Fed up with the daily grind after 30 years in marketing, Bucks Free Press reader Guy Barber used his entrepreneurial skills to develop a cottage industry in his own backyard.

“It was a pretty drastic turn of events,” he now remembers cheerfully. “I decided I needed a break so just over a year ago I transformed the annexe I used as a home office into a self-contained one bedroom studio and advertised it through online agents including Airbnb. I’ve been fully booked ever since.”

During the course of his career as a successful marketing man Guy built up a string of contacts in the film and TV industry.

Among the guests who have paid between £40-£50 a night to enjoy the home comforts at the contemporarily decorated and furnished garden studio flat behind the garage at his three bedroom semi in Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, have been stars and backroom staff in the area filming scenes for Dr Who and actors and technicians in productions at Wycombe Swan.

The majority of visitors are people in the area on business and singles and couples here for family celebrations who need a place to stay overnight.

The accommodation includes an open plan lounge and kitchenette, private terrace, stylish bathroom and a mezzanine level with just enough space for a double bed.

With his gregarious personality, Guy is in his element welcoming strangers to his home.

His cottage industry has turned into a nice little earner. He won’t divulge how much he has made in the first year he has been trading but admits that Airbnb’s in the area which can sleep two such as his – “three at a pinch if we blow up an airbed” – bring in around ten grand a year.

The home office was already in existence when he bought the 1909 semi in 2001.

“The studio had been created in 1976 by a Bucks town planner who owned the house at the time. He used it as a home office and so did I until I turned it into an Airbnb. The thinking behind this style of venture is based on the micro-flat Pod culture: everything you need accommodation-wise. It has similar floor space to a standard hotel double bedroom but with the benefit of a lounge, kitchenette and segregated mezzanine bedroom area.

“The décor is light, fresh and functional. The kitchenette is equipped with a microwave-grill, tea and coffee machine, fridge and sink. Most of our guests eat out or bring in a ready meal but the kitchen has everything they need for making a snack.

“What appeals to visitors is having their own self contained space and being able to choose whether to socialise with us or enjoy being alone – some come merely for a few days’ peace away from the family. The flat has its own entrance. You don’t have to book in at a reception desk as you do if you go to a hotel, you don’t have to eat with the host and other people as you might at an ordinary B&B and we’re a whole lot cheaper. We’ve been lucky enough to put the world’s ills to right with students, mature travellers, a bride-to-be on her last night as a singleton, a Russian dancer, all sorts. They say strangers are friends you have yet to meet and we’ve made lots of new friends since we opened for business on New Year’s Day last year.”

However, one year on Guy has developed a taste for adventure himself. He and his partner are ready to explore new horizons which explains why his house and separate flat are for sale through Wye Residential in Wycombe for £495,000.