A SERIES of local guide books launched by a Chipping Sodbury man who was down on his luck is marking 30 years of providing services to communities across the country.

The Standbrook Guides, or Residents’ Handbook, were first published in Winterbourne in 1986 and now boasts over 60 editions in South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, South Wales and Norfolk.

The little green books, as they are commonly known, were the brainchild of Ian Standbrook, a sales manager who had been made unemployed at the age of 40 with three children to feed.

“We had no money at all,” Ian, who retired last year. “My only thought was to earn an income for my family so I decided to go self-employed.

“I took £10 from my dole money to try and double it and thought if I could do that every month for 18 months I would be a millionaire.

“Of course that is impossible but I bought and sold a few things and then thought this area needs a map. I had to borrow a technical pen and I went round Yate on my bike to draw it and in the winter I walked around Chipping Sodbury and suffered from hypothermia.”

His original idea was the photocopy the map but printing worked out cheaper and so Ian and wife Barbara, with help from the local Scouts of which Ian was a leader, knocked on doors and sold copies of his map for 50pence.

“We had printed around 2,000 copies and although people wanted to buy them, going round door to door was hard,” said Ian, now 70.

“It had taken me two months to draw the map but only two days to sell advertising around it so I thought it would be easier to turn them into a book, give them away and sell the advertising.

“But people would not look at a book of adverts so we wanted to put other information in as well. We had just done the map for Yate and Chipping Sodbury so we chose Winterbourne for our first book.

“We published six that year and thought we could go on to do more.”

The books, which each cover specific geographical areas, include contact information for local health services, churches, schools, councils and a whole host of clubs, charities and organisations. They each include a map as well as adverts and a calendar.

In 1997, the company, which has been based in offices next to Stanshawes Court Hotel since 1989, launched its website.

“We had a website before many companies did,” said managing director Ross Dawe. “And now all of our guidebooks have a Facebook and Twitter page and it is a way of contacting local people and keeping that community feel.

“Yate and Sodbury is our flagship guide and this year we have reached another milestone as that guide has become the first to be perfect-bound like a book because it was so thick.”

The firm now employs 15 staff in Yate, South Wales and Norfolk.

Added Ian: “I think our strength is that we have not developed from another company so we have found our way of doing things. We have always looked to see if we can do things better and quicker.”