Testimonials

I have worked with Karen for some time. She helps me greatly with a variety of tasks- whatever is asked of her- all done very efficiently and promptly in a friendly manner. She has formatted my documents to make them look good far beyond my skills. Recently I provided the words for my new Legal Essentials sheet. Karen has designed it providing some colour and photos to make the finished product look clear and professional. I would highly recommend her services.

Anne Phillips

Barkley Business Services

It is such a pleasure to recommend the services of Karen Hannon. Indeed, it is impossible to praise her work too highly.
Last year I felt the urge to write some recollections of my childhood to share with my family and as I expressed these memories in verse form I thought it would be exceedingly difficult to find someone to type them for me.
How fortunate I was to find Karen! She grasped my ideas instantly and dispelled all my anxiety. Her sympathetic understanding, patience and humour made the entire process so enjoyable.  Her care and painstaking attention to detail made the final outcome very pleasing. All the recipients commented on the professional standard of the work.

I would recommend her services unreservedly.

Jean Foster

Karen does regular various jobs for us including admin, data entry and research projects.
She always does exactly what we need when we need it.
We have always been happy with the work she’s done and always felt we get value for money.

Suzanne Reeveley

Honest Inks Limited

I’ve known Karen for several years since she wrote some Coach in the Spotlight articles for the 3 Shires Coaching group so when it was time for me to outsource some of my admin work it was an easy choice to make.
Karen is so thorough in her work and she is very open & honest about what her superpowers are and how she can help save you time so that you can focus on your superpowers in your business.
She has captured all my testimonials in a document so that I can consider how to use them for Social Media and she has created me some fabulous visuals on Canva using my new branded colours and portraits that I have had done as part of my website revamp.
She is a fundamental part of my team supporting me whilst my business grows and supports me with my projects. Thank you for all your support and I can highly recommend your services

Claire Cahill

Accendo Coaching & Training

Karen from busy lives has been working with Ready for Retail since January 2019.
Originally Karen’s brief was to look after the accounts for the company as we had got so busy that the owner was finding it difficult to find the time to take care of the detail paperwork required to run the business. It was becoming clear that the accounts needed extra help otherwise they would become unmanageable.
Karen came in to the company without any understanding of our systems and procedures. The initial briefings led to Karen making copious notes that were translated into documentation that would provide a procedural framework to organise and compile the accounts system. Part of the brief was to document the procedures so that other individuals, with some training, would be able to perform the required tasks with little or no supervision. As a result Karen is now able to register all sales and purchase invoices, reconcile the bank account and issue monthly statements to customers.
In addition to the basic accounts brief Karen took it upon herself to provide weekly and monthly sales and purchase reports. These reports are in graphical format and provide easy to read and absorb information relating to sales performance, revenue by customer, quantity of vehicles repaired, sales activity by sector and materials purchased by supplier. Having these graphs weekly and monthly, and also having comparisons with previous periods enables us to review performance and ensure the business is progressing positively.
Another feature of Karen’s boundless skill set is her Facebook posts which she undertakes on behalf of the business. Karen writes a weekly post accompanied by photos or videos highlighting an aspect of the company, the services offered, the staff involved or the customers collecting vehicles. Having a proactive web presence is very important for any business and Karen is instrumental in providing us with an ever changing profile on the web.
Without Karen we would have done all of the above, but very slowly, very inaccurately and without the regularity that Karen brings to the business. Busy Lives have been excellent in allowing us the time to do what we are good at, the repairing of vehicles, happy in the knowledge that the day to day paperwork and minutiae of keeping a business on a even keel is ably taken care of by Karen and Busy Lives! I’m very pleased that Busy Lives! are involved in our business and I look forward to a long and fruitful association.

Liam Kelly

Ready 4 Retail

WOW! Karen is fantastic! If you love people who are just brilliant, then please speak to Karen right now. Her desire to help clients is amazing and the quality of her work is top-notch. Karen’s standards are off the chart, she will improve everything that you do, that you don’t enjoy anyway. I love people who offer a fantastic service and are themselves fantastic. Super highly recommended!!!WOW! Karen is fantastic! If you love people who are just brilliant, then please speak to Karen right now. Her desire to help clients is amazing and the quality of her work is top-notch. Karen’s standards are off the chart, she will improve everything that you do, that you don’t enjoy anyway. I love people who offer a fantastic service and are themselves fantastic. Super highly recommended!!!

Ian Genuis

Ingenious Alternative to Selling

Karen is amazing.
Every time I I use her services I feel I have had excellent value for money & her work is always accurate and completed on time for when I need it.
Thank you

Suzanne Reeveley

Honest Inks

We asked Karen to complete a data analysis for us, it was not an easy task gathering all the data from multiple places but she did it.

She did an incredibly detailed report and we were very happy with the service received.

Would recommend and we will happily use her services again.

Sarah Stephens

Spirit & Soul

I wanted to create a database of potential leads from publicly available information that would be time consuming for me to do.

I engaged with Karen, who understood exactly what my needs were and went off to create what I needed. The results were great so I asked her to complete more work to increase the size of the database. I now have a workable database that I can target some marketing at. Thanks Karen.

I would be happy to use Karen again and am happy to recommend her to others.

Paul Hartle

Coversure Insurance Services

When you need something/anything sorting, Karen should be your go-to. Resourceful, dedicated, honest and hardworking are only a few of the words to describe this lady and her business. Many of my contacts have utilised Karen, and all have feedback that the task(s) have been completed to the highest standards, on time, at the right cost. Karen listens carefully, utilises her past experience well, but is also keen to learn new skills to position her services. Thank you.

Simon Thacker

Greystone Advisory Limited

I have used the services of “Busy Lives!” this week to have all of my personal “life admin” sorted and filed. Over the last 5 years, I had pretty much been dumping all of my life admin in to cardboard boxes. It was a total mess, with no order or idea to what was in there, and if I still even needed some of it. I contact Busy Lives to see if it was the sort of thing they would be able to do for me. Karen was super helpful from start to finish, she gave me a quote for the work – suggested what filing systems I would need and arranged for when I was to drop off my “headache”! One day later, she contacted me to tell me it was ready to collect! She has completely transformed all the documents into a very clear and efficient filing system for me. Advising me on what I can throw away or shred. Her level of work and attention to detail is second to none – and also I had complete trust with her handling my private information. She has even invoiced me less than what I was expecting to pay. Totally fantastic, safe and efficient service – that I would highly recommend and use again.

Beth Henson

Client Engagement Director at Adhook & My CV Writer

Karen has done some excellent work for me and I would recommend her. If you need some help then she is the person to ask!!

Paul Gayton

Wren Accountancy

Karen provides ongoing administrative support to my business and is an integral part of the team. The efficiency that Karen has with tasks is incredible and her organisational skills are second to none. She also did an extremely comprehensive and professional website review recently, which is now a key document which my business uses to drive continuous improvement. I would recommend that any business or individual needing any kind of efficient support should contact Karen – on top of all her excellent work she is also one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

Pete Colby

Director Pragmatism (UK) Ltd

I commissioned Busy Lives to compile a database, which had been on my to-do list for several months. I had a preconception that it would cost too much to outsource. I was wrong. I looked at Karen’s pricing and the cost per contact. I soon realised the potential return on investment was a no-brainer. I asked myself, ‘am I likely to have this data complete within the next few months?’ The answer was no and so, Karen started work on it. I was astounded to receive a completed database, colour coded by sector, in my inbox in just a couple of days. I would highly recommend Busy Lives.

Yvonne Gorman

Essential Print Services

Karen has provided business support to Creationz Marketing for over 6 months now and I really value her passion and commitment to get the tasks completed. She is a valued member of the team and helps me by supporting my business so that I can get on with what matters: Invoicing, database work, processes and procedures – Karen has a very keen eye for detail and has helped set up and implement a number of procedures into the business all saving time and money. Highly recommended!’

Claire Taylor

Creationz Marketing

I approached Karen to help me with some research in early 2020 for my property portfolio and her approach was excellent. In preparation for our first call, call she researched extensively into the specific areas and had covered most of the questions I had. I was very impressed with how much detail she had collected at this early stage. Karen is someone I would recommend for her can-do approach and her diligence and commitment.

Beshlie Donaldson

Executive & Leadership Coach

I just want to thank you Karen for creating calm and a fabulously ordered filing system in the Me&Dee office. I would recommend you to anyone looking for someone quiet, calm and organised, emphatic to needs, even for someone whose head is a shed, in understanding and delivering exactly what was needed. A job put off for many years. Each year when we have had to move office, it’s been on the ‘to do list’. Thank you. I look forward to working again with you very soon.

Maria Hanson MBE

Me&Dee Charity

When I first met Karen, she had just begun her transition from head teacher, towards offering business support services. I could tell immediately that she would succeed. Karen’s personality, kindness and flexibility are ideal attributes to support business owners in whatever role she is required. Her attention to detail and clarity of thought adds helpful dimensions for those who have busy lives and need a wise hand to guide them behind the scenes. Highly recommended.

Elaine Godley

Guiding business leaders to understand how behaviours drive performance, effectiveness and health.

I asked Karen to completely run a recruitment project for my business as I was too busy. I am so impressed with her organisational skills, efficiency and total professionalism throughout. She has done everything, kept me informed all the way and has saved me time and money plus I got the ideal candidate. Highly recommend her services.

Justina Nurse

Stuart Mobility

Karen has been working at Loates HR Consultancy providing project management expertise for our office warming and 8th birthday celebration event. Karen is supremely organised, unflappable and a pleasure to work with. She has bags of initiative and has made some really useful suggestions and contributions. She is professional and friendly and has been a valued member of the team supporting us through a busier than usual period. I would highly recommend Karen and her services to any business owners or businesses. She is a real asset. Thank you Karen!

Sarah Loates

Loates HR Consultancy / Loates HR Training

I asked Karen at Busy Lives to complete a project for me that involved doing the research for and contacting prospective new clients. Karen is diligent, professional and reliable. She is eager to get the best outcome and worked exactly to the brief we agreed. I’ve been really pleased with the results of Karen’s work. Highly recommended.

Claudine Jackson

Trent Wills & Estates

It’s been great having Karen working with us at the 3 Shires Coaching Group. We have been using her to carry out Interviews with the Coaches in our group, for the ‘Coach-in-the-Spotlight’ feature that we offer our full members. These articles have featured in our newsletters, on the website and all coaches can use them for their own marketing, etc. I’d highly recommend Karen for many reasons, including her professionalism, lovely approachable nature, communication skills, and her excellent organisation! She’s really easy to talk to and listens really well, asking pertinent questions to help get the job done to our specifications. I will definitely use Karen’s excellent services again ?

Debbie Inglis

Square 2 Development / Debbie Inglis Associates / AQR International

I have worked with Karen weekly for three months from January until April 2019. After a period of considerable change both professionally and personally, Karen supported me and my business in a number of different ways. Her work has been invaluable: she has saved me a considerable amount of time and money so that I could focus on growing my business; she has reorganised my home office and my paperwork and set up systems so that it stays efficient; she has used her knowledge and expertise of the legal and commercial frameworks to enable my business to be fully compliant and she has provided me with sound advice related to a wide range of activities related to business and legal matters. Most of all, she has always been highly professional with a human touch, she is very efficient yet has a great sense of humour. I would happily work with her again and I highly recommend her to all other business owners too.

Jason Cooke

The Merry Men National Commercial Window Company

I just want to thank Karen so much for helping me get my business back on track and for getting to the bottom of what I needed to help my business move forward. She had the amazing ability to help and advise me in the most positive, warm and supportive manner. Karen opened my mind to new ways of working remotely and gave me the best online support ever! I can’t wait to use your services again.

Rebecca Hart

Dance Equation

I have known Karen for over ten ears as she is one of my longest and nicest customers. When I found out she’d started her own business I asked her to help me source information for apprenticing options for my son. She was quick, thorough and affordable, and as a result my Son has begun laying his foundations for his post sixteen education. I’m very pleased Karen was able to assist with our Family’s busy lives!

Ian Elliott

Karen has a wide range of skills that will be central to the success of ‘Busy Lives!’. She is logical, methodical and organised and has an excellent eye for detail. Whether it is a question of planning and implementing new storage or filing systems for the home or workplace or suggesting ways of improving life-work balance through better time-management, her advice will be clear and based on personal experience. Karen looks for creative and practical solutions to problems and works efficiently to put them in place. Any task she undertakes will be carried out to the highest standards. Having known and worked with Karen for many years I can recommend her as someone who is utterly trustworthy and a pleasure to work with.

Rosemary Chapman

Vice Chair of Governors

Karen excels at bringing a high degree of skill, efficiency and organisation to everything she does.  She is very good at analysing challenging problems and situations accurately and finding solutions and bringing order to them systematically. Her attention to detail is exceptional and all her work is carried out to a very high professional standard.

It’s always a pleasure to work with Karen and I have no hesitation in recommending her services.

Edith Pagliacci

Chair of Governors

I have known Karen professionally over the last 16 years. During this time I have witnessed first-hand her growth as a leader in successfully addressing a raft of challenges in order to run such a large city primary school following expansion. The growth of the school was a huge undertaking and Karen demonstrated a very considered and strategic approach in her thinking and planning.

As Chair of the P6P, a group of 6 schools committed to working in partnership, I have always valued Karen’s contribution. Her exemplary professionalism ensured that she was extremely well read and prepared for all meetings, displaying a real meticulousness for detail. Combined with many other positive attributes such as being insightful, analytical, and creative Karen supported the group to become extremely effective in delivering its ambitious intended outcomes to the benefit of so many within our school communities.

Efficiency and effectiveness are key aspects of Karen’s professional role and she is committed to supporting others in order to manage their lives.

Gary Fullwood

Executive Head Teacher & Chair of the P6P

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