SCOT
This month we swing north of the Border and land quite happily in Glasgow: noted for being Scotland’s sec- ond and largest city, gateway to the Trossachs, birthplace of the world famous architect and designer Charles Rennie Mack- intosh, cultural centre which houses, amongst others, the Royal Scottish Nation- al Orchestra, a wide choice of theatres, cinemas and muse- ums - and headquarters for one of the two offices of Thornliebank Radio Cars Ltd.
Our profilee company has transported pas- sengers to and from Glasgow’s many tourist and commerce centres since they opened their doors in 1980. It’s always been a family-based busi- ness, and the current proprietor Colin Logan took over the reins of the firm in 1994 when his father retired.
Now as a limited com- pany with a fleet of 75 private hire vehicles, Thornliebank Radio Cars covers mainly the south side of Glasgow, but addi- tionally all neighbouring areas including Edinburgh
and robust, offered the ideal solutions for Thornliebank Radio Cars. More efficient booking methods, real routing through Map- Point, account administration, man- agement reports - the package is spot-on for this busy firm, so much so that the fleet has expanded by 25 per cent (from 60 to 75 cars) just in the first few months of the sys- tem being in.
“Within a couple of months we were up and running,” Colin says. “Because so many of the functions are automated the office is now much quieter and more relaxed. Also the driv-
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TISH F
and Prestwick Air- ports. With a weekly job rate of approxi- mately 6,000 journeys from all types of cus- tomer, both cash and accounts, this firm really is going places. In fact the company is planning the opening of another office – this branch is in East Ren- frewshire and is awaiting the grant of its planning permis- sion. All being well, the new office will be opened at the end of October.
So expan-
sion, both of fleet and actual facilities, is very much part of the game plan.
MANUAL OUT
About 18 months ago the firm decided it could no longer cope with large volumes of bookings using solely voice and bits of paper, so they looked around at the many varied computerised booking and dispatch systems available in the market place. According to Colin Logan, the Mercury system provided by Exel Management ide- ally suited this company’s needs and style of working. Mercury Desktop, being fast, easy to use
AMIL
Y FIRM DOES THE BUSINESS
ers like using the PDA units. Plus the system including as it does the SatNav facility, is great for local knowl- edge; nobody gets lost.”
Another interesting plus point is that, hav- ing invested in the Mercury comput- erised system, Thornliebank Radio Cars has brought a lot of younger people into the trade as a result.
As regards the poten- tially sticky question about relationships
with the licensing authority, there are no problems there either. In fact Thornliebank Radio Cars is current- ly in the process of applying for its book- ing office licences for their two offices. As mentioned in several places in this issue, the deadline for sub- mitting applications for these licences is the 16th November, so obviously this long-standing firm is getting sorted accord- ingly. We’ll leave the last
A
THORNLIEBANK RADIO CARS LTD
Address: Telephone: E-mail address:
239 Thornliebank Road Glasgow G46 7RG
0141 632 3333
thornliebankcars@btconnect.com
Year firm started: 1980 (current management 1994) Number of vehicles: 75
Types of vehicle: 100% private hire: various saloons and MPVs
Licensing Authority: Glasgow City Council/East Renfrewshire Council
Radio rent fee: Standard fares:
£98 including VAT £2.50 flagfall - £1.10/mile thereafter
Booking system: Computerised: Mercury, Exel Management Phone system: Nortel BCM 50 Radio system: Facilities:
Kenwood (for part of fleet) Two booking offices
PHTM OCTOBER 2009
word to the boss, Colin Logan: “We’ve always borne in mind that, alongside all the new technology and licensing require- ments, this is a family firm providing a high standard of service to the local community and beyond. We try to treat all customers the same, and hopefully that’s why so many of them use us regular- ly.” We know which firm to call when we next visit Glasgow and regions!
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