Taxi Driver Online

April 4, 2008 Friday

Multi-tasking dad launches Dales taxi service

Craven Herald

A man's work is never done, according to a multi-tasking father-of-five from Burnsall who has just taken on another job to fill a niche in the market.

Gordon Thomson came to the Dales from Scotland with wife Fiona and the youngest three of their five children, five years ago.

He has spent three years working as a "dinner lady" at Burnsall Primary School, while his wife works for the NHS.

As his wife spends quite a lot of time in London, Mr Thomson looks after Christopher 12, Sally, 11 and Dougie, nine. The two younger children go to Burnsall Primary while Christopher is at Upper Wharfedale School.

"My job as a dinner lady is three days a week and I love it. But I also came across a niche in the market by chance when my wife and her friend got stuck in floods at Linton recently," said Mr Thomson.

"I went to tow them out and it was after this that I was talking to a friend in Burnsall. I asked him if he thought there was a niche in the market for a small recovery business. He said never mind recovery, it's a taxi we need up here. I then realised the nearest taxi was in Skipton - nine miles away.

"I thought I could run a taxi business and work it around my dinner lady job and the children. I've been doing it for two weeks now and have already been quite busy taking people to airports and Skipton and Ilkley railway stations.

"It's the sort of business that will appeal to people coming up to the Dales, but not wanting to bring their car and there are also people who come to hotels around here and need running to conferences in places like Harrogate," Mr Thomson added.
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