AWARDINGACHIEVEMENT ALL HAIL GLASGOWTAXIS AS THEY SCOOP TOP BUSINESS AWARD
Black cabs across the city will be honking their horns in celebra- tion after Glasgow Taxis was named Glas- gow’s Favourite Bus- iness.
The largest cab firm outside London won the Glasgow Evening Times-backed acco- lade at the biggest ever Glasgow Busi- ness Awards at the Thistle Hotel. The company, which has 1,400 taxis and 2,100 drivers, beat nominees including the Citizens’ and Tron Theatres, Watt Bros department store, Crocket the Ironmon- gers and The Shed nightclub.
Director Jack Ferguson, told the Evening Times: “It’s fantastic. It’s down to the people that appreciate our service, because that’s what we strive to achieve - a good service.”
The firm, whose staff organise the annual seaside charity outing for sick and disabled kids, grew out of Glas-
BUSINESS ACCOLADE FOR LONDON GRADUATE FOUNDER OF ECO-CAB FIRM
Evening Times Editor Tony Carlin, right, presents Glasgow Taxis boss Jack Ferguson, centre, with the readers’ award
gow Licensed Taxi Operators, which dated back to the 1950s, and became the company it is today after an amalga- mation of city cab firms in 1997.
Evening Times Editor Tony Carlin, said: “Once again the final- ists for the Evening Times’ Glasgow’s Fav- ourite Business Award were all of an extreme- ly high calibre. Each of the nominees is highly successful in its own field and each has
earned a respected and well-deserved rep- utation for excellence. “But there could only be one winner with our readers, and congratu- lations go to Glasgow Taxis, not just for their commercial successes but for their work in the community and, in par- ticular, for their long- standing commitment to their extraordinary annual taxis outing which has been a high- light for hundreds of youngsters every year for decades.”
Londoner Nicko Williamson has won a Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for growing his eco- friendly cab company. Nicko, 28, is the founder of Climate- cars, an alternative to the London taxi. Providing a carbon- neutral car-hire ser- vice with a fleet of Toy- ota Prius vehicles, Climatecars has sec- ured contracts with major organisations such as Unilever, Absolute Radio and Virgin.
Nicko has moved quickly from university graduate with an idea to an established busi- ness. He collected his accolade at the Fast Growth Business Awards 2011 organ- ised by GrowingBus
iness.co.uk and held at the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square. The national awards recognise pioneering businesses; those which demonstrate significant growth and entrepreneurial flair.
Judges were very im- pressed with Nicko’s customer service lev- els, strong growth in both turnover and profit and ambition of making Climatecars a £100m turnover com- pany.
“I am delighted to have won Young Entrepre- neur of the Year,” Nicko told London 24. “The award is thanks to the hard work from all of our team at Cli- matecars. We are looking forward to the year ahead and lots more growth and inno- vation.”
Nicko’s taxi fleet pro-
vide mineral water and magazines to cus- tomers as well as bike racks for cyclists. The aim is to treat every- one as a VIP. Ian Wallis, editorial director of Growing Business, said: “Nicko Williamson is a breath of fresh air, coupling commercial business nous beyond his years with a true passion for the company he con- ceptualised while at university.
“Climatecars’ levels of professionalism have helped to secure a growing and impres- sive clientele.”
Nicko Williamson receives his Young Entrepreneur of the Year award
WEMBLEY ENTREPRENEUR SCOOPS £1,000 PRIZE FOR BUSINESS THAT IMPROVES MINICAB SAFETY IN LONDON
A young entrepreneur from Wembley has scooped a national award after creating Safer Minicabs, a free mobile app that allows Londoners to get the cheapest or fastest licensed minicab quote.
Jayesh Hirani, who already has support of the Metropolitan Police Camden and Camden Council for his business that aims to cut down cab-relat- ed crime, impressed the panel of judges in the Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards with his business idea, and has been awarded
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£1,000 to further develop Safer Mini- cabs and was named as one of the UK’s top 40 entrepreneurs. Jayesh set up Safer Minicabs as a solution to the 233 cab-related sexual offences reported to the Metro- politan Police between 2009 and 2010 alone. The free app allows consumers to book licensed minicabs from anywhere in Lon- don. All participating minicab firms go through a thorough pre-registration secu- rity screening pro- cess, to ensure the safety of passengers
and help reduce cab- related crime. After booking, the customer is then allocated a driver, and has access to driver and vehicle details.
Jayesh said: “I created this app to help the thousands of people who call a minicab each night feel safe in the knowledge that their driver has been vetted by an inde- pendent third party. “If you have a great business idea, it’s good to remember that there are support programmes like Shell LiveWIRE that can help turn your ideas
into a reality. The cred- ibility of winning this award and being in the running for the Shell Young Entrepreneur of the Year award is invaluable.”
Graham van't Hoff, Chairman of Shell UK, said: “There is a wealth of entrepre- neurial talent in the UK and I hope other young entrepreneurs will be inspired by Jayesh to capitalise on their own ideas. We wish Jayesh every success and hope the Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Award will help him to develop Safer Minicabs into a truly
great and successful business.”
Safer Minicabs is an app for both the iPhone and Android smartphones, which allows you to get either the cheapest or quickest minicab fare quickly and conve- niently. Customers are given a quote within 60 seconds. An app for Blackberry is also in the pipeline.
The app also provides users with a panic but- ton that links you straight to Safer Mini- cabs and to the minicab office you booked with in the event of an emergency
with customer location being tracked by the office whilst in the minicab during the journey.
The monthly Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards launched in 2009 and are designed to help young aspiring entrepreneurs get their business off the ground. The awards offer a no-strings- attached financial boost of £1,000 to entrepre- neurs under 30 years old from across the UK. The programme has been giving free sup- port to would-be entrepreneurs since 1982.
PHTM NOVEMBER 2011
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