DRIVER PROFILE
THREE PROUD GENERATIONS IN THE SOUTH LANARKSHIRE TRADE
PHTM was contacted last month by Luke Thomson of Larkhall TOA based in South Lanarkshire, who asked if we might mention his dad Philip Thomson, who has been delivering prescriptions and food parcels, free of charge, daily throughout the Covid-19 lockdown and beyond.
Of course we said we’d be delighted to feature Mr Thomson, particularly as he is one of three generations who have been, and still are, working in the industry in South Lanarkshire. So how did he become involved in the trade?
Philip is one of an unusual group of drivers, in that he has not drifted into the trade from other professions. He started in the trade at 17 years old driving for his dad Ian (Luke’s grandad), and he’s now been a licensed driver for over 36 years. Initially they had their own company in the small village of Stonehouse where Philip lives, but times moved on and Mr Thomson Senior, along with other people, founded Larkhall TOA in the seventies.
After Ian Thomson died in 1994, Luke’s dad sold the phone number of their small firm and went to work with Larkhall TOA permanently, having also been a found- ing member of the group. Today Philip and Luke own just over a third of the shares in the TOA.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES ABOUND
Philip is President of the TOA and has been for a number of years; he “absolute- ly loves the place”, as Luke tells us: “We are currently getting our office refur- bished and my dad has invested a lot of his time into organising everything.” The company uses Facebook regularly to advertise and assist their business; they are under LTOA TAXIS.
Luke will be 23 in October, and has been driving with his dad’s business from the day he could get insured, so his first shift was on his 21st birthday. He’s been inter- ested in cars all his life… of course his dad was a big influence with his taxis. Luke
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Another example of Philip’s kindness: on his 40th birthday he held a party at the local leisure centre. He asked for no pre- sents, but rather a donation to be made which was handed over
to a special
needs school, Greenhills Primary in East Kilbride, to which he transported numer- ous children for many years. The school used the money to buy some new com- puters.
One of Larkhall TOA’s taxis decked out for kiddies’ seaside trips in years past
How does Philip see the future of this industry – and his place in that future? As his son says: “My dad has got time left in the taxi industry, and he will continue to do what he does best – care for his pas- sengers and members of the community.”
JULY 2020
Ian Thomson (l) Luke Thomson (top right) Philip Thomson (bottom right)
initially took up an apprenticeship as a light vehicle mechanic and served time with Skoda – which was quite handy as almost all the TOA taxis are Skodas. Luke does most of the fleet’s repairs himself, in between driving full time.
They’re licensed by South Lanarkshire Council, with which Luke says “they have a very good relationship with the licens- ing department, and also the education department which deals with all the Additional Support Needs (ASN) con- tract work.” Philip has taken special needs children to school for years with
the help of his fleet of 20 cars, drivers and passenger assistants.
So how did Philip become involved in collecting and delivering prescriptions to members of the community who’ve had to self-isolate? “There was a group of vol- unteers who got together at the beginning of the lockdown called the Larkhall Covid 19 Rainbows,” Luke tells us. “They were looking for a driver to deliver prescriptions and food parcels when needed; they asked around and my dad volunteered his time to do it.
“Every day he must get at least ten pre- scriptions to collect and deliver; he’s been doing this since the beginning of lock- down in March and he does it because that’s the type of caring person he is.”
HISTORY OF KINDNESS
This is further evidenced by the charitable acts with which Philip has always been involved, such as the TOA’s annual trip to the seaside town of Ayr for disabled chil- dren for many years; this was organised by Larkhall TOA charity committee, for which drivers raise money all year round to pay for the day out.
They also used to hold a Christmas party every year in a community hall in Larkhall, at which Philip dressed up as Santa and handed out presents to the kids.
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