TWO families are dedicating themselves to making life fun for people at home and across the world.

They have launched Party International, an e-commerce company selling party products and fun costumes online, and an associated events business organising parties, weddings and functions in the North-west.

The company has been set up by long-term friends Nick Wood, of Holcombe Brook, and Harry Birtwistle, of Greenmount, Bury, who will combine their years of experience in the retail and financial sectors to run the e-commerce arm of the business.

Their wives, Ann Birtwistle and Christine Wood, have also teamed up to run the party planning and event management side of the business, along with Ann and Harry's daughter Leanne.

The new business venture has created a dream job for 26-year-old Leanne, who has an Institute of Event Planning diploma. She said: "I will be ensuring that weddings, business and social occasions go with a swing, supported by Ann and Christine's organisational skills and creative flair."

Nick, aged 49, has 30 years of retail experience with the Birthdays Group, where he was sales director, responsible for concessions within multiple retailers Thorntons and Party Land.

He left Birthdays in 1996 to set up a chain of retail shops using the Birthday retail franchises and sold all the shops to Clinton Cards in 2005.

Harry, aged 56, enjoyed a 36 year career in retail and commercial banking with Barclays Bank in the North-west, North-east, Yorkshire and London, retiring as head of business banking for Greater Manchester North in 2002.

Harry said: "Nick and I identified a gap in the market for a one-stop party shop where the supply of a wide range of products and services could be married together seamlessly in what is a fragmented market place. We decided to create an e-commerce site coupled with an events business, as the two go hand in hand, and Party International was born."