Taxi Driver Online

Former Garforth Community College students launch Collect-A-Car Leeds VIDEO

http://www.garforthtoday.co.uk/news/Former-Garforth-Community-College-students.4496727.jp

Published Date: 16 September 2008
By Debbie Leigh

If you've ever gone out for a drink then wished you'd left the car at home a new company launched by two former Garforth Community College students may be the answer to your prayers.

Ring Collect-A-Car Leeds and a fully-insured chauffeur will drive out to you on a scooter, fold it up, put it in the boot then drive you home in your own vehicle.

Former Mark Hodgson and Andrew Hudson, both 23, set up the innovative service after using a similar business in London and spotting its potential.

Mark said: "I do a lot of business in London and I used scooterMAN a lot."

He added: "You go to the pub and set out with the good intention that you're just going to have one drink, then you have a taste and think 'I would probably have three or four' but you've got the car. It's perfect for that situation."

He said: "It's more or less like having your mum and dad on call to come and pick you up and take you home."

The duo have been friends since attending Garforth Community College as teenagers and have been putting together the business plan for around the past six months.

Just like ordering a private-hire vehicle, the customer only pays the fare for the distance he or she is driven.

Leeds firm City Cars quoted £7.50 for the three-mile trip from Leeds city centre to the bottom of Chapel Allerton.

Collect-A-Car charges £2.50 a mile but has a minimum fare of £10 – so it wouldn't cost much more to get the car home as well as the driver.

At present the firm has two drivers – Andrew and Mark – but there are four scooters and another two staff on stand-by for busier nights.

As well as driving people home they can also drop off cars at an agreed location without the owner present, if required.
Mark, who by day is a sales manager for a sportswear manufacturer, said customers could even use the service to have their
car taken to the garage while they were at work.

He said drivers had a "car jockey" policy enabling them to drive any car up to the on-the-road value of £50,000 and they covered every part of Leeds. If business really revs up they hope to expand the service into Harrogate and Manchester.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Similar scheme as Monkey chauffeurs, or whatever they are called.

But it's doomed to failure, as all the work will be between the hours of 23.00pm and 05.00am Friday and Saturday night.

And we are busy then anyway.

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IDFIMH

London has a couple of these companys in operation. They started in the usual blaze of publicity a good few years ago, hower the reality is I see very few of them on the road, their bikes apparantly leak oil and fuel all over the customers nice clean cars.

It's something silly like £50 even for a trip within the Greater London area.

Its just like ordering a private hire vehicle except the driver knows where he's going?

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

hes got a tom tom then!

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Only if that's his customer's name!

And to think I used to admire you....Ive never been lost in my life, Ive always Known exactly where I was..and that is Here...unless of course Im there in which case im still here whilst im there. now us intelligent PH guys would understand all that but seeing as your HC Explain it again slowly OK.


Im here and everyone else that isnt here is there. they may think they are here from there viewpoint but i still no theyre there....Got it???


PS....Them guys are driving for hire or reward they should at least be PC or HC...there..im done!

No they shouldn't. They are driving the customers own vehicle. They are employed by the custome albeit on a very short contract. Hire or reward refers to the vehicle not the driver.

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Grandad,

Lighten up, where do you think HC comes from

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Im right...your wrong....tum-te-tum

HC

Hackney carriage

what is it outside hackney?....

oh yeah, a taxi

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most