Who are Assist?
We are friends, mums and now business partners.
In combining our diverse skills, knowledge and experience, let us introduce you to “ASSIST”. At ASSIST, we are two experienced virtual assistants who have combined our skills and experience to support all aspects of your business.
Who we are
ASSIST are two experienced virtual assistants who have combined our skills and experience to support all aspects of your business.
What we do
Due to our expertise in both the VA and PA market, we are able to provide an extensive virtual support package to a diverse range of clients.
Pricing
We are confident we can provide you with the assistance you need. We provide ad hoc hourly services or a range of monthly plans to suit all needs.
Our Services
Due to our expertise in both the VA and PA market, we are able to provide an extensive virtual support package to a diverse range of clients.
ASSIST Virtual Support Solutions gives you back your time, allowing you to focus on what you do best, leaving our team to support you in the background.
Let us support your success!
What our clients say
Meet our fabulous clients and read what they have to say about Assist
Janet Hughes Frazer @ Janhf Art
She has been so helpful, kind and patient with me, helping educate me on how to set up and run my art business, I couldn’t have done it without her help. I have been shown step by step and now can move forward confidently, again thank you.
Eve Hanks, CEO MI:RNA Diagnostics
However, as all start up founders know, the team required to remain lean and financial resources were limited.
We were seeking a value for money but high-quality service.
That’s when I started to work with Assist.
Their knowledge around LinkedIn and their expertise in diary planning and travel coordination saved me a heap of time, quite a bit of stress and allowed us to continue to grow and scale.
I believe this is an excellent solution, particularly for modern, remote teams, and is flexible enough to align with a business through those early stages.
Thank you again Nat and Claudia for a great few years, what a journey!
Keith and Dawn Hodson
We were struggling with registering our house as a maison secondaire and also changing it into our name. We contacted Assist-Virtual Support Solutions and were put in touch with Angèle.
She dealt with what for us was a stressful situation and sorted everything out for us efficiently and effectively.
We couldn’t recommend this service highly enough. Very professional and value for money. We won’t hesitate to use again.
Maison Bellachonne – Shirani and Craig Rose
Assist Virtual Support Solutions was an amazing experience from start to finish.
Our website was updated with the help of Wil who did a fantastic job. Claudia and Natalie were attentive to the needs of our Chambre d’hotes business, they provided information that fed into the website and designed our new business cards.
They were professional at all times and extremely efficient.
I would fully recommend Assist Virtual Support Solutions.
The Parbs Family
What with Covid worldwide and us living in Australia unable to speak French, it was Assist who helped us through an immense crisis. “Assist” is what they do – perfectly.
There was no job too large or too small for them and they handled everything beautifully with great attention to detail.
They assisted us with understanding French laws, the organization of the funeral, music, an order of service, the wake afterwards; then just recently assisted with the scattering of our brother’s ashes. They also made up a lovely keepsake in the form of a photo slide-show for those of us who could not be in France for the funeral.
We cannot speak highly enough of Claudia and Natalie at Assist who approached every task with kindness and grace.
Thank you so much Assist for all your help.
Martha & Muffin Handmade Soaps
Brilliant support for my new business, couldn’t have done it without them.
Highly recommend both Claudia & Natalie.
Brilliant support for my new business, couldn’t have done it without them.
Thanks ladies
Lakehouse Risk Services
A delight to work with. Very efficient, helpful and good value. We continue to be very impressed by their service.
Karen & Mark Slee
After my father-in-law died suddenly last year. Natalie, in particular went out of her way to help us with everything we had to do.
She helped us with organising the collection of the body from the hospital, organising appointments at the funeral home in Bellac and helping us with all the arrangements necessary. She liaised with the church and helped us during the meeting and of course helped us with the mountain of paperwork.
Even on the day of the funeral she and her husband Charles Hodencq helped out with everything from translating the service to just being there for us.
Natalie even took the time to design and print out the order of service for us.
Natalie also arranged a meeting with the local notaire and come to translate for us.
Thank you so much Assist for all your help.
I cannot recommend Assist enough.
After my father-in-law died suddenly last year. Natalie, in particular went out of her way to help us with everything we had to do.
She helped us with organising the collection of the body from the hospital, organising appointments at the funeral home in Bellac and helping us with all the arrangements necessary. She liaised with the church and helped us during the meeting and of course helped us with the mountain of paperwork.
Even on the day of the funeral she and her husband Charles Hodencq helped out with everything from translating the service to just being there for us.
Natalie even took the time to design and print out the order of service for us.
Natalie also arranged a meeting with the local notaire and come to translate for us.
Thank you so much Assist for all your help.
Jean Fleming
“What a brilliant service! Prompt response times and the combined skills of technical and creative give an all round efficient VA service.”
Alex Poxon
I have spent my career working for large corporate companies across the globe, which means being able to work under significant pressure every day, being able to stay organised and to manage my workload and meetings across a number of time zones.
Assist has meant I am able to apply my focus where it’s needed most, and trust that I have a team of professionals backing me up and providing me with a reliable, quality service that can work independently and keep me informed. Thank you to Assist for making my life easier!
Mr & Mrs Potter
We needed a lot of help with our Carte Vitale application and Assist – Virtual Support Solutions were brilliant! Thanks to Angèle for her immediate response to our email and her expertise in understanding and assisting us with the paperwork. I’d happily recommend this service to all.
Great Alternative Stores
Their own description of the services rendered to our new online venture listed ‘organising, designing and creating posts for social media, daily posting to Facebook and Instagram including My Story, weekly postings to Twitter and analysis’ to demonstrate this market effectiveness.
They did much more. Their initiative opened up the whole media sector to us and in the process, educated and guided our future course in this important marketing sector.
Tangible results were obvious. Nearly 50% enquiries from the USA when we discovered a glitch in the dispatch software. Result after the fix was our first orders from New York.
In Dubai, our online reputation was reinforced with particular reference to ASSIST encouragement in ‘Blog’ writing and the consequent media exposure and the perception of our company was enhanced to the level that a major wholesale customer is now engaged and awaiting supply when the Coved emergency is over.
I cannot recommend them more strongly for their insight, reliability, ability in a range of administrative fields and their enthusiasm on behalf of their clients.
Our dedicated team
Meet our dedicated team members
Annabelle Surch-Williams
She has spent time in France year in, year out, and, after having studied for her bachelor’s and master’s Degree, she worked as a specialist recruitment consultant, a career spanning 27 years.
Annabelle has a background in competitive sports (swimming and synchronised swimming) and coached at national level in both the UK and France as well as working for a Paris-based organisation accompanying professional sports teams for major competitions across Rugby, Swimming and Football.
When Annabelle made the decision to completely immerse herself in the French lifestyle, herself and her husband moved to France permanently just under two years ago and they have never looked back. As well as having a charming chambre d’hôtes and gite, Annabelle is embarking on her true passion which is her ability to add value to others in terms of being blessed with fluent French and a real appreciation for France.
Annabelle will be helping Assist clients with in-person interpretation and handholding support with French administration. Annabelle and Assist are currently in the process of developing an exciting new offer which will support non-French speaking people moving to France post Brexit, work their ways towards achieving their A1 language skills as part of the residency process. Watch this space!
Annabelle says ‘I am hugely excited about this new adventure and look forward to adding value to plenty of lovely people across France’.
Katey Green
Katey is an experienced bi-lingual hand-holder who is working with Assist to provide a Visa Support Service for those clients looking to start a new life in France.
Kathryn Green EI Siren 451 059 323
Geraldine van Rijs
Geraldine Van Rijs offers services in the field of interior design, renovation, layout advice and home staging. She is an interior designer with more than 25 years of experience and has realized and supervised several interior projects in the Netherlands.
Her training as a construction drawer, followed by studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and many years of professional experience in architectural offices, have made her an experienced designer with a broad vision of design and interior architecture.
The words that describe her philosophy are “creative, conceptual, surprising but functional and pragmatic, passionate about design and materials, attention to detail”.
Geraldine can also support you if you are changing windows to double glazing, a Velux window in the roof, changing the use of an outbuilding, garden shed or covered terrace, or an extension to your home in the adjoining barn, Geraldine can submit a “declaration of works” at your local town hall. All of this requires supporting documents and drawings, and Geraldine will guide you through the process, prepare the necessary drawings and photos, fill in the forms and liaise and communicate with the local council to get your application approved.
Geraldine van Rijs EI Siren 911 602 076
Angèle Jeannot
Angèle is a fully bilingual English and French member of our team. She has a range of professional experiences and skills.
She can support you fully with navigating the French administration systems, including setting up your own business, registering for a Carte Vitale, exchanging a driving licence, translations and interpretations and much more.
Angele has the skills to help. Allons-y!
Angèle Jeannot EI SIRET : 89183455800019
Wil Schmitz
My passion lies in creating professional websites, blogs and web shops. I guide you from the first design to the functionality, building, adding content and support if needed. I also offer help when it comes to designing your logo or corporate identity and the realisation of your printed matter.
Wil Schmitz EI Siret 91082862300017