Ian & Isobelle

Active retired couple looking for new adventures

Ian and Isobelle Haynes.

We are experienced, discreet and caring house sitters, fit and active, (both mid 60's), non-smokers, dependable and take the responsibility of looking after your house and pets very seriously. As we've no ongoing commitments, we're flexible in both where and when we travel and are happy to take on short notice assignments.

I retired in March 2015 after working at BT for 37 years, ending my career within the BT Academy (in BT Group HR), managing a team of people who scheduled and delivered technical and management training, both in the UK and overseas.

My wife has been a homemaker, doing a fantastic job, originally looking after our twin sons, and lately grandchildren. We also acted as joint secretaries of the residents Management Company (within the courtyard where we lived), arranging general maintenance and repairs, gardening contractors, insurance and accounts.

In the next stage of our lives we want new and interesting experiences, plus with the constraints of work lifted, we want to see and do as much as we can.

We love looking after pets, we love travelling to new and interesting places and we love meeting new people. House sitting has given us this, and even though it would be classed as a hobby, we're very focused on being professional in managing your requirements.

We always aim to respond quickly to any questions, provide regular updates (and photos) on the house sit and when necessary, keep you up to date with any developments and manage any issues that may occur.

From July 2015 our house sitting experience has taken across the UK, (plus into Portugal, Italy and France), looking after pets that range from working dogs needing continual exercise and stimulation, to cats and dogs that are happy to sit on your lap or the sofa all day. We've also looked after chickens, ducks and tortoises.

Properties we've looked after have ranged from city centre apartments to country houses with extensive grounds. To date we have scheduled over 60 house sits, many of these have resulted in repeat visits, (some visited over a dozen times) where we've built a trusting relationship with the homeowner, helping them to enjoy their time away knowing that they are leaving everything in safe hands.