to September 2009. We have been adding new lines recently. Our standard finger protector has the advantage that it is slim and neat, but the disadvantage that it won't reach around large gaps or very wide openings. So we have added the Extended Span Finger Protector to make sure there is something for everybody.

Up to May 2009. We're doing ever more business on the simple lines we carry. The finger protectors in particular sell brilliantly. Check em out here. And we have added a new range to our letterboxes. They are Proffessional Quality Fab-N-Fix letterboxes. Expensive but very well made.

Up to September 2008. We haven't been increasing our range recently, but we have been selling more. So we have become vat registered. This makes sense now that a high proportion of our business is to other companies. All prices on the website are now inclusive of VAT.

June/July/August 2007. The new closers are selling quite well, not as many as the cheaper ones, but time will tell. To widen the range, then, I have sourced a hinge style door closer which works completely differently to normal closers. This one replaces the hinges and so it looks nicer, and can be fitted to doors without space available at the top. I've listed them and sold a few, but I need to advertise a bit. In other news, I will soon be taking credit cards directly. If I can get the technical bits sorted out. Its far more complicated than it needs to be.

March/April/May 2007. I've found a beautiful new door closer. More powerful, more sophisticated, and better looking than the one I am currently stocking. It's a bit more expensive but still excellent value for money so I have decided to stock it alongside the existing one. It's black, and it comes with covers in all the usual colours. I have also sourced a slimline letterbox, which I will start stocking soon if it passes all the tests. More next month.

January/February 2007. The weather is still wintry so sales of letterboxes are still strong. There are obviously a lot of flappers out there (technical term). I have invested the hard earned cash (and it is hard earned because when we sell letterboxes it's one at a time) in 4,700 euro-lock cylinders. Sounds daft but I got them at a great price. I'm looking to sell em quick so if you want to buy a couple of thousand - make me and offer.

November/December 2006 - Merry Christmas. Happy Christmas everyone. The door closers have been listed for about 6 weeks and are starting to move quite well. Especially the oil filled ones. They are a good strong product but I think the satin finish is not posh enough for some domestic applications so I have sourced some covers. The covers have a beautiful polished surface and come in a range of colours, so I am giving them a try. I should mention that my letterbox sales have been extremely strong these last few weeks. It could be because I am getting better known, or perhaps just because its been windy. I've been extending the range, to include commercial quality letterboxes, some extra sizes, and a gold letterbox with gold trim. I've also created a letterbox gallery, showing pictures sent in by happy customers. So, if you're a happy customer - send me a pic and I'll get you published. Its partly for fun, but also to show what they look like in real life.

September/October 2006 - New products. I am buying in some new products this month. I am extending the door handles slightly so that the Georgian has bathroom sets and locks, and I have bought in door latches. I often get asked for latches and its embarrassing not to have them. I've also bought in some door closers. Two types, one big chunky oil filled one which goes on top of the door and a second chain pull one which fits snug inside the door. Expect a listing soon.

August 2006 - More fitting instructions. I have added fitting instructions for finger protectors. Maybe you will see door handles next month. Possibly an increase to the stock range as well.

June/July 2006 - Fitting instructions. I have added fitting instructions and general info pages for letterboxes. I like this idea, it will especially work well for the finger protectors. More next month.

May 2006 - FAQ. I have added a new page to give all the statistics and frequently asked questions about letterboxes. I get loads and loads of questions about these. It is already working brilliantly, with the number of question down by 70%. Will add more of this type of general info soon. I've also been working on the colours, changing the logo and making the background grey.

April 2006 - New colour scheme. I have used CSS to define all the objects on the site, then after a few experiments decided on a new colour scheme. This means changes to the Logo and to the style of all the objects on the site. It looks better.

March 2006 - CSS. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. I have decided to redesign the look of the site using this technology rather than the hand-cranked methods I have been using up to now, which are based on DHTML combined with PHP. This allows for consistent highlighting links and a nicer navigation bar. When I get the hang of it I'll make more improvements.

February 2006 - Adverts are great. I've changed my mind about adverts. I think people like them after all. I suppose if I'm trying to sell things and people are trying to buy things an advert is just putting the two parties together. Whatever the logic, they are costing a lot less than the value of the extra business, so they stay.

January 2006 - Adverts. I know everyone hates adverts, and I don't have anyone paying me to advertise on my site yet, but I have started advertising on other sites to try to get my traffic up. Its been running a couple of weeks, and so far traffic is marginally up. More next month.

November and December 2005 - Put my prices up. I've decided to put my prices up a bit, but then offer discounts for trade buyers who buy a lot at a time. Its absolutely the only way to keep overall prices down without the service from suffering. So downlight covers are £7 each until you buy more than 20, then cheaper again at 40, then 60. etc. Letterbox prices have also gone up a bit, covering the time it takes to pack em and ship em. Sorry guys, but I'm still much cheaper than my competition, and the quality and service can continue.

October 2005 - PHP. I've finally made the time to learn how PHP is really meant to be used, so very soon all the pages will sport a proper prompt for a quantity, which links to a page quoting you a correct total, including carriage, before passing you to Paypal. More on the success/failure of this radical idea next month.

September 2005 - Sales are on the up. I haven't added any new products this month, but sales of the downlight covers are through the roof. We're cheaper than most, the quality is great, and it seems I have a list of trade buyers now who love em.

August 2005 - Hols. Sorry all, I've been on holiday so not much has happened in August. Just tried to keep up with all the orders while taking time off. Will try to get things moving in September.

July 2005 - Victorian handles. I have added a new style of door handle this month. I decided that a good cheap Victorian handle with simple clean lines would sell. I have included the whole range, so there are locks and bathroom sets available. Not much interest in the first few weeks, but time will tell.

June 2005 - Year end. This is the end of my first year trading. I've looked at my sales graph and its a steady upward trend every month the whole year long, and no unhappy customers. I feel pleased with myself. I extend the downlighter cover range to include the larger size.

May 2005 - Downlight covers. I know intumescent downlight covers are not exactly bits for doors, but they are expensive and hard to find at DIY stores so I have started to list them. I hope I have an excellent product at a great price. Unfortunately the price of the Italian Door handles went up - my suppliers wouldn't repeat my last price. Still selling them though - on request from existing customers who say they are worth it.

April 2005 - More letterboxes. Woopee, the Finger Protectors finally in stock. A couple of people in the queue were able to get their products. Still waiting for feedback. These are not easy to post because they are 2m long. Time will tell. Even more important is the new letterboxes. These include a truly beautiful gold letterbox made from aircraft grade aluminium alloy which, even at my margins, will have to sell at £20.00. I'm not sure how people will take this, but I just couldn't resist. Only bought 5 in as a trial.

March 2005 - Product range enhanced. The finger protectors are not in stock yet, but they're coming. The extended range of Oakley door handles works, although I started with oval keyholes and then had to get extra stock to cover standard British keyholes as well. I have also sourced a new letterbox which is all brass. Hopefully I can get the price right and bring it in. On the technical side, I have been experimenting with PHP, and decided to move all the pages to PHP now rather than using HTM. In time I expect this to grow into something much more powerful.

February 2005 - Finger protectors are listed. I've got marketing info and quality docs for the finger protectors and have decided to bring them into stock. I've found a new supplier in India and think I might import some new lines.

January 2005 - I'm back from my hols. I've placed an order for door handles with keyholes, and door handles with integrated locks for bathrooms. The best selling range is the Oakley so I've ordered that one in first to see how it goes. I've removed the section on lamps, my supplier is useless. I've found a source for some excellent looking finger protectors.

December 2004 - Better hosting. I move the website to a hosting server called Ideal Hosting. They will allow me to store information in a database, add PHP to the html, and more. I also shut down for a hol over Christmas.

November 2005 - Door handles. More supplier searching, and I add door handles. Just a few very cheap ones at first, then when they seem to go well I add three more types.

October 2004 - Paypal on the website. I find that credit cards are hard to take on websites, but that PayPal will allow a link from any website. I add links to PayPal.

September 2004 - Letterboxes are added. After a bit of searching I find a supplier of letterboxes, so they get added as well. Gold ones only at first, then other colours later.

August 2004 - Site set up. I have found a supplier of a hinge who is willing to sell it to me for what looks like a fantastic price. I start putting the hinges up on Ebay and publish this website to provide added notes and better images.