WE TRY TO EMPLOY DRIVERS
WHO ARE FORMER OFFICERS THAT WERE INJURED IN SERVICE. WE NURTURE THEM AND TRAIN THEM UP
PICKING THE RIGHT MODEL For today’s chief executive, it’s not always
about having a flash car, says Charlie Bowmont, chief executive of Capstar. He is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Audi A8 hybrid model (pictured below) into his fleet. It’s not “particularly shouty” compared to Jaguars or Range Rovers, so offers more discretion and it ticks the eco-friendly box. “We want to be ahead of the curve, and be seen to be leading by example,” he says.
personal drivers. “Operationally it’s tire- some,” Bowmont says. “But we’ve had cor- porate social responsibility from the start, as we try to employ drivers who are former officers that were injured in service. We nurture them and train them up.” Another speed bump is the length of time it can take his veterans to gain their licence from Transport for London. “Getting a TfL licence is incredibly debilitating for us. It can take up to nine months from the start of the application to receiving the licence,” he says. “It precludes veterans from working with us immediately. And during those first nine months after leaving the army, they don’t want to be doing nothing.”
buyingbusinesstravel.com
However, the number of potential recruits shows no sign of abating as Bowmont believes overseas security work for veterans has quietened down in the past few years, with “conflicts” across the globe decreasing.
ROOM TO GROW Corporate contracts are another growth area, and Capstar already works with Reed & Mackay and Gray Dawes Group. And the business travel sector could be further buoyed by Capstar’s new integration into Groundscope. To date, Capstar has been “swimming against the tide in terms of apps and technology”, as Bowmont puts it, but this
latest development stands to open its services to a much wider audience. Yet with just 30 vehicles, is Bowmont worried about being overstretched? “We’re growing in a controlled way,” he claims. “We want to sit at around 50 cars. We’ve only ever been at the high end of market.” He also says he wants the company to remain nimble and reactive. He claims, in some cases, a car can be called upon within 25 minutes. Overall, he would like Capstar to be
perceived as “a fun brand” and also as one that has remained committed to its original “altruistic” principles. “We’re not just moving people around the country,” he says. “It’s more than that.”
2018 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 31
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