Claim your special 10% discount for knowitall.ch clients valid until end of June 2014!
One of the most frequent questions we get asked at knowitall.ch is whether we can recommend anyone to do odd jobs around the home. Whether you are new to the region, or have been here a while, it can often be difficult to find a company who will turn up on time, provide a reasonable quote, and produce work to a sufficiently high quality.
So when we received a recommendation recently for a company that has been operating in the region for approximately 4 years, we were only too keen to find out more!
La Boîte O Services was set up in 2010 by Johann Frain, a local entrepreneur with lots of prior experience working within a large international corporation and, therefore, very familiar with the way expats like to think and work! In less than 4 years, his new company has grown from a small enterprise doing odd jobs for customers to a large service-oriented organization employing over 30 people in the Cantons of Vaud and Geneva. So successful has the company been, that it will expand later this year into Neuchatel.
If you enjoyed reading Peter Mayle’s “A Year in Provence”, learning what it is like to be an Englishman living abroad, then you will probably enjoy the personal blog set up by local expat, Dave Foston, and his wife, Denise.
Set up in April last year, “We Live in France” provides an Englishman’s view on living in France, and features interesting anecdotes as well as useful information on a range of subjects including entertainment, housing, legal matters and pets.
Asked why he decided to set up this blog, Dave told knowitall.ch, “As international school teachers, Denise and I share a long-standing passion for France, and the French way of life. As a couple, we have dealt with most aspects of living in France, from dining out with friends or taking a trip to the cinema, to dealing with builders and all the bureaucracy associated with renovating a home in France. We wanted to share our experiences with others, so that newcomers arriving in France might benefit from our new found wisdom - or at least avoid making the same mistakes we have made!”
Get a free Fr. 20.- voucher towards your booking at ServiceAtHome.com
At the beginning of this year, a new service was set up in Geneva and Vaud to help local families find trustworthy helpers in the community.
Called ServiceAtHome, the new service enables clients to search for providers on their website, according to service type, location and availability, and then book and pay for their services online. So popular has the service become, that there are now over 600 different providers offering their services in the Geneva area alone, with more being added on a daily basis as the organization extends its service down the lake towards Lausanne and beyond.
Talking about her new service to knowitall.ch, co-founder, Lindy-Claire Abittan, told us, “Like many ideas, ServiceAtHome was created from frustration. It was a Thursday morning and I was desperately trying to organise some cleaning before our weekend guests arrived. I needed a quick solution but I also didn't want to let just anybody into my home. Working full time made this task even more complicated as I kept on having to duck out of meetings to make and receive calls. It felt like the whole day was spent simply trying to arrange a cleaner - I could have cleaned the apartment twice over in this amount of time! That was when it hit me. Surely there must be a place where I can simply say... I need this service, at this place and at this time….and voila!"
New English-language newspaper will inform and entertain local and foreign English speakers.
A new English-language newspaper will be launched in the Arc Lémanique region this week.
Called Le News, the new full-color tabloid will fill a gap in the local Swiss media for a weekly paper that targets the specific needs of English speakers living between Geneva and Montreux. 30,000 copies of the paper will be printed for the first issue, which will be published on Thursday, 31 October, 2013.
Featuring both regional and national news, with articles ranging from business and travel, through to education and technology, Le News will provide a unique perspective on current trends that is distinctly different to that provided by the Swiss press. A number of supplements will also be published throughout the year, covering special topics relevant to the paper’s readership.
Who isn’t searching for a handyman to come in and fix, repair, or touch-up something? If you aren’t handy yourself, or don’t have the time, then this is just the kind of recommendation that you should note down. If you have just moved into a new place and need a washing machine, dishwasher or light fixtures to be installed, furniture to be assembled and curtain rails put up, or if you have been living in the same place for years, but have just noticed the hallway needs repainting or the flooring replaced, then Mike is the handyman to contact! With his website’s name, Hire my Husband, who wouldn’t want to find out more?
Mike will help you with carpentry, painting and decoration, installation of light fixtures, washing machines, dishwashers, assembly and installation of flat-pack furniture, flooring, basic electrical and plumbing fixing, hanging of flat screen TVs and picture frames, curtain rails, and more.
In short, if you are looking for quality service from someone who will care for your home and who is reliable at a competitive price, then Mike is the man for you. He can tackle any of those odd jobs that you can’t manage yourself or simply don’t have time to do.
