BUSINESS IS BOOMING
GREAT TO SEE NEW PEOPLE ALL FROM ONE FAMILY JOINING THE TRADE
Brothers who quit their jobs to start a new taxi company hope to fill a void left in Ashford after one of the town’s closed.
biggest firms
Min Thapa has been running Ashford Premier Taxi part-time for ten months but recently joined forces with his brothers Khyam, Neyam and brother-in- law Jaya Pun to expand the company after hearing Arrow Taxis was closing after finding it “increasingly difficult” to recruit new drivers. Min Thapa, 37, said: “I used to work as a mobile phone repair technician part time as well as taxi driving. But I quit the phone job as soon as I heard Arrow Taxis was going because I saw it as a good opportunity as well as a big
responsibility, to deliver good services to Ashford residents. “I resigned and my
brothers
resigned and now we are focused on this. Now we plan to become a limited company and we want to expand our business so we can deliver better service to Ashford residents.”
Mr Thapa and his brothers are sons of a Gurkha veteran while Mr Pun is a retired veteran himself.
Ashford Premier Taxi has taken over the 666666 number previously used by Arrow Taxis and has hired five of their drivers. Mr Thapa, who lives in Kennington, has between 10 and 15 drivers but hopes this will soon increase as more recruits are in training and he is looking to hire new drivers. Since the pandemic, fewer drivers have
entered the profession
meaning taxis have been harder for customers to get hold of across the county.
Mr Thapa hopes the introduction of his company will help to address the shortfall in Ashford. “Lots of people are enquiring because people are struggling to get a taxi, even for very short journeys, so we want to improve the service in the town,” he added.
FEMALE-LED GUISBOROUGH FIRM HOPING TO BRING A SERVICE TO RIVAL BIGGER COMPANIES
A taxi company run by a Guisborough-based mum is hoping to set itself apart from the larger firms. Coast 2 Coast, owned by Louise Ingoe, was started back in January after she worked for various taxi companies in the past. Louise, 40, said: “I’ve been a taxi driver for nine years now on and off, the main reason I opened my own firm was that my circumstances changed and Guisborough lacked choice and reliability, and the demand for taxis in the town is certainly there. “I want Coast 2 Coast to be a reliable firm, a lot of small independent firms in the area
PHTM SEPTEMBER 2022
have sold out to the bigger companies and I don’t want to do that. So there’s definitely a gap in the market to get our business out there and get a good customer base. We’ve already had a lot of support and good reviews so it can only get better.”
Louise is certainly in a male dominated environment, with female cabbies being a rarity. She added: “We have a lot of requests for female drivers from young girls coming home from nights out or ladies going to the airport on girls holidays. People are shocked that the owner of the firm actually drives - of course I do! “I’ve also managed to team up with local businesses which refer their customers to me which is great. ” Coast 2 Coast relies on word of mouth and Facebook plus business cards in local pubs and bars; with the hopes that its positive reviews increases its popularity.
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