86 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
MARCH 2009
DRIVER PROFILE WHAT’S IN A NAME? ASK CHRIS HARGREAVES
Our driver profile this month focuses on one of our long-time NPHA members, whose company Pres- tige Chauffeurs Ltd has been on our mem- bership list since 1997, and with whom we have worked closely both in the Bury area and nation- ally.
We profiled
Prestige in PHTM some years ago. However, on this occa- sion we thought we’d concentrate on the company’s founder Chris Hargreaves, and pass on from him a very powerful message to other companies in our industry who may have been, or are cur- rently, suffering from a syndrome commonly known as “passing off”.
More about that in a minute. Firstly, how did Chris get involved in our crazy industry? “I was doing a bit of pri- vate hire driving for a couple of firms in the Bury area,” Chris says, “and one evening I got attacked over a 50p dif- ference in the fare. The guy and his girlfriend had been drinking, of course, and the man clobbered me from behind and strangled me from the back seat. “Then when he got out of the car, he damaged the wing of my vehicle. There’d been a couple of other incidents pre- viously, but this attack really made me lose confidence in ordinary private hire work. “I kept thinking, Why can’t somebody supply a better service in this area, for more up-mar- ket and corporate clients?
Then it
occurred to me: Why can’t I do it?”
So in August of 1996 Chris started doing some market research about chauffeur com- panies, the types of customers in the North
West (initially) who might wish to use a high-class service, and more specifically the names being used by existing chauffeur com- panies. Chris quickly discovered, to his com- plete surprise, that the name he favoured using - Prestige Chauf- feurs - was at that time totally fresh; there was not another single com- pany in the entire UK using that name. Thus Prestige Chauf- feurs opened its doors on 10 December 1996, with Chris as managing director. By the follow- ing February, Chris’s mum and dad Jennifer and Bill joined the com- pany, and they applied to Companies House to register the name Pres- tige Chauffeurs Ltd. Chris started out with a fleet of red Rover 800's; over time the fleet has evolved to silver Volvos and Chrysler Grand Voyagers – and a Rolls Royce.
Chris set out from the beginning to offer a truly high class chauf- feur service, including kitting out all drivers in full uniform with peaked cap, and the attendant standard of driving and customer care. His company’s reputation soon spread, and as they say, word of mouth is always the best form of advertising.
THE EASY BIT
You’d think that all’s well that ends well. No, not really... this was just the start of the troubles - with the company name. As the business started to build up in scope and reputation, Chris and his family started getting calls from all over the place - not only the North West but also the London area - with the caller believing they’d made a booking with Prestige Chauffeurs but it turn-
ing out to be with another firm. Worse than that, some of these other firms were pretending to be Chris’s company and attempting to nick their clients! “The trouble with Companies House,” Chris explains, “is that if there is even one letter’s difference in the name, they have to register the compa-
lightly; at this point they looked into protecting their name further. So in January 2006 they employed the services of William A Shepherd & Sons in Manchester, a trade mark attorney. As Chris explains, “We were advised that it would be a complicated case as the name is very descriptive. However, we were given the con- fidence by our lawyer, Mandy Chinea- Rodriguez, to invest in this process.
“Throughout the appli- cation process, more companies tried to copy our name, mainly in the London area and
terms as “distinctive- ness acquired through use”, this was achieved due to the extensive evidence Chris provid- ed during the trade mark application, with help from the National Private Hire Associa- tion. Basically they had to prove that Pres- tige Chauffeurs is truly a national and interna- tional company in scope - which indeed it is.
“I have to say that our trade mark lawyer Mandy has done a bril- liant job,” Chris affirms. “The protection is backdated three years to the time of applica- tion as well. As our
marketing throughout the UK.
They’re
launching a new web- site in April, and have serious thoughts about licensing their name and considering fran- chising possibilities in the future.
ny. So there was
actually a Prestige Chauffers registered at one point, even though the word ‘chauffeurs’ is misspelled. There were other companies - some of which have now gone bust - where the name was different by virtue of adding one extra word.”
This really reached the stage where it was becoming detrimental to Chris’s business. By 2005 the company had built a global clientele from both the private and corporate sector, and has provided serv- ices for clients through the UK and Europe, including Spain, France and Ireland. So Chris could not afford to treat the existence of these other ‘imitation’ Pres- tige-named companies
the Scottish borders, but also worryingly close to home in Bury, Manchester, Liverpool and Salford.
“Time after time I would contact these compa- nies, and they would claim that they didn’t know we existed... but then some of their clients would come onto us and complain about their service - at the same time indicat- ing that this other company was passing themselves off as our own.”
FUTURE PLANS Anyway, after three
years and several thou- sand pounds of financial commitment, Prestige Chauffeurs Ltd was given a regis- tered trade mark. Known in trade mark
trade mark is now a ‘brand’, we are not exempted from any fields within the realms of the transport and travel industry.
We
could consider becom- ing travel agents, ticket agents, a car hire com- pany, anything related to transport.”
They already have a successful branch of the business in the Prestige Chauffeur Agency, where they supply chauffeurs for both the private and corporate sector to drive their vehicles. This is used for busi- ness trips both in the UK and internationally. Again, this branch of the business has taken off good style.
In fact, Prestige is aim- ing to expand on their brand and invest in
So it’s taken a good few years’ hard graft, and some strategic input for their trade mark regis- tration, but Chris Hargreaves is well sat- isfied with the outcome. Naturally he gives full credit to his family for their continuing sup- port. We’ll leave the last word to Chris: “What frustrates me so much is that you work very hard to build your own company, pick a name that is not being used and continue to build your brand without any protection at all. In 12 years we have had dozens of companies copy us, and it was always ourselves that got the bad press or angry clients on the phone. “A lot of these compa- nies are not around for a long time, but the damage has been done. There should be more protection for businesses against other people copying their name. Also, Com- panies House should look into stopping this in the future, and also backdate it. “We are very protective of our brand, and will continue to look into these companies that just cannot pick a name of their own.”
As we go to press, a quick check of the Companies House reg- ister reveals no fewer than six other compa- nies with ‘Prestige Chauffeur’ as part of the name. One of these is dissolved; another has gone into liquidation. So per- haps you can see why Chris has had to be so protective of his com- pany’s name. You want to get in touch with the real deal? Prestige Chauffeurs Ltd., registered trade mark, Bury, Lancs and worldwide, is the place; Chris Hargreaves is the name!
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