A Whitehaven businesssman says the lockdown has led to a surge in interest in leaflet distribution.

Sean Walker who runs Letterbox Smart with a team of 20 door to door delivery people has delivered over 250,000 leaflets since the start of the lockdown and is planning to recruit more staff.

Sean, who set up the business in 2015, said: “With a lot of people stuck at home during the lockdown some businesses and organisaitons had to rethink their marketing approach.

“We’ve been the only way for people to reach absolutely everyone in a target area. It might seem a bit ‘old school’ to some people, but it works. Not everybody is on Facebook and it’s a very noisy place at the moment, but everybody has a letterbox.”

Recent projects have included 60,000 leaflets distributed around west Cumbria for Lakes College to promote its free distance learning which resulted in over 600 people signing-up for an online course.

And North West Paving and Landscaping have had over 20 enquiries and a booking worth £10,000 on the back of their recent leaflet run.

Sean was previously a contractor analysing business intelligence data, but set up in business so he could work in Cumbria and spend more time with his family.

“I was getting offers for amazing contracts, but it all involved staying away from Cumbria and I had two young boys so I wanted to do something where I could spend time with them. I used my evenings to research business ideas before I set this up,” he said.

“I like being able to give something back to the community so it’s been good to help local businesses and a number of community groups have used Letterbox during the lockdown to make sure they can get the essential information to everybody,” he added.

At the start of the lockdown more than 70,000 Cumbrian homes received vital advice after a mental health charity teamed up with Sean and his team at Letterbox Smart.

The guide included tips on managing stress, creating a healthy routine, working at home, supporting young people, recognising the signs when others are struggling, and where to find help with your mental health during the crisis.