About Surrey Local Heroes
A local hub for everything local
Behind every independent shop, tradesperson, restaurant and local service is someone building a business, serving their community and earning their reputation one customer at a time. Let's celebrate those businesses,
and make it easier for the people of Surrey to discover, support and recommend these local heroes.
Surrey Local Heroes was born to do exactly that.
My Roots In Surrey
Hi, I'm Jacob — or Jake if you prefer
My own Surrey story began in Guildford. In my early years I attended Shalford Primary School while living with my parents and younger brother on Pilgrim's Way in Guildford.
We later moved to Furnace Place, on the outskirts of Haslemere, and I went on to attend the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, commuting by train every day. Surrey was also where I first discovered what became a lifelong passion for golf — including hitting my first par at Hindhead.
Life eventually took me much further afield. My father's work with Shell took us to places as varied as Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh, Hamburg, Oslo and Copenhagen, and today I live in Denmark with my own family. But those early years in Surrey never really left me.
So why Surrey Local Heroes?
Over the years, much of my work has been centred around helping small and independent businesses get noticed in an increasingly complicated digital world. An ad in the local newspaper or a listing in the phone book is no longer enough to attract clients and customers. Everything is online nowadays and navigating this digital landscape is not for the faint of heart.
Larger, more affluent businesses and nationwide brands are much better equipped and able to pay the often steep price of visibility, taking greater and greater shares of the market
I believe that people genuinly want to choose local businesses if only they can find them - and the locals really need their business.
So I Had This Idea...
...what if I created an affordable online marketing platform that connects local residents with the businesses around them? Give those businesses somewhere to put their best foot forward and show off their pressence — sharing news, posting job vacancies, buy affordable done-for-you Facebook ads, offer deals and steals, showcasing upcoming local events etc.
The vision being to grow it to the go-to place where the local residents - whether they're looking for a specialist, somewhere to eat, an upcoming event, or simply want to support local businesses - while giving those businesses an easy and affordable way to reach their local market.
,,,and so I decided to use my skills and experience to create Surrey Local Heroes, giving local businesses a leg up in the marketplace and make it easier for residents to find, support and even follow their favourites.
Why Call Them Heroes?
Because, behind every local business is someone taking a risk, putting in the hours, creating jobs, serving customers and contributing to the community around them. They may not wear capes or have super powers, but to me, the people who keep our high streets, villages and local economy alive deserve the recognition. That's why, as far as I'm concerned, we're surrounded by Local Heroes and they deserve our help to keep the community alive and vibrant.
Surrey Local Heroes isn't intended to be just another directory with a static list of names and numbers. It's a place for local businesses to share their news, jobs, events and offers, and for local people to discover more of what's happening on their doorstep.
Surrey Local Heroes brings together virtually everything a local business needs to put itself in front of the local community. You could indeed argue that a local business in Surrey could focus all their marketing efforts inside Surrey Local Heroes.
Small Team With Local Focus
We're a small and dedicated team of like-minded colleagues running a digital marketing agency called Jake’s Digital Blueprint. Together with our local initiative Surrey Local Heroes, we help local businesses build stronger foundations online - businesses that often find themselves squeezed by larger competitors with bigger marketing budgets, bigger teams, and lets face it, more "green" to make an impact.
Through Jake’s Digital Blueprint, we work hard every day to make Surrey Local Heroes bigger and better.
How To Support
Surrey Local Heroes
The best way to support Surrey Local Heroes is simply to take part.
If you're a local resident, join the community, discover and follow your favourite
local businesses, leave reviews and see what's happening around Surrey.
If you're a local business owner, add or claim your business, keep your
information up to date and share what you've got going on.
It's free to join — whether you're here to support local or you're one of the Local Heroes yourself.